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February 12, 2001

Borders Adds Online Training To Call Centers

Web-based training at desktops streamlines instruction process for service reps

By Sandra Swanson (sswanson@cmp.com)

More on customer service:

TechWeb: Cellular Carriers Need To Channel Customers (1/23/01)

TechWeb: Keep Those Online Shoppers Smiling (12/18/00)

hen Charlie Moore joined Borders Group Inc. as director of customer service, he saw the need to begin a new chapter in the company's call-center history. A year later, the bookseller has scrapped inefficient methods of training and evaluating representatives, and is delivering critical information to reps' desktops with Web-based Click2Coach call-center software from Envision Telephony.

With about 15,000 calls per week--28,000 during the holidays--from Waldenbooks, Borders Books & Music, and Borders.com customers, the call center's 50 or so reps have little time for training. When software was introduced in the past, call-center trainers conducted one-on-one instruction, which often took days. New site functionality was usually explained in paper handouts.

Today, Windows NT-based Click2Coach lets Borders create online training--for example, mimicking how customers might navigate the new Valentine boutique on Borders.com. Online training is particularly critical for new hires at the La Vergne, Tenn., center, Moore says.

The system, to be rolled out in March, lets supervisors automate call recording so they can review customer conversations later; previously, supervisors had to monitor calls in real time. A screen-capture feature shows whether the reps access the right information on a preferred-reader loyalty program during the call.

The previous feedback process was inconvenient, since supervisors pulled reps off the phone for sit-down discussions. Now, reps can replay their calls over phone lines while reviewing "Web-based evaluations" from their station.

The center has piloted Click2Coach since December. Reps "see this as a really useful tool," says Moore. "We're hoping it will help us stay on top." A Forrester Research study last fall ranked Bor-ders.com No. 1 in overall customer satisfaction for consumer book sites.

Call centers represent a more-strategic part of business than ever, and reps are often required to augment traditional customer-service skills with sales techniques, says Dataquest senior analyst Drew Kraus. Online training "allows them to ramp up if a spike occurs in call volume."

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