FastAgent™ is a strategic solution for improving the productivity and financial performance of call center operations. It is a comprehensive learning system that equips call center agents to deliver the high-level of quality service and operational efficiency that is essential for effective customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. It enables agents to maximize the value they create with customers, while it increases agent productivity and reduces the total cost of call center operations.

Overview
FastAgent™ is the most advanced method for training new and existing call center agents. It applies sophisticated instructional technology and productivity improvement methods to provide each call center operation with a customized learning system that optimizes agent learning and performance on the job. FastAgent™ ends the expensive practice of learning through “trial and error” that must depend on extensive coaching by supervisors. Now agents will learn the most cost-effective way to assist customers, and be able to use this preferred way on the first call and every call. As a result, agents can serve limited customer needs perfectly by the end of their first week of learning, and achieve what supervisors consider “fully capable” in 50% less time than is now required with customary call center training methods. Soft-skills and competencies are developed to complement this initial training process, thereby re-positioning the entry-level agent position as a more attractive career development opportunity.

Your customized FastAgent™ learning system will . . .

• Reduce agent training time by more than 50%
• Lower agent call times by more than 20%
• Improve customer service quality and customer loyalty
• Increase new revenue opportunities by more than 30%
• Prevent agent errors and unnecessary callbacks
• Reduce the need for agent coaching and supervision on the floor
• Improve agent job satisfaction
• Minimize absenteeism and attrition

FastAgent™ has been proven effective in call centers with 50 to 2,000 agents, typically reducing the total cost of call center operations by more than 20%. Development and implementation requires 4 to 12 months, and direct operational savings before completion easily offsets the costs.

Target Applications
The FastAgent™ learning system is ideal for call centers involved primarily with inbound customer service and sales, and seeking (1) reduced total cost of operations, (2) increased customer satisfaction and value creation, and (3) greater workforce stability and effectiveness. FastAgent™ will improve agent service quality and productivity in all call center system environments, and is particularly effective when agents must work with highly complex systems, products and services, and must apply strict parameters, regulations and policies in decision-making.

Proprietary Technology
FastAgent™ is training technology so advanced that we’ve applied for a patent. This unique technology taps into emerging knowledge from many other scientific disciplines, including operations research, organization development, knowledge management, system dynamics, action research, socioeconomics, humaneering, and others. Altogether, this new knowledge enables FastAgent™ clients to breakthrough call center benchmarks and best practices to establish new levels of call center performance and productivity.

Implementation
FastAgent™ technology is customized to each call center operation, resulting in an entire system of integrated processes, methods and materials. Altogether, this learning system assures that agents quickly learn the most effective and efficient way to perform their work, remain 100% up to date on changes to systems and policies, and continuously develop their soft-skills and competencies (e.g., listening, empathy, making offers, patience, building trust, etc.). Furthermore, members of the client’s call center staff are apprenticed in FastAgent™ technology during the implementation process in order to ensure that the new learning system is subsequently maintained and the client is prepared to apply FastAgent™ to future learning challenges as they arise.

The comprehensive nature of the FastAgent™ learning system requires the complete alignment of all agent training and development processes, methods and materials within each call center operation. Considerable work is involved to access and digest the relevant knowledge and to integrate it into FastAgent™ technology. Implementation success generally requires client support and involves the development of client specific materials.

Transitioning to FastAgent™ requires the following broad forms of client support:

• Executive sponsorship—executive leadership and support is essential to align the call center operation with business strategy and objectives
• Participation of selected agents and supervisors—full-time involvement will be required for 4 to 8 weeks
• Support of selected trainers or managers—full-time leadership and part-time support will be required from trainers and managers
• Change leadership—call center management will need to provide appropriate leadership for the inherent cultural transition
• Performance-improvement incentives—call center managers and support staff should have supporting financial incentives or rewards that are in line with the operational savings generated through this initiative

Clients are provided with a set of deliverables to support the ongoing administration, application and maintenance of their customized learning system:

• FastAgent™ Administration Guide
• FastAgent™ Work System Learning Handbook (includes pre-integrated algo-heuristic workflows for all call types, agent functions, and relevant administrative procedures).
• FastAgent™ Training Facilitation Guides for instructors/supervisors (customized for agent populations):
  • New-hire agents—training to perform the work
  • Recent new-hire agents—re-training as needed
  • Experienced agents—developing more productive technique
  • Challenged agents—overcoming specific challenges
  • Remote agents—training remotely
• FastAgent™ Skill Development Guides for instructors/supervisors (for the 20 most important behaviors, including soft skills and competencies)
• FastAgent™ Coaching Guide for supervisors

Frequently Asked Questions
Where have you implemented this approach to training? We originally designed this learning system for a 2,000-agent call center for Associates Financial Services (then a unit of Ford, now Citigroup), but since have utilized the design successfully for a 1,000-agent call center for First USA (now BankOne), a 600-agent call center for Verizon Wireless Messaging, and several smaller installations.

Why is this training so much more effective than traditional call center methods? Even a short answer has three parts. First, productivity improvement has been our business since 1978 and our knowledge of how to achieve improvement in knowledge work and service operation productivity is probably unrivaled in the world. Second, most call center training is loosely based on educational—not training—methods and for this reason falls short of fulfilling its purpose. Third, in most cases there has been no strategic direction or incentive to substantially improve customer service quality or reduce operating expenses, so what sort of worked yesterday was allowed to continue. Today, quality service is becoming essential and excess costs are intolerable.

What kind of investment is required? No capital expenditure is required because the costs can be offset by the direct savings in operating expenses in a matter of a few months. The client’s internal costs can be absorbed in the same way. Our fees vary mostly by the number and location of call center facilities and the complexity of the agent’s work. Thus far, fees for projects of this type have varied between $250K and $2M, and direct financial payback through expense savings and increased revenues has taken 1 to 5 months.

How long does implementation require? The development part of the process can take 2 to 6 months, again based on the number and location of facilities and complexity of the agent’s work. Implementation also can take 2 to 6 months based on these same factors. Since the transfer of FastAgent™ technology occurs through apprenticeship, we will work closely with the client until the client staff demonstrates the competence to facilitate and maintain the learning system.

How do I determine the specific cost and implementation timeframe for our call center operations? The fastest way is to directly contact Jim Pepitone at jimpepitone@pepitone.com with the details on your call center operations. He will respond by email, and may eventually want to meet with you and observe the work and collect data at one or more of your call centers. Within just a few days he will contact you with an estimate of our fees and your projected payback and ROI. If you remain interested, either he or another consultant will work with you to prepare a proposal that fully addresses your operations and objectives.