Role Play is Dead!

Role Play is Dead!

Currie Guavreau
Contributing Writer
Success Academy Trainer

If you are like every other service provider, you know the importance of practicing and training in your shop.  The staff needs to polish their communication and presentation skills.  The best way to do this is to simulate a customer interaction in the office, better known as “Role Play”.  The challenge you have is getting the staff to do it, and assure it is done productively!  Most of them hate it and it turns out to be counter- productive, but why?  The reason is simple….they are not doing it right!

There is no substitute for interactive practice to improve soft skills.  Where we fail is our approach and structure.  Normally the technician gets up in front of everyone and another employee pretends to be the customer.  The environment is that of a middle school gym class.  People talking, laughing, shouting out comments, the “customer” is throwing every curveball he can think of, and the tech who is practicing accomplishes nothing except solidifying their perception that role playing doesn’t work.  If you are an owner, manager or trainer…STOP THE MADNESS!

Adults learn something by doing it correctly over and over.  So getting it “Right”, and “Repetition” are imperative.  It is very similar to why a professional baseball player hit off a tee, or a professional golfer is on the driving range over and over.  They understand the benefits of repetition.  This applies to your training as well.  The tech MUST get the script and presentation right.  When he is practicing, the “customer’s” only goal is to assure the tech’s success, even if guidance is needed and the customer must “prompt” the tech.  The interaction should go EXACTLY as planned, no curveballs, changeups or sliders!

It doesn’t end there.  Normally there are more people than just a tech and a customer in training.  The rest of the group should be acting as coaches.  They observe the practice session and are tasked with two things:  write down something the tech did right, and something the tech could have done better.  A coach will NEVER state that the technician did something wrong.  Instead, they make suggestions for improvement while reinforcing what was done correctly.  If you have a larger group, you can break them into groups of 3 or more, with each person rotating through the three positions: tech, customer and coach.  At the end of the practice session, the coaches and customer state their observations…this could be “great friendly tone” or “I really liked the way you said this…”.  It will also include comments such as “you may want to consider speaking louder” or “would you be more comfortable if you stood this way”.  Every comment and observation should lead to productive feedback that helps the technician improve, ALWAYS!

It’s time to take control of your training.  This structure has to be strictly adhered to without deviation.  The technician must perform his script and follow every step he was taught.  The customer MUST guide the technician to a successful conclusion.  The coaches MUST pay attention, take notes and offer guidance on what was done right and what can be done better.  The days of a role play session being a chance to goof off are gone.  Practice is to improve, and when there is improvement, there is more money.  Period.

 

Success Academy Trainer Currie Gauvreau has 17 years of experience as both a trainer and instructor, during which he taught courses at the American Military University Online, University of Phoenix, and Strayer University among other schools and universities. He received his Master of Arts in Criminology with a concentration in Public Administration from the University of South Florida and prior to joining Direct Energy Home Services, he was a Sergeant with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, from which he retired.