Technology

The Modern Approach to Upskilling: AI Coaching

Leverage AI to improve upskilling the existing workforce in your contact center with individual coaching.


Gone are the days when it was practical for experienced agents to attend refresher courses or coaching sessions passively in a classroom setting or once a week with a trainer. This outdated approach left little room for real comprehension of new skills or knowledge in their ongoing customer interactions. 

While managers understood the value of continuous improvement, they struggled to provide personalized guidance to tenured staff, especially in large team settings where staff is scarce and practice challenging. The rise of call volumes has further complicated matters, making traditional in-person coaching sessions simply impractical. Today's seasoned workforce demands flexibility. They need to have the possibility of upskilling on their own time, without disrupting their regular workload.

Younger employees, in particular, respond better to engaging, short focused lessons. They expect coaching to be accessible according to their individual needs and availability. Recognizing these shifts, SymTrain has pioneered in AI coaching: That is leveraging AI to improve upskilling the existing workforce. This innovative approach aims to benefit tech support and telecommunications companies by reducing agent attrition, increasing speed to proficiency, and improving overall performance drivers. 

A New Method: AI Coaching

AI coaching employs AI to simulate typical customer interactions, allowing agents to engage in one-on-one practice within a lifelike setting, but leaving the risk out of it. This continues until they've improved crucial metrics and mastered critical call scenarios, essential interpersonal skills, and industry best practices.

This approach simulates authentic customer exchanges, including real-time chat and voice conversations. By practicing in this controlled environment, agents can refine their skills, mastering various call types, soft skills, and required protocols. AI coaching continues to support agents, offering in-the-moment guidance and bite-sized learning opportunities.

AI coaching is like having a smart, virtual tutor that helps agents practice in a safe, simulated environment. It's a bit like a sophisticated role-playing game, but for job training. It uses AI to create realistic customer scenarios. Agents can practice handling these scenarios without the pressure of dealing with real customers. The AI provides immediate and consistent feedback, helping agents learn and improve quickly.

A practical example:

Imagine Sarah, a customer service rep for a telecom company. Instead waiting an entire week to coach her after listening to a bad call on billing, the company uses SymTrain’s AI coaching:

  1. Sarah logs into SymTrain on her computer ecosystem.
  2. The AI presents a scenario: "An angry customer is calling about a billing error."
  3. Sarah speaks to this virtual customer, trying to resolve the issue.
  4. As she talks, the AI analyzes in real time her responses and problem-solving approach.
  5. After the call, the AI gives Sarah feedback.
  6. Sarah can practice this scenario multiple times, improving with each attempt.

This approach allows Sarah to gain confidence and skills before going back to the phones. It's a long-term solution that improves agent performance without risking real customer relationships or interfering with the actual production environment. The company can create various scenarios based on real calls, ensuring Sarah is well-prepared for a wide range of situations she might encounter in her job.

Intelligent Coaching: AI Coaching Harnessing Real-World Data

SymTrain AI coaches through Intelligent Coaching, a product capable of ingesting call recordings, associated metadata, and QA scorecards to identify areas where each agent needs improvement, from handling difficult customers to explaining complex products. Based on these insights, the AI creates personalized coaching exercises that target specific skill gaps. 

This tailored approach enables agents to rapidly develop their abilities in the areas that matter most, leading to significant performance improvements. By focusing on individualized coaching based on actual call data, Intelligent Coaching provides a highly efficient and effective method for improving agent skills and ultimately improving customer service quality.

Continuous professional development is crucial for experienced agents to drive their expertise and capabilities. This ongoing upskilling cultivates a workforce of self-assured, high-performing professionals who consistently apply best practices and meet industry benchmarks. By leveraging AI coaching, seasoned agents can revisit and refine their skills on various call scenarios. 

The combination of reinforced core skills and expanded product knowledge transforms tenured agents into versatile, top-tier performers capable of excelling across multiple aspects of customer interaction.

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