Coaching Delivery

The way you deliver a coaching to a Support Ambassador will dictate the rapport you have,  the effort they put in, and the confidence they have to succeed. There are a few things to remember when delivering a coaching session:

1. Do not talk about numbers- we don't want the Support Ambassador to shut down, close off, feel embarrassed, etc.

2. Refrain from using accusatory language- we don't want the to become defensive vs. having them come to the conclusion that they didn't do something

3. Remain Positive throughout the interaction- we want this to be an uplifting session that is going to pump them up and walk out excited

4. Have the Support Ambassador Talking- The more they speak the more engaged they will be in the conversation

Remember in the preparation section we reviewed the coaching roadmap? That outlines and walks you through the conversation step by step.  Below is a recap of the coaching conversation flow:

Let's take a look at each of these areas.

1. Build Rapport: At the end of the day, we're all human. Be sure that you spend the first part of your conversation connecting with the Support Ambassador. Ask about their weekend, follow up on personal things they have told you in the past, anything on the personal side to build that rapport.

2. Talk About Wins: Let the conversation flow personal discussion to accomplishments or “wins” they had from the previous week. Starting on a positive note can be vital to the remainder of this session.

3. Agenda: Let the Support Ambassador know what we plan to discuss during the meeting. Keep it simple: “Today I would like to talk about answering all direct and implied questions and the impact this has on the user’s understanding of the resolution.” It's very clear what subject we intend to discuss, based on that statement. 

4. Probe for Understanding: Before jumping into your supporting documentation, probe the Support Ambassador to validate understanding of the behavior. This is a great way to determine if this is if this is a skill issue or a will issue. If you were talking about Empathy, maybe some questions one should ask are:

   • 1. 1. 1. What is Empathy to you?

           2. How do you show empathy?

           3. How can empathy help with the flow of the conversation?

5. Supporting documents: If you want to get buy-in on why this behavior or skill needs to improve, documentation is key This could be pulling calls, pulling up tickets to review, etc.. If listening to calls, it's important to focus in on just the snippet that portrays the behavior you're discussing, to avoid anything that might steer away from the behavior in scope. 

6. Probe for Root Cause: Once you have provided your supporting documentation, you want to probe to determine the root cause; the “why” is the behavior occurring. Also, we want to be sure to eliminate any excuses; the easiest way to identify an excuse is if it is anything outside of the Support Ambassador’s control. The root cause needs to be something that is in their control. Drill down to specifics by asking the 5 whys.

7. Activity: This part of the coaching should take the majority of your time. This part of the coaching is used to do an activity that is going to help the Support Ambassador improve on their behavior. Be very creative here on the activity; think outside the box. 

8. Create S.M.A.R.T Goals: Now that you have gone over the behavior, supporting documentation, determined the root cause, and completed an activity; we move on to setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. As a reminder, this is what is expected with a S.M.A.R.T goal:

9. Create an Action Plan: These should be action-oriented and measurable. Aim to walk away with three items:

• Support Ambassador action for the week: The Support Ambassador should have an action to focus on; it should be more than just them exhibiting the behavior.  For example, if we are working on empathy, you can give them top UI’s and have them send you how they would show empathy for that issue. 

• Team Manager action for the week: The Team Manager should also have an action. For example, if we were working on empathy, the Team Manager could listen to two calls per day, listening for empathy, and follow up.

• Something measurable: all action plans need to measurable, but avoid focusing on metrics for individual targets. For example, rather than focusing on NPS, utilize call listening to zero in on the behavior. Again using empathy as the target behavior, you could set a goal that the Support Ambassador displays empathy on 8 of 10 pulled calls.