Customer
De-escalations
A Blended training program focused on training Advocates to de-escalate dissatisfied customers
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The Customer De-escalation course was a fun and challenging training problem to solve. When I first met with my stakeholders I quickly found out that the team did not have a SOP for how de-escalations were handled on the team! This proved to be an unexpected challenge as I was not only tasked with developing a training course to design and create but also advising the team on different de-escalation methods available and helping them decide on a framework that they wanted to use. Luckily the team quickly found a framework we could use and my problem was already half solved!
After meeting with my stakeholders (again), I identified that learners would need to learn about the new framework for de-escalating customers, soft skills they should use to de-escalate upset customers, and how they all came together in practice. The next challenge was to decide on the delivery method for this training.
I determined the best solution to teach the new curriculum would be a blended training solution - having an E-learning to deliver the new material to learners, followed up with a vILT session that allowed learners to practice using the new framework and soft skills needed to de-escalate upset customers.
The training program started with learners completing a required E-learning course. The course introduced learners to the new framework they would use to de-escalate upset customers as well as the different soft skills they would need to successfully de-escalate customers.
This course was delivered to learners 2 weeks ahead of the vILT sessions which would allow the business enough time to schedule their learners to complete the E-learning course and follow up with their PEs.
I uploaded the course inside the LMS (LearnUpon) and used one of its functionalities which allowed learners to enroll into one of the many different dates/times I would be hosting the vILT sessions. This gave learners the choice of choosing which session best aligned with their schedule.
I created the workshop to be interactive - which allowed the learners to apply the knowledge they learned from the E-learning. The goal behind this was to create excitement and engagement with the new material, as well as help them build their confidence to use the new de-escalation framework on their next interaction with an upset customer.
The deliver method for this vILT was through a curated Google Presentation. Learners were also given a curated activity sheet for them to use during the workshop.
I wanted to use something during the workshop that would still allow learners to practice without the heavy feeling that a de-escalation has on individuals. I chose to incorporate fun little video clips that would keep learners engaged but still aligned with the workshop objectives. The clip shown here is from the movie, “Inside Out.” If you haven’t seen this movie, I would highly recommend it!
This was the team’s new framework they decided to implement as the best way for their team to de-escalate upset customers. I honestly really loved this framework because it was easy to use and aligned with the company’s values - it was also a cool acronym which made it easy to remember!
I created an easy-to-reference one-pager (shown here) through Canva, which learners were given during the E-learning course they completed. These one pages were designed so they could download them onto their computers and print them out if they wanted. The idea behind the supportive training material was to give learners the option of having something quickly accessible in case they needed help during an escalation, or for Managers to use and reinforce during scheduled 1:1’s.