The nations largest supplier of pathology testing, Ampath, recently called on The Learning Theatre Organisation to help with the training of their call centre staff.

      

The Ampath Call Centre handles hundreds of calls per day from clients, suppliers and medical aid schemes. Staffs is highly trained in terms of technical knowledge and are expected to attend to a variety of queries.

The Ampath Call Centre management felt, however, that their staff were not always getting through to callers due to a lack of communication skills. They therefore, asked The Learning Theatre Organization to help.

The Learning Theatre created a theatre-based workshop to address the concerns of management; and over a period of two days they showed the call centre employees the value of good communication skills and a positive approach when taking calls.

The workshops were conducted by two very experienced actresses under the guidance of The Learning Theatre and the value added to the already highly trained call centre staff was immense.

The trainees felt that they were given skills that they could begin to use immediately and there was a newfound sense of enthusiasm among the staff at the end of the workshop.

Said the manager of the Ampath Call Centre: "They showed us ways to handle customers in a more positive, attentive and professional manner. In closing, the actors said that although they do not always feel their best, they have to get on stage and give their best performance every time. In a sense we are just like them and we have to give our best customer service every time."

Other call centres have since contacted the Learning Theatre Organisation with the view to training their staff as well.