“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It’s a cliche phrase that has rung true for most of my life. You don’t want to put all your hopes and expectations into one outcome.
School counselors advise high school seniors to apply to more than one university even if they only want to go to a specific college. Financial advisors recommend diversifying your portfolio so that any economic downturn doesn’t hit your investments so hard.
And it turns out, the cliche phrase also applies to your call center training strategy. You don’t want to put all your “eggs” (aka your training strategy) in one “basket” (your training tool).
As I’ve talked to our ScreenSteps knowledge base customers, I’ve learned from them that being a one-trick training pony doesn’t work. Our customers each have unique training needs. In the past, many have tried different training applications and approaches.
Sometimes training requires multiple agent training platforms to provide reps a full training experience.
Below, I share three different types of technology tools that serve different functions in training your call center agents. While you don’t need all of these training tools, it helps to have a few training tools to help your agents learn their jobs.
1. Learning management system(LMS) and e-learning
A learning management system (LMS) is an interactive learning software. It provides agents with different learning and engagement opportunities. The purpose of an LMS and e-learning is to teach employees something new and help them gain a broad understanding of a topic.
An LMS is to serve as a library for learning. The e-learning content serves as the books in the library. eLearning are specific lessons in your LMS that teach agents specific skills. You can buy e-learning lessons or create your own depending on the software you use.
Some of the common learning options with an LMS include:
- Interactive courses
- Self-paced courses
- Quizzes
- Activities
An LMS helps you scale your teaching efforts because you can share it, multiplying the reach.
Where to use an LMS in training
During onboarding and as part of your continuous learning plan, use an LMS to help your reps understand background information; the context of a process; and the what, why, and when of how to complete a procedure.
Use an LMS during your call center onboard training to instruct agents on information, such as:
- Introducing agents to policies and procedures
- Teach reps the importance of compliance and why they need to follow instructions perfectly
- Expand their knowledge with further instructions on a new brand concept
You can use self-paced training courses in your LMS to help agents with professional development or if you need to train on a new product or process.
Related:
2. Knowledge base
A knowledge base is a one-stop shop for all of your company’s documentation. With a cloud-based knowledge base, you can create, store, and share your resources with your agents.
With a knowledge base, your agents have a support tool that is available 24/7 to answer questions.
Where to use a knowledge base in training
When you have a robust knowledge base, you can use your knowledge base to train your agents faster. Focus your training on teaching your agents how to use your knowledge base, meaning how to find to help them complete a call.
Those resources could include:
- Policies
- Procedures
- Call flows
- Help guides
- Step-by-step instructions
- Workflows
Agents spend less time memorizing specific procedures. Instead, learn to find procedures in your knowledge base and follow them.
🔍 Related: 5 Tips For Choosing the Best Knowledge Base Software For Your Business
3. Messaging tool
Most companies use some sort of chat messaging system to get day-to-day work done. A messaging tool is a software that helps team members communicate with each other online.
Some common messaging tools include:
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering: How is chat messaging a training tool?
Where to use messaging tools in training
Because chat messaging tools connect employees, it helps you fill in the gaps from your initial training. Your new agents are bound to have questions that they can’t remember or find the answers to.
With a chat messaging system, new agents can ask trainers, managers, and experts questions when they are stuck.
Warning: You’ll probably want to set a precedence that requires agents to look for answers in your documentation (i.e. knowledge base, document library, etc.) before sending you a question.
Find a tool to make training your call center agents more efficient
Training your call center agents is important. Luckily, there are a variety of tools to help support you as you onboard agents and provide professional development opportunities.
At ScreenSteps, our knowledge base software has helped companies decrease training time by up to 90%. That’s because companies fill their knowledge base with all the information agents need. Then agents reference the knowledge base for help.
Are you ready for new training software but don’t know where to start? Start by diving deeper into two tools: an LMS and a knowledge base. Compare the two tools — including what they are used for, costs, and more — with this article.
