The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

August 18, 2011 -- An internal training video for Telstra's call centre and shop-front staff has emerged, complete with actors posing as difficult customers and senior executives dressed in promotional clothing.

The 10-minute video — titled "Opportunities to be Awesome" — encourages staff to tell customers about new online self-service facilities in a bid to get more Telstra customers using online facilities rather than call centres and shop fronts .

And like all great training videos, Telstra's effort is patronising to viewers and embarrassing for the participants.

Gordon Ballantyne, who recently took on responsibility for all wholesale, business and retail customers, appears in a suit jacket over a T-shirt, with a red promotional badge pinned to a lapel, asking staff to help drive customers to the online services.

Chief executive David Thodey also appears, sans promotional clothing, to serenade staff with the line: "I want you all to know I love this company and I love the people I work with, and together I know we can do such great things."

Telstra hopes to move 35 per cent of customer contact on to self-service websites within a few years, up from 8 per cent earlier this year. Several thousand customers have already applied for an online account. This would also reduce congestion in call centres and shops.

Online self-service is common across the telecommunications sector. A Vodafone spokesman said more than 1 million customers visited 3's online portal every month, while Optus said 2.5 million of its customers used online accounts.

However, the Telstra video makes clear that too many of its customers are still unaware of online services.

"[Customers] want to use the internet anywhere any time for almost anything," the narrator states. "Buying and selling, banking and travel, entertainment, education, friendship and romance. Anything it seems except delivery and payment of their Telstra bills.

"And yet over 70 per cent of our customers say that is exactly what they want. Clearly, they could do with a nudge."

The new head of Telstra Digital, Gerd Schenkel, told BusinessDay the video would screen at a new movie night being held for 3000 staff from call centres, stores and digital units.

He said store staff were often "bombarded with change" and the video would help remind them about the company's long-term goals.

"It is meant to be humorous, like a skit. The role of customers is obviously important, but the role of the front-of-house staff member is really what counts in those skits," he said.

While employees have told BusinessDay they found the training video "embarrassing" and "demeaning to staff", Mr Schenkel, who appears in a red hooded jumper, said he was given positive feedback from the first sessions.

"It is hard to judge because we do have very broad range of staff in terms of age and gender and location. The idea of the video is to speak to the broad audience," he said.

"The idea of the training video is to share the broader journey with our front-of-house staff so they understand this is not just a one-off thing we are doing . . . this is a long journey for the company."

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.smh.com.au

About Telstra:
Telstra Incorporated is a global provider of advanced communications services to multinational corporations.