Needs Analysis w/ triangulated feedback (agents, leadership, and customers) - we identified and built the following course enhancements:

Learner Agency and Self-Direction: Agents actively defined effective and ineffective customer experiences through small-group activities, identifying common challenges and mitigation strategies. Guided activities reinforced alignment with the organization’s customer experience principles, strengthening understanding and ownership.

Reflective Observational Learning: Agents evaluated real call recordings using a standardized 1–4 rating scale, identified strengths and improvement opportunities, and discussed insights as a group. Calls not rated “Outstanding” were reenacted through role-play to practice improved approaches. Supervisor evaluations and notes informed facilitation and guided targeted discussion.

Practice: Agents practiced additional realistic role-play scenarios based on actual customer calls, rotating between customer and agent roles to build empathy, skill fluency, and real-world application.

Performance Support: Quick Reference Guides summarizing customer experience principles, effective listening, and strategies for defusing tough situations were provided to support on-the-job performance and reinforce key skills.

Supervisor Enablement: A required companion course equipped supervisors with the skills to reinforce agent learning through effective feedback and coaching, ensuring readiness before agent training launched.

Change Management: Leaders at all levels were engaged early to shape the need analysis, strategy, and design. Executive leaders reinforced the change through pre-launch communications and visible sponsorship at course launch, driving alignment and adoption.

Learning Objectives: 

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

• Define customer service in the context of the contact center and explain how it directly impacts call effectiveness, job performance, and customer experience.

• Differentiate between good and bad customer service behaviors by identifying key attributes and providing real-world positive and negative examples.

• Identify all customer types (e.g., borrowers, authorized third parties, realtors, attorneys) and demonstrate how to deliver consistent, respectful service to each.

• Recognize customer expectations and agent responsibilities during calls, and explain how mismatched expectations can affect customer satisfaction and outcomes.

• Apply The Company’s Customer Experience Principles by demonstrating observable behaviors that align with QA scorecard requirements.

• Use active listening and empathy techniques to uncover root causes, manage customer emotions, and prevent call escalation.

• Effectively defuse difficult or hostile situations by selecting and applying appropriate de-escalation methods (e.g., acknowledge, apologize, empathize, validate) during role-play and call evaluations.