Developing Frontline Skills for Complex Conversations

Research from Harvard says that soft skills are responsible for 85% of career success. In the contact centre where conversations are getting more complex, making sure that your frontline colleagues have the right skills to handle these more sophisticated interactions is more important than ever.

There are other skills that are increasingly needed by the frontline today. Having strong technical skills, the ability to use multiple applications quickly, to speed type accurately, to multi-task and engage with customers through a variety of different channels. This gives way to multi-dimensional career pathways.

Some contact centre’s enjoy the benefits of many long tenure frontline colleagues. They know the business, the customers and the systems, but they will still require support and development to handle changing customer behaviours. For others, they have adapted their recruitment criteria to identify new talent that has a higher emotional intelligence and stronger technical skills to enable them to better adapt to these protracted dialogues.

By giving your teams the skills to do their role with confidence, and to give them opportunities to develop their careers by taking on different products, new channels, alternative interaction types, it is possible to better manage your attrition, and therefore your cost base.

Join Kate Knowles, Services Director, CCMA, for this one-hour interactive session as she brings this key discussion to life with the support of a panel of industry leaders who are passionate about supporting the people that work in their contact centres.

We’ll discuss:

Why soft skills are now critical for career success

How technical skills complement emotional intelligence in complex conversations

Strategies to support and retain long-tenure colleagues

Recruitment approaches for finding new talent fit for today’s challenges

Building flexible career pathways that inspire and motivate

You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions to the panel, including Francesca Rea, Director of Operations, NewDay, Ingrid Brackley, Head of Customer Service Operations at NHS Property Services, Sarah Wise, Operations Director at Fundraising Direct, Louise Peers, Head of Contact Centre Services at Crime Stoppers, and Beth Thouin, CMO at Hiring Branch. Share your ideas and experiences too.

About the Speaker

Ingrid Brackley, Head of Customer Service Operations, NHS Property Services

Ingrid is a seasoned professional in contact centres. NHS Property Services focuses on delivering brilliant service, which enables customers to deliver excellent patient care. The Customer Service Centre plays a key role in the ‘Get, Grow, Keep Great Colleagues’ culture at NHS PS.

Sarah Wise, Operations Director, Fundraising Direct

I have worked at Fundraising Direct for five years as a Director and I absolutely love raising money for such fantastic causes! My education background is in Law; I have an undergraduate qualifying law degree and a legal masters (LL.M) in International Development Law & Human Rights. This lends itself well to the work I’m doing now. In my spare time you will find me curled up with a book (and my cat ‘Oscar’!), playing the piano, zooming around on my ride-on lawn mower, or at the airport pursuing my favourite hobby of chasing the sun.

Louise Peers, Head of Contact Centre Services, Crimestoppers

Louise joined Crimestoppers in 2005 and has held a number of operational roles during her career with the Charity. Louise is currently Head of Contact Centre Services with strategic oversight of the operational delivery of all Crimestoppers reporting services. With a team of over 60 contact centre staff working 24:7, 365 days a year, she has responsibility for the secure end to end information flow whilst also managing the resourcing and personnel aspects of the contact centre.

As a member of the Executive Management Team at Crimestoppers, Louise is a key influencer and decision-maker most prominently in operational IT development projects and risk management issues.

Francesca Rea, Director of Customer Operations, NewDay

Francesca joined NewDay where she is the Director of Customer Operations. As a member of the Senior Leadership team, Fran leads the teams across Customer Service, Complaints, Collections, Customer Care Team, Fraud and Customer Outcomes as well as Customer Fulfilment and Optimisation teams. |She directs the omni-channel servicing strategy across our channels which include E servicing, Mobile App, Digital Messaging, and Call centre. Fran also provides insight back into the business which supports improvements in CX. Fran previously worked at GE Capital, Axa Life, Telefonica O2, Cable & Wireless Worldwide and BT and as an experienced Leader, has led successful transformations and created award winning customer service transformations and experiences.

Beth Thouin, CMO, HiringBranch

Beth is a customer-obsessed business veteran with more than 15 years of marketing experience. As a former VP and current growth advisor, Beth uses the Customer-Led Growth methodology to work with founders on customer research, customer experience, and growth strategy. She has a track record of doubling inbound revenue for companies large and small, across B2B SaaS. Beth was awarded Mentor of the Year by the Founder Institute Canada and has been featured in powerhouse publications about women in tech. She’s a proud mom of two, but she knows more about the Marvel Universe than they do.

Supported by

Where and when?

Date: Thu 17 Jul 2025

Time: 12:00 – 13:00

Location: Online

Who is it for?

Open to all.

Why should you go?

If you want to empower your frontline teams to handle complex conversations with confidence, boost retention, and create dynamic career pathways, this session will give you the insights and strategies you need.

How much is it?

Free to attend.