At contact centers, human interactions matter. According to the 2022 CX Leader Trends & Insights report, 80% of customers indicated that positive experiences increase the likelihood of return purchases. On the other hand, negative experiences affect future purchasing decisions 80% of the time.
Despite the rise of automation in contact centers, consumers value human interactions - 70% of consumers want companies to focus more on improving their customer care agents rather than creating better self-help solutions. Considering the data, one of the most valuable actions contact center leaders can take today is incorporating simulation training into their training curriculum to help their agents master critical soft skills and best practices through hands-on experiential learning.
Voice and screen simulation training technology is available to help organizations build confident high-performing agents delivering consistently superior customer experiences. Let’s examine why simulation training works, how advanced AI conversation simulation takes simulation training to the next level, and how to get started.
Why Simulation Training
The rise of automation and chatbots as part of the contact center experience leaves agents with the toughest problems to solve. Simulation training builds confident and proficient agents who can effectively handle the most challenging customer interactions. With simulation training, agents can practice challenging call scenarios and customer personas, allowing them to build resiliency, emotional intelligence, and knowledge before engaging in their first live call.
Despite the rise of automation in contact centers, consumers value human interactions.
Simulation training is a proven tool used by world-leading brands across industries for improving KPIs such as Speed to Proficiency and CSAT Scores 40-70% vs. traditional passive learning methods. And as new products and services are launched, leading brands are using simulation training to quickly scale agents on best practices to support their latest offerings. While traditional simulation training is similar to role-playing, advances in AI now enable automated and intelligent simulations.
Advanced Training with AI Conversation Simulation
AI Conversation Simulation, an advanced form of simulation training, allows contact center and training leaders to build and leverage training scenarios that align with the situations that their agents will face with live customers and prospects. It allows agents to role-play and master real-life customer engagement scenarios and best practices in their own words without scripting, in private, without human bias, from their home or office.
Leading brands leverage AI conversation simulation to help agents become proficient in soft skills. Whether new to the agent role or struggling with certain soft skills, role-playing with AI technology can help the agent master critical skills such as acknowledging the customer with care, removing the customer’s feeling of isolation and responding to the customer with empathy and compassion.
While traditional simulation training is similar to role-playing, advances in AI now enable automated and intelligent simulations.
AI conversation simulation empowers agents to learn how humans learn best – by practicing, making mistakes, solving problems, and building confidence, without the risks of interacting with a live customer or prospect. Here’s how the AI conversation simulation training process works:
- Customized high-impact simulations. Training leaders identify high-impact voice and screen scenarios and provide the best and required practices to include in the simulation training. With NLP (natural language processing) and NLU (natural language understanding) technology, agents can master best practices using their own words. This creates a more natural role-play and ditches stiff scripting, helping agents improve their confidence and remove their anxiety before engaging with live customers and prospects.
- Learn from the best. AI conversation simulation technology allows agents to listen to examples of best and required practices before beginning their training simulation journey.
- Engage with advanced AI technology. When the agent is ready to begin practicing independently, they engage with high-impact voice and screen scenarios that replicate what they will face on live calls.
- Master skills. Agents will move from engaging with high-impact topics to mastering these challenging scenarios through active learning. The agent continuously learns through practicing, making mistakes, getting feedback and building confidence over time. If the agent strays from best and required practices, the AI tool will interrupt the agent, offer real-time feedback, and give the agent another attempt at the scenario.
- Training manager input. Training managers can listen to an agent’s best simulation and provide human coaching with written feedback, a rating, and the ability to approve or not approve the simulation.
- Assess agent readiness for live calls. Training managers can certify agents to speak with live customers and prospects through their Simulation Scorecard and Simulation Call Listening. Agents will feel ready to engage with live customers and prospects, knowing they are accredited as confident, top-performing agents.
Simulation Training is Easy-to-Deploy
Simulation training technology is easy to deploy with no personal or account information and no IT integration for pilot or enterprise rollout. IT agents only require a chrome or edge browser and a headset to engage with their personal unbiased simulation training from home or the office.
Simulation training helps contact center and training leaders quickly and effectively upskill their agents to deliver consistently superior customer experiences - especially when applying advanced AI Conversation Simulation technology. Simulation Training will help your agents become the confident, top performers you need to lead your industry.