Training an established supplier
How we helped Spark Energy develop a bespoke and comprehensive training programme, to maximise collections opportunities.
‘It was brilliant. The activities will help bring enthusiasm and the discussions will give everyone the skills they need going forward.’
– Spark Energy customer services advisor
Overview
Launched in 2008, Spark Energy works with letting agents and landlords to ensure everything is ready when a customer moves in.
With over 350,000 customers nationwide, the company aims to save time, hassle and money for letting agents, their tenants and landlords.
The challenge
Spark identified that customer service advisors were missing key opportunities when handling calls and enquiries.
Amongst their concerns was that direct debits were not being promoted as a payment method, meter readings were not being requested, and customers in arrears were not being asked to make payments.
While the company’s advisors were trained to handle enquiries, they lacked the knowledge, experience or confidence to handle other areas, which had resulted in an increase of bad debt.
Spark turned to Sigma Connected to see if we could help them.
The solution
We delivered a comprehensive two-day training programme to 150 Spark Energy advisors at the client’s offices, who were split into 10 groups.
Bespoke training was provided in a wide range of areas, including call management, dealing with different customers and resolving complaints.
Specific focus was placed on vulnerable customers and financial hardship and our approach was adapted to complement Spark Energy’s established training programme.
Additional floor-walking support also helped reinforce key messages and embed skills.
The result
Even advisors who had been with Spark Energy for some time said they felt more enthusiastic about their jobs and felt that they had been given the tools to be more assertive during calls.
This enabled them to assist in limiting bad debt and improving the rate of collections.
