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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
