At the Auscontact National Conference, YakTrak and GRIST explored a simple but powerful idea: Do you trust your leader? Prove it.

Trust is not just built through intentions. It is built through consistent experiences, clear expectations and follow-through. In contact centres, where pressure is high and change is constant, the way we build those experiences matters more than ever.

That is why GRIST’s concept of micro-behaviours, together with AI, can unlock performance at scale.

The psychology of performance

GRIST’s Psychology of Performance model offers a practical way to understand what drives improvement:‍

Experience → Mindset → Behaviour → Results.

Experiences determine mindsets, which guide behaviour and ultimately drive results.

When experiences are positive — clear direction, regular coaching, the freedom to contribute without fear — people build stronger mindsets and better behaviours.
But when expectations are vague, difficult or unrealistic, frustration builds fast. Watching others succeed while feeling stuck can lead to disengagement. Over time, people can give up, falling into the learned helplessness effect.

It’s something we see every day when people are left guessing what success actually looks like.

Insights from 18,000 assessed goals

When YakTrak studied over 18,000 goals, the results were striking:

• Only 50.3% were specific (clearly defined what needed to be achieved)
• Only 34.1% were measurable (included a way to track progress)
• Only 47.1% had a behavioural focus (based on actions that can be seen and repeated)

It is no wonder people feel stuck. Setting a goal like “work on my AHT” sounds productive, but without clarity, it leaves too much room for guesswork — and guessing fuels frustration.

Small shifts make a big difference.

Instead of a broad target like “reduce my AHT,” a micro-behaviour goal might be:

• “On 10 calls today, I’ll introduce the process clearly to reduce my AHT to 820.”
• “On 5 calls this morning, I’ll ask at least 2 relevant clarifying questions up front to reduce my AHT to 220.”

Micro-behaviours turn vague goals into clear actions that can be practised, repeated and improved.

Clear goals not only build capability, they create momentum.

How AI helps

Assessing coaching quality is not always straightforward.

Different approaches can miss critical elements:

• A novice human coach may judge a conversation by how it feels — noticing rapport and agreement, but missing what was not there, like clear commitments or role modelling.
• Sentiment analysis tools can detect emotional tone but cannot assess if a coaching conversation is structured to drive change.
• General-purpose AI can summarise conversations but struggles to spot if key behavioural elements are missing.

The breakthrough came when we trained AI using micro-behaviours — including frameworks like GRIST’s ACDC model.

Today, YakTrak uses micro-behaviour-trained AI to assess coaching conversations, highlighting clear, observable actions that link directly to better outcomes.

It helps leaders maintain focus, scale quality conversations and strengthen coaching rhythms across teams.

Clarity unlocks trust. AI unlocks scale.

The opportunity ahead

Small actions, repeated with quality and focus, build stronger habits, stronger mindsets and better results over time.

When leaders create consistent experiences, set clear behavioural expectations and use AI to scale what works, performance compounds.

It starts with clear micro-behaviours — and it scales with AI.

Looking to improve coaching quality at scale?‍

YakTrak can help you define what good looks like, track coaching behaviours, and build stronger rhythms — all grounded in what actually works.

Great coaching is simple: one behaviour ata time, verified on real calls, repeated every week.

The problem in a GM’s words

You run refreshers and share tips, yetresults vary by team and leader. Goals are vague. Coaching slips when queuesspike. It is hard to prove what changed. You need visibility, transparency andaccountability so coaching time turns into better conversations and measurableimprovements in AHT, FCR and retention.

Want a one-page plan to refocuscoaching next week? Book a demo.

Why coaching stalls in contact centres

Coaching tends to stall when it is too broad, too ad hoc or disconnected from evidence.

• Goals say “handle objections better”without examples of what good sounds like.
• Leaders coach inconsistently and skipv erification.
• Notes sit in spreadsheets and emails with no shared visibility.
• Success is judged by opinion, not adoption and quality on live calls.

Need a checklist to turn broad goals into observable behaviours? Book a demo.

YakTrak’s integrated approach

We combine GRIST’s behavioural method with the YakTrak platform so leaders can run coaching that sticks.

Translate skills into micro‑behaviours
Keepactions short and testable by call type. Example: mirror the customer’s aim,s tate value before price, ask one confirm question, agree the next step.

Coach with ACDC
Agenda, Current state, Desired state,Commitment. One behaviour per session. Leaders capture a practice commitment and verify it on tagged calls.

YakTrak-powered AI
Named once here: prompts tighten goal quality, summarise coaching and highlight patterns by behaviour, queue and leader soaction is based on evidence.

Operating rhythm built in
Weekly focus, daily huddles and two coachingblocks per rep. YakTrak tracks cadence and nudges leaders who fall behind, reducing mental load and keeping the rhythm stable.

Evidence that stands up
Coaching logs, owners, timestamps and call clips provide a clean record of who acted, what changed and when. One compliance line: audit trails and role-based access support regulatedenvironments.

Want our ACDC template pack and huddle scripts? Book a demo.

The 7 steps for effective contact centre coaching

Choose one behaviour
Tie it to AHT, FCR or retention. Keep it observable in 10–20 seconds of audio.

Find a quick example
Use a recent clip or call ID. Describe what happened in plain language.

Show what good sounds like
Keep it tight: “state value first, then price, then check for questions.”

Practise once
Role play briefly, then move to real calls the same day.

Set a commitment
One action the agent will demonstrate this week on two calls. Record it in YakTrak.

Verify on calls
Tag calls and review adoption and quality.

Review and repeat
Close the loop in Friday review. Keep or change the behaviour for next week.

Want these 7 steps as a printable card set? Book a demo.

Coaching techniques and when to use them

Directive coaching for controls
Use when a must-do step is missing, like a disclosure. Provide the exact line,model it and verify two examples.

Guided discovery for skill growth
Help the agent self-diagnose: “What was the customer’s aim?” “Where did we confirmnext steps?”

Role play for tricky moments
Practise the line, then move to live calls.Verify two clips.

On-floor nudges
Use a 30‑second clip in huddles. Ask who will try it next.

Peer examples
Capture strong calls. Tag by theme so leader scan reuse them.

Want a clip library of “what good sounds like” for your top three call types? Book a demo.

An operating rhythm that protects coaching time

Coaching only works when the rhythm holds, even in busy weeks.

• Monday focus (15 mins): choose behaviours and share clips.
• Daily huddles (10 mins): win, focus, barrier, one action.
• Coaching blocks (2 × 20 mins/rep): one behaviour per session with scheduled verification.
• Friday review (20 mins): close or iterate goals and share examples.

YakTrak tracks cadence and prompts leaders so improvement stays on course.

Want us to pressure-test your rhythm against your queue patterns? Book a demo.

From behaviours to AHT, FCR and retention

Behavioural data should sit next to the scorecard so leaders can explain why the numbers moved.

AHT
Better diagnosis and clear next steps reduce detours and dead time. [placeholder for proof]

FCR
Confirm aim, explain options and agree nexts teps to cut repeat contacts. [placeholder for proof]

Retention
Fairre solutions and proactive updates reduce complaint drivers. [placeholder forproof]

This is how we create faster, smarter pathways from coaching time to measurable performance.

Curious which behaviour will move your metric fastest by queue? Book a demo.

Coaching scenarios and examples

Objection handling on quotes
Behaviour: state value before price; ask one confirm question; offer two options.
Verification: two tagged calls.
Metric link: conversion, AHT stability.

Complaint calls
Behaviour: mirror aim; explain options and consequences; set timeframe.
Verification: clip and note with timestamp.
Metric link: FCR, retention.

Vulnerable customers
Behaviour: identify cues; slow down; offerc hannel choice; confirm understanding.
Verification: checklist on tagged calls.
Metric link: retention, compliance exceptions.

Want these scenarios turned into leader cards? Book a demo.

Dashboards leaders actually use

Adoption vs quality
See where agents attempt the behaviour and where quality needs work.

Leader consistency
Compare cadence and goal quality by leader.Share examples to lift the standard.

Outcome linkage
Track movement in AHT and FCR next to behaviour trends to focus coaching where it matters.

Want to see these dashboards with your sample export? Book a demo.

What makes YakTrak different

System of application
Micro‑behaviours and operating rhythms embedded, tracked and improved in one platform.

Detection to resolution
QA findings feed coaching cases with verification and progress visibility.

Leader-first enablement
Prompts, examples and simple views help leaders coach inside their day.

Line of sight to outcomes
Behavioural data sits next to AHT, FCR and retention so leaders can see cause, not just correlation.

Enterprise-ready
Trust Centre, security, privacy, audit trails,SSO and APIs support governance at scale.

One method, one team
GRIST consulting plus YakTrak as a single operating system.

Want a side-by-side of your current toolkit vs this system? Book a demo.

Proof in practice [mini case]

A national centre targeted value-first framing on quote calls. Leaders used ACDC, verified examples and shared clipsin huddles. Adoption rose, quality followed, AHT stayed steady and repeatcontacts dropped in the target queues. [placeholder for proof]

Ready to turn coaching time into measurable results?

Seehow ACDC, operating rhythms and YakTrak-powered reinforcement land on yourfloor. Book a demo

Operations leaders stay in front by building capability where it counts: in real customer conversations. Our integrated method turns coaching into practice your customers can feel.

The problem in GM Ops’ words

Targets keep rising, complexity keeps climbing and rework drags down FCR and CX. Training helps, but results vary by leader and site. You need a consistent way to define what good sounds like, practise it every week and see the impact on AHT, FCR and NPS with visibility, transparency and accountability.

See how the performance enablement platform supports leaders in the flow of work → Click Here

The integrated way top centres keep leading ahead

We combine GRIST’s behavioural psychology with the YakTrak performance enablement platform and YakTrak‑powered AI to create one operating rhythm for capability.

• Define micro‑behaviours that are observable, repeatable and within the person’s control.
• Embed a weekly cadence of ACDC coaching, team huddles and fast feedback.
• Act on live signal: surface patterns from notes and goals, then set the next practice commitment.
• Equip leaders with prompts, goal‑quality checks and reporting that lift coaching standards.
• Link to outcomes so leaders can see which behaviours tend to move FCR, AHT, NPS, conversion, retention and compliance.

This is how we create faster, smarter pathways from intent to measurable results.

Explore how operating rhythms scale across sites and partners  → Click Here

Why it works on the floor

Capability grows when people practise specific behaviours in real calls, not just in classrooms.

• Sharper calls, less rework: concise framing, probing for real need and clear next steps reduce repeat contacts and wrap time.
• Better CX: empathy, ownership and summarising tend to lift trust and perceived effort.
• Consistent coaching: leaders run the same rhythm each week so skills don’t slip between priorities.
• Actionable data: behavioural signals and coaching histories show what to scale and where to support.

See customer stories with before-and-after changes → Click Here

Proof in practice

[Placeholder for proof: short mini-case with context, 2–3 micro‑behaviours selected, cadence applied and movement in FCR, AHT and NPS.]

Results you can track to the scorecard

• AHT: concise framing and call control reduce handle and wrap.
• FCR: probing and confirm‑close cut repeat calls.
• NPS: empathy and clear ownership improve customer confidence.
• Conversion: needs‑based questioning and value linking lift close rates.
• Retention: visible progress and consistent coaching rhythms stabilise teams.
• Compliance: risk‑critical behaviours are defined, practised and evidenced with audit trails, sign‑offs and role‑based access.

View the platform capabilities that tie behaviours to outcomes → Click Here

Plan your first capability sprint. We will pick the moments that matter, define the micro‑behaviours and set an operating rhythm your leaders can run next week.

Book a strategy session