Stena staff get the WOW! factor

Stena Line ferries recently hit on a novel way to improve its customer experience - by using a dynamic form of hands-on training involving professional actors.

Stena Line ferries approached soft skills corporate training company Sold Out Trainers for help in improving its interaction with customers on the Stranraer to Belfast ferry line. After speaking to managers and staff, travelling on the line as mystery passengers, and visiting a customer call centre and a vehicle check-in area, Sold Out developed a bespoke training programme designed to create a Wow! factor with Stenaís customers.

Sold Outís innovative training and coaching technique, based on an acting process called Forum Theatre, mimics specific real life situations, with actors playing the parts of customers or staff members. With the help of facilitators, delegates then have the chance to ídirectí the scene, ípausingí and írewindingí the live action and dictating how the actor responds. The team of actors, who all have extensive business experience, also take part in what is known as íhot seatingí, where they remain in character after the scenarios, so delegates can quiz them on how they felt during the scene, what affected them, and why they acted in a certain way.

During a series of half day sessions with a total of 250 of Stena Lineís onboard and offshore staff, a team of Sold Out actors recreated nine different ímoments of truthí scenarios, based on real-life situations. The practical, realistic demonstrations showed how staff responses or actions directly affected passengersí experiences, included being served in a restaurant, and the ícheck backí process where Stena staff hand out customer comment cards.

The delegates had to get involved, ask questions, rate the actors for their behaviour in particular situations, and pick scenarios which they could íre- directí the action to achieve a more positive outcome, said Debra Stevens, Sold Out Trainerís Director, who has run courses all over the world for clients including BT, Capita and Pearson Education.

We call the moment of truth a ílight bulb momentí when people see for themselves how they act in certain situations and realise the effect their actions have. Itís like holding up a mirror, and can be a real eye-opener. Itís something they donít forget.

The full Wow! factor programme has now been implemented on the Stranraer to Belfast line. Stenaís Training Officer Jim Gaffney said: The training was excellent - very hands-on and different to what we deliver ourselves. Itís innovative and certainly provided a major boost to the staff. They all felt were very positive about it and enjoyed it. It was a true realisation for them; they felt they were able to look at their own delivery and the customer experience and then take on board what they saw. The fact that they could stop and írewindí the experience was a great way for them to see how improvements can be made.

He added: We felt Sold Out had really done their homework and provided some very good examples of daily situations that employees would come across. The training created the atmosphere we wanted and delivered exactly what we wanted. I can definitely say that as a result staff are more positive in their jobs and customer feedback has improved.

For more information about Sold Out Trainers, call 01908 673868.