Now that you have devised a training program strategy and determined the needs of your agents, the task now is to determine the best techniques to deliver your new training program. This tutorial provides valuable benchmarking data on several aspects of call center training.

Common Training Competencies

Prosci's Best Practices in Call Center Operations report found the top training areas or programs for CSRs are:
 

1. Systems training, covering:

• phone use

• information technology and how to use the system

• software training

2. Processes and procedures, including:

• business processes and strategies

• HR policies

• corporate knowledge and history

• corporate culture

• rules and regulations of the industry

3. Customer service and communication skills, specifically:

• call answering and handling

• identifying what the caller requires

• how to deal with difficult customers

• soft skills

• phone etiquette

• voice and accent control

4. Products and services, including knowledge of the specific products and services of the company and their uses.

 

For call center supervisors, typically training falls into four specific areas or programs: 

1. Leadership and coaching
2. Business processes and products
3. Performance measurement
4. Call center tools and systems

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Training Methods

According to Proci's Best Practices in Call Center Operations study, the preferred method to deliver CSR training was an instructor-led, face-to-face program.  The following figure illustrates the top training practices (note that participants could select more than one training method).

Additional training techniques used were:

• Side-by-side or buddy training with other CSRs

• Mentoring or monitoring by senior agents

• On-the-job training and actual call handling

• Role-plays

• Satellite or Web-based virtual training

• Individual training session

 

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Advantages and Disadvantages

 

The following chart outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

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Training Time

Over 40% of participants reported that their average training program for new CSRs spans two to four weeks (see below).  The average number of weeks in training overall was 4.2. 

Thirty-five percent of participants reported that they spend about 20% to 40% of training time on general customer service and phone skills (see figure below).  The average percent of time spent on these skills is 32%.  Over half the respondents indicated the amount of training time dedicated to customer service skills training was adequate.