4 Ways To Apply Microlearning To Your Training
Customer-facing employees represent your brand, so it pays to keep them well-equipped. But their busy, fast-paced jobs make taking time out for training difficult. Microlearning is a solution for ensuring you get them the right training at the right time.
Training needs vary when you’re talking about supporting those who support your customers. Maybe you’re looking to offer core training in product knowledge, sales skills, or processes and tools. Or, you may simply need to roll out a quick product update. Either way, microlearning is a solution with a lot to offer.
What Is Microlearning? And, Why Should I Be Using It?
At its heart, microlearning is concise training, offered in short, bite-sized chunks. Lessons can be completed in a matter of minutes, and usually from anywhere. This kind of training is used across various industries and serves many needs. While it may look different in each instance, the benefits are consistent.
The number one—and most obvious—benefit is convenience. Bite-sized learning fits around busy schedules, and learners can engage when and where it suits them. But there are more reasons to make microlearning a part of your customer service training strategy. For example:
Microlearning Is Digestible
Lessons are cut down to cover only one concept or skill without any fluff. This laser-like focus removes distractions and makes it clear and easy for learners to give the content their full attention. And when employees can focus on just one concept, they reach comprehension quickly.
It Boosts Knowledge Retention
Learning transfer is one of the key concerns of any training program. Convenience and cost are important considerations, but their value is lost if employees don’t walk away with the skills you want them to learn. And when it comes to critical skills and knowledge, it's best not to overwhelm learners with information. Shorter lessons with fewer key points are easier to learn, but also easier to recall when it matters.
It Offers Just-In-Time Info And Updates
Scalability is big in today’s corporate training world. Rolling out learning across an organization can be a long and expensive process. This is especially true when you're working with employees in multiple locations. If you're looking to share product or process changes with your whole workforce, then short mobile employee training is the perfect vehicle.
Targeted learning that highlights just the changes can be rolled out across a team or organization without disrupting work schedules. It’s quick and easy because it doesn’t get bogged down in logistics like coordinating trainers and facilities. It offers just what you need when you need it.
It’s Faster And More Cost-Effective To Develop
Mobile learning offers obvious savings in travel costs and employee time away from work. But shorter self-contained content is also easier to build and roll out. A mobile training platform designed specifically to help you create, manage, and administer microlearning makes delivering training especially fast and affordable.
Who Is Microlearning For?
Everyone. Bite-sized training is a good solution for many learning needs. But let’s look at key reasons it’s a great option specifically for training your customer-facing employees:
- It’s an ideal solution for salespeople who spend most of their working hours focused on customers and sales funnels. Attention spans are short for things that take them away from sales objectives.
- Customer service employees benefit from the quick updates that keep them up to speed on products and policies. The faster they can be updated and the more pointed the training, the more readily they can get support and solutions to customers.
- Deskless employees—for example, retail salespeople—also benefit from quick, accessible employee training. Mobile learning is an efficient way to give them easy access to important material.
Simple and available training means employees are more likely to engage with and remember the content. A good training experience in turn builds the confidence your employees need to create a seamless and top-notch customer experience. So let’s look at how you can best use microlearning to support your customer service training.
How To Use Microlearning For Customer Service Training
Consider the following tips for how to make the most of your customer service training with microlearning:
1. Run Quiz-Based Courses
Quizzing has been shown to be an effective learning strategy. It's a great way to get learners engaged in the learning process. When you test people on what they know, they get into thinking processes that help cement that knowledge. And when they have to work to recall information, they're more likely to remember it in the long run.
Consider offering quizzes in your microlearning lessons. These can be recall-based (open-ended questions where learners have to supply the answers) or recognition-based (e.g., multiple-choice questions).
Quizzing can intensify the focus of concise training. Each lesson teaches the core of one concept or skill, and testing learners on the knowledge reinforces learning. When you test immediately, you make it more likely they'll keep that information.
2. Include Scenarios And Role Plays
Scenario-based learning is a great way to reinforce learning. Role-playing activities help people feel comfortable stepping up to any situation with a customer. They let employees practice real-world skills and scripts in a risk-free environment.
This is particularly useful in soft skills training, where solutions aren’t as black and white as with technical or product knowledge. Letting people try out the skills for themselves helps them get comfortable navigating the nuances of crucial communication.
Try setting up a scenario through video or text, then have learners practice responding appropriately. This engages their brains in complex thought processes, which gets them thinking more about the content. It also helps them see what’s working and what’s not in a safe environment. They can try again and improve before facing the real thing.
3. Demonstrate With Video
Demonstration is a powerful teaching method. When people can see skills and processes in action, it makes the content more “sticky.” And that's where videos can help. Give your customer service employees a solid understanding of how to respond to customers by explaining and then demonstrating a typical interaction through video. Share scripts they can use to respond to questions or common concerns.
For more practical training, use video to demonstrate proper product use or assembly. Or, highlight features employees should be aware of and able to explain. Give learners a sense of the content’s impact by including case studies where people elaborate on the connection between features and benefits.
4. Use The Power Of Images
Change up the mediums you present with to engage learners. Writing out content is a natural first instinct when it comes to online instruction, but big blocks of text can be overwhelming to learners. Imagery, on the other hand, can have an instant and memorable impact. When you use graphics, you don’t need as many words.
Try moving away from text-based slides and introduce things like infographics. Infographics are growing in popularity in all kinds of content and communication—and for good reason. This visual medium is a powerful way to present information on trends and tips or to outline processes. Learners get an understanding at a glance.
Also, try filling the screen with relevant, engaging images that encapsulate an idea, then add minimal text for support. Seeing content laid out with concise text and engaging visuals helps learners grasp the core message and remember it better. And the better they understand, the more help they’ll be to your customers.
Conclusion
Whether you’re rolling out full sales training or simply updating employees on existing processes, microlearning is an effective and efficient training option. Having a mobile LMS that supports microlearning gives you the freedom to educate all your employees quickly and consistently.
Make this cost-effective, user-friendly option a key part of your training strategy, and see how going small can be a big win for your organization.
