Company How We Help Industries Locations Careers Resources Contact SYKES is now part of Sitel Group®. Visit www.sitel.com for more information. CASE STUDY SYKES’ Training Revamp Makes Retailer’s Holiday Season Ramp-Up Much Merrier 10 10 SHARES HOME >> RESOURCE LIBRARY >> SYKES’ TRAINING REVAMP MAKES RETAILER’S HOLIDAY SEASON RAMP-UP MUCH MERRIER Each year, without fail, the holidays arrive at the same time. Every parent, significant other and retailer should be prepared. But most of all, every retail customer care department should be OVER prepared. A major global brand partner recognized the importance of a high-performing support team and presented SYKES with the challenge of creating just that. See how redesigning our seasonal onboarding training program helped this brand top their overall brand experience with the beautiful bow of stellar customer service. Our Brand Partner SYKES’ brand partner is a global retail leader, providing a wide range of products — grocery, pharmacy, apparel, lifestyle and home, electronics, etc. — at affordable prices. With more than 11,200 stores in 27 countries and a substantial e-commerce presence, the brand achieves annual total revenue of $5.3 billion (USD) and employs 2.2 million associates worldwide. SYKES provides home-based customer service agents for this brand through our proprietary SYKESHome system. Challenge Due to holiday season business needs, our brand partner sees an increase in call volume from October to December as shoppers purchase last-minute holiday gifts. SYKES annually ramps up to support the large headcount needed to handle the holiday influx of contact regarding order placement and status, refunds, cancellations and more. However, onboarding a large number of agents on an expedited schedule negatively affected performance, and SYKES was tasked with resolving this problem. As the brand partner re-aligned average handle time (AHT) and quality assurance (QA) goals to improve the customer experience, SYKES had to adjust accordingly to meet and exceed those expectations. Our Approach We leaned on a deep dive analysis of our ramp-up processes to determine gaps and opportunities for improvement. The major detractors identified for AHT were a lack of hands-on experience and limited advance access to the brand’s systems. The gaps affecting QA scores included lack of empathy, missed call flow steps, call transfer issues, call refusal and avoidance of escalated calls, extended hold times, proper account documenting, and more. An in-depth review of our training curricula helped us address these issues by implementing the following improvements: Results SYKES measured the effectiveness of these improvement efforts based on a YOY comparison of AHT and QA scores for the first five weeks of new-agent production — one nesting week and weeks 1–4 of live production. The challenge of rapid ramping/onboarding combined with the brand’s adoption of a different QA form that increased performance goals (by 13 percent and 9 percent for nesting and production weeks, respectively), meant that our approach needed to achieve immediate and dramatic results. SYKES’ training redesign delivered the desired results. Though the shift to a new QA form made an apples-to-apples comparison in that area impossible, our holiday ramp-up class of 886 new agents surpassed the QA score goal all five weeks, scoring 16 percent above goal in the fourth week of production. Despite increased call volumes affecting the number and effectiveness of call simulations available to agents, AHT decreased significantly in the nesting week compared to the previous year. Performance improved each week, coming within 10 seconds of the brand’s AHT goal by the third week of production. TOP VENDOR for CSAT in first month of peak season TOP VENDOR for AHT while handling highest call volume in second month of peak season 15% YOY increase of agent retention in seasonal onboarding class QA — Exceeded increased goal all five weeks Reached 97% by Production Week 4 Exceeded new goal by an average of more than 10% DOWNLOAD CASE STUDY CONTACT US CASE STUDYRECENTLY ADDED Work-At-Home: A Paradigm Shift That Strengthened Business in Face of Pandemic CASE STUDYRECENTLY ADDED Focus on Social Responsibility Leads to Improved Business Processes CASE STUDYRECENTLY ADDED SYKES’ Innovation Brings Customer Requests Management to a New Level CASE STUDYRECENTLY ADDED Refining Efficiencies for Technology Partner Through Best Practices & More THOUGHT LEADERSHIPRELATED Sustainability Report: Commitment to Transparency & Accountability THOUGHT LEADERSHIPRELATED GRI Report: An Open Look at the Company’s Sustainability Strategy THOUGHT LEADERSHIPRELATED Tech Academy: Preparing the Workforce for a Digital Economy THOUGHT LEADERSHIPRELATED SYKES ENGLISH ACADEMY: A Key Contributor of Bilingual Talent for an Evolving Sector FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY Sustainability News HOW WE HELP Outsourcing Holistic CX Service to Sales Extend Your Brand Digital Transformation INDUSTRIES Communications Energy & Utilities Financial Services Healthcare Insurance Services Retail Small & Medium Businesses Technology Travel MORE INFORMATION Locations Careers Employee Spotlight Contact Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated is a leading provider of multichannel demand generation and customer engagement services for Global 2000 companies and their end customers. SYKES’ differentiated full lifecycle solutions and services — digital marketing, sales expertise, customer service, technical support and more through multichannel delivery platforms — effectively engage customers at every touchpoint of the customer journey. Our complete service offering helps clients acquire, retain and increase the lifetime value of their customer relationships through cost-effective solutions that enhance the customer service experience, promote stronger brand loyalty, and foster high levels of performance and profitability. Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies | Standards of Conduct | Accessibility SYKES FAMILY OF COMPANIES Learn More Copyright © 2021 Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated