Client Overview: A Leading Lending Company

One of India’s top non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), this leading lending institution offers a wide range of loan products—from personal loans to SME and vehicle finance. With a strong presence across urban and semi-urban India, they serve millions of customers seeking fast and accessible credit.

However, in their personal loans vertical, they faced a pressing issue: too many customers were dropping off before completing the application process, which directly impacted disbursal volumes.

The Challenge

Their digital loan application process spanned 20 steps, many of which involved document uploads, verifications, and other checkpoints. Despite significant marketing investments and high initial interest, there was a noticeable drop-off as users progressed through the flow.

Here’s what they were grappling with:

• Applicants were abandoning the process midway without completing forms or uploading documents.
  
• There was no visibility into exactly where users were getting stuck.
  
• Manual follow-ups by call center agents were not timely or scalable.
  
• Every delayed engagement increased the risk of losing high-intent users.
  

They wanted to reduce the friction in the customer journey, recover abandoned applications, and improve disbursals—all without drastically expanding operations.

Our Mandate

When the company brought Fundamento in, their objective was clear:

Convert more loan applications into completed disbursals by identifying and engaging stuck customers at the right moment.

We at Fundamento were tasked with:

• Detecting drop-offs in real time.
  
• Intervening with helpful, personalized conversations.
  
• Guiding customers through complex steps.
  
• Ultimately increasing application completion and loan disbursement rates.
  

Our Solution

We deployed Fundamento’s  proprietary voice automation platform to help them move the needle. Here’s how we approached the challenge:

1. Deep Integration with Their Internal Systems

Fundamento to was integrated with the customer’s MAP (Management Application Platform), which tracks every customer’s journey through the 20-step process.

This integration allowed us to:

• Monitor customer progress in real time.
  
• Trigger a call within 15 minutes if a customer stalled at any step.
  
• Personalize conversations based on where the customer was stuck.
  

2. Contextual Voice Bot Support

Fundamento’s voice bots weren’t just calling with generic nudges—they offered step-specific support in real time.

For example, if someone was stuck at the PAN upload stage, our bot would say:

“Hi [Customer Name], we noticed you haven’t uploaded your PAN card yet. Would you like some help to complete that step now?”

We designed our bots to:

• Speak multiple Indian languages.
  
• Answer FAQs in real time.
  
• Offer guided walkthroughs of the application.
  

Empathize with customers and reduce the sense of complexity.

3. Scalable, Smart Outreach

Every outreach was automated, timely, and fully personalized. No scripts. No generic reminders. Just contextual support—delivered through the voice channel.

This allowed us to handle thousands of drop-offs without any additional headcount, while delivering a highly human-like experience.

The Results

The numbers speak for themselves. Here’s the performance snapshot:

Stage	Metric
Unique applicants dialed	5,248
Successful connections	5,038 (96% connection rate)
Applications completed	2,047 (39%)
Loans disbursed	1,626 (31%)

Key Wins

• 96% Connection Rate
  Our voice agents successfully connected with 96% of the customers dialed.
  
• 2X Higher Completion
  Customers who spoke with our voice bot were twice as likely to complete the application as those who didn’t.
  
• 31% Disbursal Rate
  Over 30% of the engaged users ended up receiving loans, directly impacting the company’s topline.
  
• Zero Operational Load
  Our entire solution ran in the background without requiring any additional team or effort from the client’s side.
  

Customer Voices

Despite being AI-driven, Fundamento’s voice bots were often mistaken for real human agents. Applicants felt they were getting real support when they needed it most.

“I got stuck on one step and didn’t know how to move forward. The call really helped—it told me exactly what to do.”
— Verified Applicant

Why It Worked

Several factors made our implementation successful:

• Perfect Timing
  Calls were triggered exactly when a user got stuck, while their intent was still high.
  
• Hyper-Personalization
  Each call addressed the specific issue that prevented the user from progressing.
  
• Language Comfort
  Our bots spoke in the customer’s preferred language, improving engagement.
  
• Zero Friction Deployment
  We didn’t ask the company to change their existing tech stack. We integrated and went live in record time.
  
• Scalable Automation
  Whether 5,000 or 50,000 customers stalled, our system handled it—flawlessly.
  

Long-Term Impact

The success of this deployment had ripple effects across the organization:

• Better marketing ROI: More leads turned into revenue.
  
• Higher customer satisfaction: Users got timely, helpful support.
  
• Operational efficiency: No extra cost for managing thousands of interactions.
  

What’s Next

Following the success in personal loans, we at Fundamento are now helping the client apply our automation platform to:

• Two-wheeler loans
  
• Collections and payment reminders
  
• Upselling and cross-selling loan products
  

We’re also introducing WhatsApp and SMS automation, expanding the customer engagement strategy to multiple channels.

Conclusion

This case is a textbook example of what intelligent voice automation can deliver when it’s contextual, timely, and customer-first.

By identifying exactly where users needed help—and showing up at the right moment—we converted thousands of stalled applications into live loans. More importantly, we did it without adding any cost or complexity for the business.

At Fundamento, we don’t just automate—we unlock business outcomes.

If you’re a financial services company looking to drive better engagement and outcomes across your customer journey, let’s talk.

Generative AI has taken over conversations in the corporate world over the last few months. Everyone is talking about how they’re using AI to do their work more efficiently. However, this shift to generative AI remains isolated to the manager level across businesses. The potential of generative AI to enable, assist and equip frontline teams has not been fully understood yet. Interestingly, a BCG survey highlighted exactly this in their latest report. According to the report, nearly 80% of managers reported using generative AI in their work while only 20% of frontline employees were able to say they use some form of it in their day-to-day work. This is both an issue of access and understanding.

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Frontline teams are the backbone of a company. They are the first point of contact with a customer that determines whether business comes in or not. Ensuring that frontline teams are able to unlock their complete potential using AI can yield unprecedented results for a company. This is the reality that exists amidst the narrative that generative AI threatens the entire role of frontline teams. However, what one misses in this argument is how generative AI can support the existing function of frontline teams by automating repetitive tasks and ensuring frontline employees spend their time genuinely driving business. If used to its full potential, it is essentially transformative.

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At the moment, frontline efficiency is driven through enablement which also companies find extremely challenging due to several factors. Frontline roles see a lot of churn so companies tend to not invest on onboarding and in turn suffer due to extremely high ramp time. Moreover, with high target pressure and the need to not only win deals but also retain customers, companies are struggling to make the lives of frontline teams easier so they can drive business.

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This is where generative AI comes in. Particularly for frontline teams, generative AI can make their lives easier without creating any kind of friction in their existing processes. Frontline teams are in fact in a position to make the maximum use of AI given the pace of their work and the criticality of the metrics they chase. For companies, investing in generative AI for frontline efficiency can catapult their growth dramatically.

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If one were to break this down into actionables, with generative AI, frontline teams will save time, have enhanced access to information, automate tasks and drive better outcomes.

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At Fundamento, we’ve come up with something that will help companies achieve key business metrics by ensuring that frontline teams are able to dramatically cut down the time they spend doing repetitive tasks and focus on only serving the customer and closing more deals.

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This blog is part of a weekly series on generative AI that aims to dig deeper into how it will transform frontline efficiency to deliver phenomenal business results.

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As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, organizations need to keep up to stay competitive. Embracing AI and technology can offer significant benefits, such as improved productivity, better results, and increased efficiency. From AI-powered training solutions to generative AI tools for talent retention and attraction, AI has the potential to transform the way we work. We at Fundamento have ourselves harnessed the power of generative AI to equip frontline teams. Therefore, a lot of our most recent conversations with industry experts have been around how AI is transforming the way we work. Most recently, we spoke to Srinivas Reddy of Pristyn Care to explore the potential of AI in making work easier, better, and quicker, and why embracing technology is crucial for team success. We also spoke about how having more conversations around this can help spread awareness about technology and equip teams for success in the new normal.

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The Potential of AI in Making Work Easier, Better, and Quicker

AI is opening up endless possibilities for organizations to make their work easier, better, and quicker. Many organizations are starting to leverage AI to improve productivity and grow their business. However, some are yet to realize the potential.

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Reddy felt that the purpose of organizations should be to impact the lives of their people and make things better. “AI can help them achieve this goal by using generative AI and employee experience, feedback, and conversations for talent retention and attraction. It’s just the beginning, and AI has miles to go before we sleep. It can make a lot of jobs much easier, better, and quicker. In the next two to three years, generative AI will take over most aspects of our lives. Organizations should embrace it to stay competitive and take advantage of all the benefits it offers,” he said.

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Equipping Your Teams for Success in the New Normal

The pandemic brought significant, permanent changes to the workforce ecosystem. Employers opened up to different possibilities when it came to work, such as work from home and hybrid positions. Candidates in fact were no longer hesitant to ask if a particular role is remote or onsite, leading to more transparency in job postings. Employers over time have even become more flexible, with an understanding that certain roles need people to work remotely and others to work in the office. The workforce is adapting to the changes, making it easier for employers to implement new policies and for candidates to select an appropriate job.

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One critical aspect of the new normal is to equip teams for better productivity. “In a frontline-based organization like Pristyn Care, constantly upskilling teams is essential to adapt to changes. While on-job training and physical training are helpful, they are no longer the most effective tools. Leaning onto AI for training and upskilling has become a necessity, enabling scalability and increasing efficiency. Startups are continually figuring out new ways to work and get things done better, faster, and quicker. Employers need to invest in training their teams accordingly to succeed in the new normal,” elaborated Reddy.

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Why Embracing Technology is Crucial for Team Success

In today’s fast-paced world, organizations are constantly looking for ways to equip their teams with the tools they need to succeed. However, navigating the world of technology can be a daunting task, and many organizations struggle to find the right solutions for their needs. That’s where embracing technology can make all the difference. By leveraging the power of technology, organizations can equip their teams with the tools and resources they need to perform at their best.

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When organizations embrace technology to equip their teams, they unlock a world of benefits. From streamlining processes to enhancing collaboration, technology can transform the way teams work together. By providing team members with access to the latest tools and resources, organizations can help them to work more efficiently and effectively. This can lead to improved productivity, better results, and ultimately, greater success for the organization as a whole. So if you’re looking to equip your teams for success, embracing technology is the way to go.

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For instance, work from home has now become the new norm. Earlier, there were only a few companies that even offered this option, and candidates never really asked for this during job interviews. Moreover, even with work from home available as an option, unless really necessary, people didn’t avail it. However, now, it’s becoming essential for candidates to know whether the role they are applying for offers work from home or not. As for organizations, they too have realized the benefits of remote work and have started implementing it for specific roles that don’t require people to be physically present at the office. This change has brought about a positive impact, and both employees and employers are happy to embrace this new work culture. In such a culture, to succeed without equipping teams with the right tech that eases out their work, is hard.

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Equipping frontline teams

Training and upskilling are crucial components of any job, and it becomes even more critical when organizations have to adapt to the changes that the pandemic has brought about. Reddy said that at Pristyn Care, they take this seriously. “We understand the significance of equipping frontline teams, and constantly experiment to find new ways to work better, faster, and more efficiently. While physical training is essential, we have started implementing AI-based training solutions that have helped us scale our training programs. This approach has brought about positive results and has proved to be an effective way of training people in the current scenario.” he shared.  

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The technology available today can significantly improve business processes and help organizations achieve their goals. Leaders should have a clear purpose in mind and understand how AI can help achieve that purpose. They should be passionate about talent development and use AI to help their teams grow and learn.

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Artificial Intelligence is still relatively new and we have not yet scratched the surface of its potential. There are many ideas and thoughts that organizations can explore to make work easier, better, and quicker. In the next few years, AI will go leaps and bounds in many layers that we haven’t even seen yet. It’s the beginning, and we’re only starting to realize the potential of AI.

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In today’s fast-paced world, where competition is fierce and innovation is the key to success, equipping teams with the right tools and technologies is crucial. Today, using generative AI can help organizations streamline their operations, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and ultimately achieve their goals. However, navigating through the vast array of options and understanding which tools are the best fit for your organization can be challenging.

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Through conversations on Skill Flex, we aim to spread awareness about the potential of AI in equipping teams. We believe that by creating a platform for open dialogue and sharing of ideas, we can help organizations make informed decisions and choose the right tools to improve their team’s performance. With the right approach, we can help organizations to adopt AI with confidence and take their teams to the next level.

 

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The sales landscape has undergone a massive shift over the past few years, with strategies leaning dramatically over customer-centric approaches. Companies are focusing on understanding their customers’ needs and tailoring their sales efforts accordingly. This shift has led to the adoption of a more consultative approach, with sales teams wearing multiple hats and using a variety of communication channels to connect with customers. We’ve spoken about this through different Skill Flex channels on multiple occasions. However, most recently we spoke to Mehar Singh, a sales professional who’s primarily operated in startups like Yelp and Lyft, who shed light on how the changing world of sales has sharpened the spotlight on power skills.

While we often discuss this in our blogs, in this one, let’s walk through some of the key things that are critical to the changing selling environment.

Focusing on the customer first

Modern selling is all about putting the focus on customers. Today, it’s becoming more and more important to do so before building out any new product or feature. Companies need to be strategic and really understand the customers’ needs. This helps them keep their costs low while also providing a customized experience for that certain set of customers. “This customer-centric approach is crucial because in the past, I’ve seen that 20% of a company’s customers brought in 80% of their revenue. That’s why it’s important to focus on these key customers. These are the money-makers, and for them, you need a sales team that has the necessary skills for sales and a consultative approach,” said Mehar.

The consultative approach

Selling is no longer straightforward and has evolved over the years to become more consultative. Instead of just having a salesperson on a customer call, companies now go with a fully fleshed-out team that includes an engineer, account manager, product manager, at the very least. This approach shows customers that they care about them and that solving their problems is extremely important. It is critical in standing out in today’s market where there are so many similar products to choose from. Remote and social media selling has become more important, and companies are taking full advantage of these strategies. As a result, selling has become more customer-centric, consultative, and focused on building long-term relationships versus closing an immediate sale.

Sales reps wear multiple hats

In today’s changing world of sales, salespeople have to wear multiple hats. They need to have a diverse set of skills and perform various functional roles to reach their customers. With multiple mediums available to reach out to customers, it has become a balancing act for most. However, most organizations focus a lot on product and process training and fail to equip their teams with critical skills. Mehar shared, “Most of my learning happened on the job or from my work best friend, because while organizations equip you with information you need to sell, they don’t equip you with the skills you need to be able to sell. That is a huge gap.”

Balancing different channels of communication

Earlier, sales was limited to cold calling and emailing, but today salespeople need to use different channels to reach out to their customers, including WhatsApp, social media, LinkedIn and wherever else they can reach them. With so much information to manage, networking at a fast pace, and the ease of having conversations online, sales can end up being spammy. It becomes essential to achieve revenue goals and talk about efficiency without compromising the personal touch that sets brands apart. “The personal touch is something that is essential in today’s automated world, where a 1-800 number and robots are taking over. Connection is the new currency, and customization and personalization yield higher ROI and click-through rates. Therefore, while balancing different communication channels, it is necessary to find a way to maintain the human touch,” elaborated Mehar.

Equipping sales teams for success

If organizations want to build teams for the future of work, they need to equip their sales teams with the skills and tools they need to excel in today’s consultative sales environment. These skills include Critical Thinking, Empathy, Resilience, Influencing People, among others and require teams to continuously customize offers and cater to customer needs by putting them at the center of the sales process. While on-the-job learning plays a critical role, investment by organizations to develop their sales teams is of utmost importance. A broader conversation is required with upper management to provide a sizable book to employees that makes sense. It should involve providing a personal touch point that provides white glove service to clients. Organizations need to invest in their employees’ growth, which will eventually pay dividends in sales revenue.

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There’s been an evident shift in the world of work ever since the pandemic hit. With remote work and virtual communication becoming the new normal, organizations have been forced to reevaluate their approach to employee training, development, and support. Perhaps the most significant change has been the focus on employee experience and investment. Organizations have adjusted their approach to employee development during the pandemic and technology has played a huge role in employee care and productivity. However, navigating this shift hasn’t been easy.

The Ever-Evolving Employee Experience

There has been a significant shift in the way organizations approach people strategy. The focus now is more on the employee experience, and it goes beyond just basic training and ensuring that people do their technical work well. We recently spoke to Naveen Manshani, Director, Total Rewards at the UnitedHealth Group. He said, “What I have observed in the hospitality and retail sectors is that organizations give customers a particular type of experience through their employees who cater to them. The kind of experience that customers have with an organization is determined by the employees’ training and the experience that they themselves have within the organization.”

This makes a lot of sense because unless employees are equipped at work, they’re most likely to not deliver quality. If employees are not offered a good experience with their organization, they cannot give customers a fantastic experience. With the pandemic, organizations realized the need to invest in their people beyond what they’ve been doing. Many organizations went above and beyond to support their employees during the pandemic. Getting the care and support from their organization took employee commitment to the next level and unlocked productivity which organizations are now looking at holding onto and amplifying as they move forward.

Organizations that took the time to ensure that their employees were supported are the ones that thrived in the pandemic and will continue to in the future. Employees who experience support, recognition, respect, and pride from their organization can work with reassurance and dedication. In turn, their commitment and positivity can lead to increased productivity and a better work culture. Organizations have a responsibility to invest in their people as they are the key to an organization’s success.

A Shift in Employee Training and Development

Organizations have over the last few years been forced to adapt to new ways of conducting business, and this shift has also affected employee training and development. Many companies have moved their training programs from in-person to online, creating a virtual environment for their employees to learn and grow. This has allowed employees to continue to receive necessary training while also being flexible with hybrid working.

In addition to training, companies have also had to shift the way they support their employees. Managers have had to learn how to support their employees virtually, and companies have had to provide virtual healthcare and onboarding experiences. The investments made by companies have had a positive impact on employee engagement and overall commitment to the organization. This investment is important, especially for a new generation of employees who joined the workforce virtually and are looking to be invested in by their employers.

In his conversation with us, Naveen laid down a few way in which companies can invest in the growth of their employees.

• Individualized Approaches to Employee Development: Different organizations use different approaches to develop their employees. Some offer reimbursement for training expenses, while others develop a program to measure the initiatives’ impact on employees. The key is creating a program that meets the individual needs of employees. Understanding what employees want can help design a framework that allows individuals to choose what they want and meet their individual needs. The design of such a program is crucial for its success.
• Equipping Teams for the Future of Work: While approaches to employee development will vary across industries and companies, one common thread is investing in people’s development to equip them for the future. With technology, the employee development experience will change further. The use of technology to develop people will evolve to use virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and simulated environments to help employees learn and develop skills to perform their responsibilities better. Organizations will work towards developing power skills using these emerging technologies is the next frontier in employee development.

Impact of People Initiatives on Business Metrics

Investing in employees’ wellbeing and growth not only positively impacts employee engagement but also has a positive impact on business metrics. While some organizations saw adverse impacts on their bottom line with remote working, those who invested in their employees have reaped benefits. “For example, organizations in the automobile and hospitality industries, who invested in their employees during the pandemic, have seen a pent up demand for their products and services. This has allowed them to recover and compensate for the impact of the pandemic on their business,” added Naveen.

Investing in employees has driven employee commitment and engagement, resulting in a positive impact on business metrics. Companies have seen their employees become more committed to serving customers and supporting the organization’s goals. This commitment has had a direct positive impact on the bottom line of the organization. Most organizations today have realized that this investment is critical for the long-term success of the organization.

The Role of Technology in Employee Growth and Productivity

Technology has played a huge role in enabling faster connections and collaborations. The pandemic has caused a sudden thrust in the way people collaborate using technology and this has been a game-changer in the workplace. Technology is being used in a variety of ways to make faster connections and collaborate in a more efficient manner than ever before. The ability to use technology to continue to deliver on expectations is something that will continue to evolve.

Beyond compensation, if every organization wants to compensate their employees competitively, it’s the fact that they care about the growth of employees that can instill a feeling of belonging and appreciation in them. Creating a variety of programs and initiatives to personalize the experience is important. Standardizing offerings to meet employee needs may have some takers, but creating a framework in such a manner that allows for customization will cater to their individualization needs. With enough opportunities in the market, collaborating with different service providers to create solutions can meet employees’ individual needs. Although it’s a journey that will take some time, personalizing the employee experience is the way to go.

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In today’s business landscape, the approach to selling has undergone a significant shift. The traditional tactic of pushing products and services onto potential clients is no longer enough to achieve success. Instead, a more personalized, consultative approach that focuses on relationship-building and problem-solving is key to modern selling. In a recent conversation with Mihir Ghandat of The Good Glamm Group, we delved into the various aspects of modern selling, including the importance of active listening, balancing revenue goals with client outcomes, the use of technology in formal training, and motivating and rewarding your team for growth. One of the most determining factors that emerged through the conversation was adapting to this shift and succeeding in the market.

The Shift in Modern Selling: Relationship Building

One major change in modern selling today is the shift towards more personalized and tailored plans for each brand. This means that there is no longer a one size fits all approach when it comes to selling products. To succeed in consultative selling, it is crucial to focus on relationship building with clients. This means establishing trust, developing strong and long-term relations, and demonstrating that you have the brand’s best interests in mind.

Moreover, with the shift in modern selling, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach no longer applies. Consultative selling is becoming more popular, emphasizing relationship building, active listening, and problem-solving skills. It is important to truly understand what clients are saying by asking clarifying questions and giving examples to confirm and demonstrate their needs. Building strong and trustworthy relationships with clients is also vital to the sales process. Ultimately, it is critical to provide clients with creative and effective solutions to their problems. This combines solid knowledge of the product with an understanding of the client’s needs and challenges.

Metrics That Matter: Revenue and Impact

When it comes to sales or business development, the North Star metric is always revenue. This means that the ultimate goal is to increase revenue by upselling, cross-selling, and retaining clients month on month. However, it is also important to consider the impact of the sale on the client. A successful sale is not just about revenue, but also about achieving positive outcomes for clients and building long-term relationships. By balancing revenue goals with a focus on client needs and outcomes, modern selling can shift towards a more consultative and relationship-driven approach.

Equipping Sales Teams with the Right Skills

Equipping sales teams with critical power skills has become essential to succeed in the ever-changing sales landscape. As modern selling is shifting toward agile processes and transparency, it’s becoming more authentic and engaging. The focus has shifted to more client-oriented methods to understand their needs and provide them with relevant and efficient solutions.

When it comes to sales, relationship building is crucial. As a team leader, it’s important to ensure that your team is doing their job correctly and delivering the right results. However, this mainly depends on multiple factors such as company size, industry, and stage of the company. For instance, bigger companies tend to be more structured with set playbooks while lean and young companies are more agile and require equipping their employees with the right skill sets.

To make sure that you hire the right person for the job, it’s essential to gauge their skills during the interview process. Asking them to solve case studies that involve problem-solving is a great way to understand their thought process. This helps you to see how they tailor their answers, which is an important metric when it comes to pitching to clients. Additionally, ensuring that your team is continuously learning and up to date with the latest trends and technologies can be challenging. However, regular communication and a workplace with a flat structure that promotes open dialogue can help bridge this gap.

Technology: A Game-Changer in Training

Technology has drastically changed the way we approach training and upskilling in the workplace. With the ability to implement any form of structured training through technology, the possibilities are endless. It has revolutionized the way we approach formal training for teams. With the adoption of digital tools, we can implement any form of structured training to elevate team performance. COVID-19 was a wake-up call that showed us the benefits of digital adoption. It served as the perfect example of how digital adoption is imperative for businesses to survive. As an employer, it is vital to understand the technological interventions that hold true and how they can benefit our team’s performance.

Mihir stated, “With the advancement of technology, learning and equipping teams seem to be more accessible. However, learning on the job is still the primary method that we use to equip our sales teams. While technology can play a crucial role in upskilling employees, it’s essential to be mindful of their current state of mind. Their fears, struggles, and motivation levels can affect their ability to learn and perform their job correctly. As a team leader, regular conversations and open dialogue can be key to building a healthy team environment that promotes trust and communication.”

Companies need to understand the true potential of technology in elevating their teams’ performance. By leveraging technology, they can identify the gaps in skills and knowledge and implement training programs to bridge those gaps. This is a win-win situation for both employers and employees as it leads to better performance, productivity, and job satisfaction. But, the question remains, how do we ensure technology is adopted?

Till date, incentives still hold significant relevance in motivating employees to perform better. However, organizations must play to each individual’s strengths and envision a role to help them grow. Celebrating significant wins and giving credit where it’s due builds a positive workplace. In typical sales structure, linking payout to incentives adds a solid motivation for salespeople to excel in their career. However, moving forward, when it comes to developing customer-facing teams, technology will play a huge role in this as natural evolution. That is the only way organizations can unlock efficiency in the least amount of time.

In conclusion, equipping sales teams with the right skills and mindset is critical to achieving success in sales. Understanding the context of your company, gauging skills of employees, and ensuring continuous learning can help companies build successful sales teams. Moreover, leveraging technology to support team growth is essential, but it’s crucial to remember that open communication and trust-building is key to a healthy team environment.

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We’re often confronted with a question. When improving business outcomes, to what extent does training frontline teams matter? The truth is, it matters more than ever. When it comes to high touch businesses, such as healthcare, hospitality, or education, the interactions between the frontline staff and the customers can make or break a business. This makes it crucial for businesses to invest in their employees’ learning and development to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.

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Regardless of its size, learning plays a vital role in achieving sustained organizational growth and development. The CEO and founder at Red Health, a startup that provides emergency healthcare services, Prabhdeep Singh, spoke at length to us recently about the importance of implementing learning for frontline teams to ensure delivery of quality services to clients.

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Traditional learning initiatives, such as formal training, workshops, seminars, and conferences, have been essential for a long time. However, in startups, such learning mechanisms may not always be feasible due to limited resources and time constraints. That’s why informal initiatives, such as on-the-job training mentoring, become more prevalent.

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Moreover in a startup, emphasizing on survival over other non-core competency aspects become every company’s priority. As startups are always scuffling to survive the dynamic business environment, it becomes challenging to provide learning and development to employees. Resources are often stretched to the limit, and sometimes the employees must wear more than one hat, and development programs may not be a priority. Additionally, there’s no surety that the efforts invested in learning and development will bear any fruits, and the outcome may affect startups that strive to keep afloat in the initial stages.

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Therefore, in startups, it is even more critical to develop teams as it enables executives and employees to make informed decisions and tradeoffs.

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Prabhdeep believes that L&D is a must-have, not a good-to-have. “The performance of my frontline staff is dependent on how much accountability and training sits one layer above and one layer behind them. This means that even the supervisors and city managers need to be trained. In a world where we are talking about survival, running out of money, how much does training matter will always be a question. This is a balancing act. L&D is a must-have for high touch, high impact businesses. Every level of the company must be trained, and conflict between shorter term priorities and L&D goals must be balanced. Only then can a high touch business fulfill its promise to their customers and stay ahead of competitors,” he said.

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Nonetheless, one of the toughest challenges is to train frontline employees without impacting business. Taking employees off the floor can lead to a loss of business, decrease client satisfaction, and hamper the organization’s growth. The sales team, known to be a critical team, has even more significant targets to meet, and taking them off the floor is not an option for any company. On the other hand, customer service teams, crisis management teams, and dispatch teams play a critical role too and cannot be taken off their tasks for training.

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Balancing the availability of teams and providing them with the right training at the right time is a significant challenge. Technology helps solve this problem significantly.

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The potential of technology in L&D

As technology continues to evolve, it is not surprising that AI has made its way into classrooms and workplaces. With the growing accessibility and varied use of AI tools, it is reshaping the way we approach learning and development. Today, we have more AI-powered learning solutions that make it feasible to impart knowledge in interactive formats. There is no doubt about AI’s potential in personalizing learning experiences that suit individual needs and improving employees’ productivity. However, the question remains – where are we as a society when it comes to AI-enhanced learning?

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Prabdeep says that at Red Health they’re embracing AI in all aspects of their work. “Our top priority is equipping our staff with all the AI tools and techniques available to help them deliver high-quality output and strive for improved productivity. To us, AI integration is a two-fold process. First, we want everyone to understand AI and explore its potential by utilizing it aggressively. We believe AI should be used as a personal tutor, secretary, and even a manager if it means that people become more efficient in their work. Second, we intend to integrate AI into our workflows to enhance productivity. This means encouraging our employees to think creatively about how to utilize LLMs, AI models, and different AI tools to drive industry growth and build products that can be defined as AI for our clients.”

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This shift has allowed companies to take a different approach to learning, where the focus is on continuously measuring progress and reinforcing learning through bite-sized modules and in a gamified manner. AI in learning and development is changing the way we learn and work. The need to adopt innovative ways to train employees without wasting time and money is now more than ever.

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A gamified, on-the-job training approach, is an option that companies are looking to adopt now. Fundamento works with companies to deliver just that to improve adoption and knowledge retention.

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Measuring impact of learning

In addition to long-term output measurements, short-term input measurements are equally important in training and development. They refer to measuring the immediate impact of the training program, such as the satisfaction level of the employees, the effectiveness of the trainers, and the relevance of the content. By doing so, we can make real-time adjustments to improve the training program on an ongoing basis.

The benefits of short-term input measurements in training and development are numerous. It allows organizations to identify any gaps or weaknesses in the training program, and take corrective action immediately. Short-term input measurements also help to keep the employees motivated and engaged in the training program, by providing immediate feedback and recognition. By focusing on short-term input measurements, we can ensure that the training program is engaging, effective, and relevant to the needs of the employees and the organization.

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However, the importance of constant learning and development cannot be overstated for employees at all levels including the CEO. Learning and development activities enable businesses to meet the expectations of customers and improve their performance. As businesses grow, it becomes increasingly important for both CEOs and employees to upgrade their skills and knowledge to keep pace with the evolving needs and trends of the industry.

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It is crucial to create a learning atmosphere in an organization and encourage employees to actively participate in L&D activities. This requires a brutally honest approach to self-assessment, identifying one’s incompetencies, and rising above them. Surrounding oneself with people who can impart knowledge is essential. Prabhdeep says that this is where CEOs can lead by example, encouraging employees to adopt a mindset of continuous learning and development.

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Encouraging a culture of continuous learning also gives employees the opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge, making them more effective in their roles and ultimately benefiting the business. When senior leaders lead by example and prioritize their own learning, it sets the tone for the rest of the organization to follow suit.

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Frontline teams are the driving force behind every business, and their training is critical to ensure that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver exceptional customer service. But in today’s digital age, training frontline teams requires a different approach. In a conversation with Alok Shukla of Cashify recently, we explored the importance of frontline training and discussed critical skills that frontline teams need to thrive in the digital age.

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The current ecosystem demands critical skills that frontline teams need along with effective training to create a positive customer experience. However, this comes with its own set of challenges particularly when embedding learning in the flow of work with vernacular access. It is critical to ensure that a one-size fits all approach is done away with to make way for building personalized connections during any training program. Technology therefore plays a huge role in implementing efficient learning and equipping employees with applicable knowledge and skills.

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Breaking barriers

Frontline teams face several challenges while on the job especially with regards to language, culture and communication. These challenges are also prevalent when training these teams to perform better. Implementing learning for frontline employees at scale is one of the biggest hiccups in the growth journey of a company. Training that lies at the intersection of product knowledge and behavioral skills helps overcome some of these challenges.

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Alok Shukla believes we need to go back to basics. “Most of our team is on the ground, and they do often face language and cultural barriers. They’re also the first point of contact for a customer, so they perform the role of brand ambassadors. So, while marketing and other efforts do their job in bringing customers in, it is the frontline teams that create the brand identity and recall. Addressing challenges they face can ensure that our teams are well-trained and deliver the right brand values to our customers. With the right training and processes in place, building efficient frontline teams can be a key factor in the success of high growth startups.”

For frontline teams, it’s essential to have a good understanding of the product they’re promoting or selling and plays an essential role in communicating effectively with customers. Today, information about any product is readily available online. However, how it’s communicated to customers by frontline teams is what impacts metrics the most.

With virtual communication becoming the norm, it’s important to train frontline personnel on how to engage with customers face-to-face effectively. In addition, virtual learning has its own set of challenges, especially for teams scattered across different locations. The trick here is to drive home the same message through different formats, using various styles of learning. Creating compelling content related to the matter at hand and conducting training sessions, either virtually or face-to-face, can help ensure that learning is effective, and knowledge transfer happens seamlessly.

Power skills for today

The world has become immensely digitalized and almost everyone carries some sort of digital technology in their pocket. However, with the ever-changing technology, it is equally important to ensure that frontline teams possess the necessary skills to adapt to this technology-driven era. One of the most critical skills is effective communication. In today’s age, we take for granted the ease of access to technology and information. Therefore, we tend to presume that everyone possesses the same knowledge. However, that is not always the case.

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Thus, it is essential for frontline teams to have the skill of clear communication. They must be able to convey product knowledge and be efficient in passing on their expertise to others. In addition, with the current virtual setup, the art of face-to-face communication is something that is missing and must be emphasized to ensure the same level of effectiveness as before.

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Importance of frontline customer service

Frontline customer service plays a critical role in shaping customer experience and creating a positive brand image. The frontline staff members are the face of the company, and their actions can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

It is important to understand the significance of having skilled and trained frontline staff who can handle customer queries, complaints, and feedback effectively. They need to have excellent communication skills and a friendly attitude to provide exceptional service to customers. Investing in their training can help them enhance their skills, build confidence, and stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and practices. By providing a great customer experience, frontline staff can help businesses retain customers, earn repeat business, and generate positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Frontline training helps equip teams with the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to handle customer interactions smoothly. The training should encompass a mix of technical knowledge, behavioral skills, and communication modules that can help frontline staff handle different types of situations efficiently.

Additionally, it is important to develop a customer-focused mindset in frontline teams, which leads to better customer interactions and increased customer satisfaction. A well-trained frontline team can reduce instances of miscommunication, complaints, and negative feedback, which can harm the reputation of the business. Overall, investing in frontline training can bring significant benefits to businesses, helping them to build a strong customer-centric culture and boost their bottom line.

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Simplifying learning for frontline teams

When it comes to training programs, content is king. It’s important to communicate complex ideas and strategies in a way that frontline workers can easily understand. This means using layman’s language that doesn’t assume prior knowledge or jargon that might go over their heads.

Take the example of an AI and ML training program done recently at Cashify, Alok explained that trainers tend to talk about data fairness and input-output processes with no context, leaving frontline workers completely lost. “If the content is presented in a way that uses simple language and clear examples, like ‘this is the input, this is the output’, workers can better connect to the material and understand how to implement it in their daily tasks. One must not assume that everyone knows what you’re talking about and remember to always put yourself in the shoes of the audience,” he said.

This problem is more prevalent in the current virtual learning ecosystem. In-person training sessions tend to provide a level of personal connection that virtual training fails to match. When teams are scattered over different locations and only communicate through screens, it’s harder to gauge the attention and understanding of each participant. It’s important to maintain a human element in remote training sessions by letting your personality shine through and being accessible when attendees have questions.

Nonetheless, technology has made virtual training easier than ever before. Despite that, it’s important to recognize that not everyone’s experience with technology is the same. Being patient and willing to help with tech-related issues can help foster trust and ease the learning process for all participants.

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Measuring the impact of training

Frontline teams are the backbone of any business, and it’s crucial to train them effectively to ensure your business thrives. The success of your training can be measured by the improvement of business metrics such as increase in NPS (Net Promoter Score) from customers. If your NPS is going up, your training is effective, but if it’s not, you need to identify gaps in your training and rework it. To measure the effectiveness of your training, you need to monitor metrics like employee utilization of the training material, the impact on escalation rates, and NPS scores. While it’s easy to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing, training is trickier. However, with the advancement of technology, it’s becoming easier to measure the effectiveness of training.

Fundamento, for instance, can help deliver training in the fastest and most efficient manner to frontline teams while ensuring continuous measurement and demonstrable impact of training.

If you’re looking for a solution then reach out to us at www.fundamento.ai.

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Starting a business is never easy, and it comes with its own set of challenges. Building a successful startup requires the right mindset and approach from the very beginning. In our latest Skill Flex Capsule, we spoke to Suhail Narain, Founder at Hudle about his experience as an early-stage founder.

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Learning and agility from day one

More often than not organizations implement learning and invest in building agile teams once they’ve lifted off the ground. This sometimes means that organizations have to work doubly hard to integrate skill-based learning systems within the organization.

According to Suhail, learning is something that should be integrated right from the start of any startup. “When building a startup, you slowly begin to identify where you lack skills, knowledge or expertise. In the first few years, it’s important for organizations to build teams that can adapt and evolve. We’re starting the process to find solutions to help our team acquire skills and grow at the moment,” he said.

The Importance of power skills

Teams working in a startup typically need to be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. Priorities change quickly, and sometimes even the entire business model. Suhail believes that agility naturally seeps in when you’re starting as a small team because you’re doing everything. Companies aren’t always able to afford experts in every domain. However, as the startup grows, it is essential to get specialists in specific areas. Suhail attests that as their team grows bigger, they’re looking to employ specialists across departments and one of the biggest challenges they face is curbing their tendencies to meddle in every domain.

Power skills are essential to address this issue right at the beginning of the business. To be able to manage evolving situations is critical as a company grows and companies usually see the impact of not having invested in developing their teams earlier at this stage.

Overcoming organizational challenges

All said and done, startups are constantly in a push and pull between keeping their company afloat and building teams that genuinely drive growth in the company. One of the biggest challenges startups face is setting up efficient organizational systems that develop a culture of learning. From lack of knowledge and resources to resistance to change and limited time and energy, the obstacles can seem insurmountable. The entire process can be overwhelming and leave startups struggling to maintain their business efficiently.

The biggest blocker in this process of setting up a learning ecosystem is a lack of knowledge and expertise. This is especially true for first-time entrepreneurs who are just getting started. They may not have the experience or the resources to set up a proper system and have a high chance of falling into common traps such as poor structure, lack of accountability, and unclear communication channels.

To overcome this, startups often seek the help of experienced consultants or advisors who can provide them with the necessary knowledge and expertise. Such consultants can guide startups in setting up an efficient organizational structure, and help them develop clear communication channels and policies. However, it can end up being one of the most expensive routes to take.

Lack of Resources

In most cases, startups work on tight budgets and have limited resources to invest in setting up an efficient organizational system. They may not have the necessary funds to hire experts or purchase the required software and tools. As a result, they may end up using outdated systems or processes.

To overcome this challenge, startups should focus on prioritizing their needs and invest in essential tools and systems first. They should also explore cost-effective options such as open-source software and cloud-based solutions. Additionally, startups should consider outsourcing services such as HR or payroll management to free up internal resources and focus on core business operations.

Resistance to Change

Resistance to change is a common challenge faced particularly in startups that haven’t built in an agile mindset right from the beginning. Teams may not be open to new changes, especially if they have been used to a certain way of working. This can cause conflicts and struggles in the workplace, which may ultimately affect the productivity of the team.

To overcome this challenge, it is important to communicate clearly with employees and involve them in the process of implementing new systems. Employees should be made aware of the benefits of the new systems, and their concerns and feedback should be heard and taken into consideration. This helps build a sense of ownership, and employees are more likely to be supportive of the new changes.

Limited Time and Energy

Startups are often focused on building their business and have limited time and energy to dedicate to setting up organizational systems. This may cause delays in implementing essential systems, and result in inefficiencies and errors.

According to Suhail, prioritizing tasks and setting achievable deadlines are key. Startups should also consider delegating tasks to capable team members who can take ownership of specific tasks and deliverables.

By addressing these challenges and implementing efficient systems, startups can improve their productivity, efficiency, and overall success. Fundamento helps organizations integrate skill-based systems to develop performing teams. Reach out to us at hello@fundamento.ai.

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We know that the future of work is full of uncertainty and requires organizations to constantly invest in building agile teams. We’ve spent a lot of time on Skill Flex to deep dive into this. However, after over 20 conversations with senior professionals across business, HR and L&D, we’ve realized that more often than not, companies don’t know where to even begin.

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Particularly when it comes to equipping teams and implementing any form of people strategy, for those trying to kickstart the L&D journey at their companies, professionals believe it is a complete black box. We recently spoke with Priyanka Peeramsetty, Chief of Staff at InFeedo who felt that for most people identifying what their immediate learning needs are is the biggest challenge.

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Listen to the full episode here.

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“Learning and development historically has been a crucial part of the people function. The fact that there is a need to upskill people is undisputed. It has to be continuous, it has to be proactive, and it has to be driven by the individual and the manager both. However, the most noticeable learning delta that I’ve seen is when managers root for their team’s learning,” said Priyanka.

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Previously, we’ve heard several senior sales professionals highlight the role of managers in personalizing an employee’s learning journey. This is pertinent to note because what this indicates is a shift from a one-size-fits-all approach. Particularly with learning, it is common to see organizations hold webinars, workshops and sessions for their employees without emphasizing upon each individual’s actual need. This is the primary reason for the lack of measurement of RoI on learning.

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However, one big challenge organizations face while doing this is articulating the learning  goal. Most companies don’t reverse engineer from the business goal. Priyanka believes that articulation of this learning goal takes the maximum amount of energy and time, both from an L&D person’s perspective and the learner. The second point of friction is incentivising learning.

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Priyanka explained, “If learning is not a part of your KPIs based on which you’ll be evaluated for promotions, it is very rare that anyone other than a highly motivated individual will invest their time. This is a constant challenge we face.”

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The third point of friction is measurement. Measuring the impact of learning is critical for companies and they often struggle to get clear data on how much an individual has improved and map that to business metrics.

Fundamento helps organizations connect key business metrics to targeted learning so they can regularly measure RoI on training.

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In her role at inFeedo, Priyanka’s actively worked to implement learning and she said that at the end of the day, implementation is difficult because you’re firefighting projects and deadlines on a constant basis, so what time do you trade off and how. There’s also internal competition especially at the early manager level which makes it even more difficult to implement learning unless it is in the flow of work. “So it essentially becomes extremely important to demonstrate to learners that by learning, you are going to achieve your targets faster. This awareness is hard to establish unless an end-to-end system is in place in an organization,” said Priyanka.

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With Skill Flex, we’ve been emphasizing the importance of measurement at every level and what Priyanka said to us validated our approach to a large extent. At the end of the day, organizations need a lot more than intent and an L&D team to activate real learning and growth and this can be done when a skill-based system is established at the workplace and a thorough measurement linked directly to business outcomes is put in place.

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If this is something you’re looking for, reach out to us at hello@fundamento.ai.

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