In this episode of B-Lynk: Train to Gain, hosts Erin Raitt and Katie Merrill sit down with Lisa Rouse, one of B-Lynk’s lead instructors, for an inspiring conversation about the art (and science) of effective training.

🔍 Episode Overview

• Lisa shares her journey from early collaboration with Katie—back before B-Lynk even existed—to becoming one of the company’s most trusted instructors.
• The trio dives deep into what it takes to deliver exceptional virtual training experiences, particularly in complex environments like Webex Contact Center.
• Lisa walks listeners through her white-glove training approach, from discovery and customization to delivery and follow-up, emphasizing her commitment to empathy, engagement, and measurable results.

💡 Notable Moments

• The Origin Story: Katie and Lisa reflect on their days working together at a Tampa tech startup in 2008—before the B-Lynk brand was born.
• The COVID Pivot: How B-Lynk’s virtual training services “blew up in a good way” when demand for remote learning skyrocketed.
• The Data Nerd Confession: Lisa admits her love for analytics and explains how tracking the right metrics helps customers achieve lasting adoption success.
• “Secret Sauce” Reveal: Lisa shares how humor, empathy, and genuine curiosity keep learners engaged—even when the topic is technical.

🚀 Key Takeaway

Training success comes down to knowing your audience. When you combine curiosity, personalization, and a touch of humor, even the most complex technologies become approachable—and adoption rates soar.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to B-Lynk: Train to Gain.

This is our next episode, and we are so excited.

It’s our first time interviewing a B-Lynk team member, and this one is near and dear to my heart.

Please welcome Lisa Rouse, one of our lead instructors. I originally came in as an instructor and had the privilege of working with Lisa—and learning a lot from her.

Lisa, I’m so happy to see your face. Thanks for joining us on Train to Gain.

I’m happy to be here—thanks for having me!

Partners in crime back in the day!

Yes! I’ve known Lisa even longer. We go way back—before B-Lynk even began.

Lisa, you’re a sponge. You learn quickly, you love to collaborate, and your customer-experience focus is off the charts. I adored working with you.

We eventually went separate ways: I started B-Lynk, and you stayed with that company. Fast-forward to 2020—COVID hits—and B-Lynk’s virtual training services exploded (in a good way!).

We needed trainers—especially virtual trainers—and the timing was perfect. You were open to the opportunity, and I’m so grateful we brought you onto the team five years ago.

You’re a superstar—excellent at what you do and a fantastic teammate. I’m excited to dig into your work.

Over the last 18 months, you’ve really excelled with Webex Contact Center training. Our customers—and their customers—are thrilled.

Would you share what that training experience looks like? What you do, and how you approach it?

Absolutely—and thank you.

I approach contact center training with a white-glove mindset, which is crucial for complex service platforms. We begin with discovery: an initial conversation to understand the customer’s current state and what they want to accomplish with the contact center.

Part of my role is bridging the gap—taking them from where they’re comfortable to where they can confidently deliver a great service.

We discuss scope: which services and channels they’ll use. The platform is omni-channel, so we’re not just talking phone calls anymore—we’re enabling chat, email, and social channels.

We identify how each role will use the tools day-to-day, starting with agents—the frontline foundation and first touch with customers.

Then we move to supervisors and managers—those guiding the agents. Many also act as agents at times, while monitoring quality, compliance, and SLAs.

Next comes the data. I’m a data nerd—reports, recordings, metrics. We figure out what to track and trend, because this is not a cookie-cutter environment.

Every customer is unique, so we align reporting to what leadership needs to drive the business and revenue.

Once we have the agenda, we deliver the training. It’s essential to help people feel relaxed and comfortable and to make the content make sense—speaking their language and showing where they are and where we’re going.

Throughout, I check for understanding: “Do you feel comfortable? Any questions?” I never want someone to feel they can’t speak up. The worst thing is sounding like Charlie Brown’s teacher and losing the audience.

Finally, there’s follow-up: feedback, pivots, adjustments—quickly.

You’re talking about one platform, but your methodology applies to any complex service. It’s a transferable approach—Webex, Amazon, or other contact center products—the way you teach works across them.

That’s my goal for personal and professional development: stay fluid and become a subject-matter expert on anything we offer.

What I love about being an instructor is empowering people with education so they can adopt the tools. Onboarding and buy-in are everything—without buy-in, the platform doesn’t matter.

I want learners excited and confident so they can use the tools to their fullest potential. That benefits them, their revenue, their customer satisfaction—everything.

For listeners: we rarely contract directly with the end contact center. Typically there’s a service provider, Cisco partner, or reseller between B-Lynk and the end customer.

Lisa manages multiple layers: discovery with our partner (our direct customer), getting the end customer comfortable with the plan, and then keeping them happy throughout the sessions. She services every layer beautifully.

Exactly—layers. We must make the partner happy and the end customer happy—or nobody’s happy.

We also have to stay true subject-matter experts because these platforms constantly evolve. Being at the top of our instructional game is key.

You spend a lot of time researching before sessions—understanding the end customer’s business and planning scenarios to put yourself in their shoes.

It’s very customized. This isn’t canned training—no two agent groups get the same session. You tailor it to each contact center.

Last question: what’s your secret sauce for being such an incredible instructor?

I want to truly know my audience. This is their business—their everything—so I research: company sites, About pages, history.

I also make sure to use their terminology and their scenarios. You can’t train a financial institution with examples from a school or a pizza place.

And I keep it light and fun. Humor helps learning stick.

You really do make it fun—and you’re consistent. Every session. You never deviate from your secret sauce. I’ve sat in on many of your trainings, and you make complex tech engaging, relatable, and interesting.

To keep this short and sweet—with plenty of value—we’ll wrap here.

Lisa, thank you so much for joining us. We may need a Phase Two!

Don’t tempt me with a good time—I’m in!

Thanks for being here, and thanks to our listeners.

If you want to keep listening, please like, follow, download, and tag us—do all the usual podcast things so you can keep hanging with us.

Bye!