product knowledge
Case study
Using an incentive scheme to improve product knowledge
The products offered by Sky are rich, varied and frequently changing. For over 5 years, Sky has used the Focus Staff Incentive Scheme to help ensure that customer-facing staff are knowledgeable, confident and accurate when discussing these products with existing and prospective customers.
Confidence and accuracy are of particular importance in customer services departments where call types range through up-sell, complaint-handling or rescuing a cancellation. Staff are also expected to be confident when talking about current and future programming schedules - what's on, who is starring, etc. Requirements such as these create a considerable challenge both for Marketing, who are trying to introduce new products into the offering, and Contact Centre Operations, who need to meet demanding performance targets.
Standard training and learning development strategies have been successful for Sky within the Contact Centre environment, although there were distinct knowledge gaps that the traditional approach seemed to be less successful in overcoming. Sky turned to targeted incentivisation as a method of achieving higher levels of agent knowledge and performance, and the Focus staff incentive scheme was introduced to meet this need. The scheme has grown in scale, popularity and effectiveness and is now used by over 9,000 contact centre staff.
The scheme allows campaigns to be created which encourage agents to earn reward points for completing specific learning activities. Such activities may be a daily quiz designed to reinforce some knowledge, or to read a particular document, or there may be an e-learning package designed to convey a significant amount of information in a structured way. Activities can be determined at department level or by individual team managers who have identified a specific knowledge or skills gap within their own team.
For Sky, rewards are always in Focus Points and agents can view their points balance in their own private Focus bank-style account. Points may be spent in the integral e-shop which contains a variety of goods from garden furniture to Tesco Vouchers. Agents can create wish-lists and the system will track these and advise staff how close they are to achieving their desired items.
In summary, for over five years the Focus Staff Incentive Scheme has helped Sky ensure that contact-centre staff have the appropriate level of product knowledge and that they are confident and accurate when working in a customer services environment.
About Focus
Focus is a web-based staff incentive system, created and managed by Sigmer Technologies, that allows Sky to manage the incentivisation of over 9,000 contact centre staff, rewarding them for achievements in learning and productivity. The system, which allows Campaign Managers to create custom incentive campaigns targeting all or specific segments of staff, includes fun and learning activities together with an integral e-shop and fulfilment.
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Sky is one of the world's leading digital entertainment providers, and is the U.K.'s largest digital television platform. Contact centre staff play a vital role in the business as they are at the frontline of the company's image.
