3 Ways to Conquer Customer Service Training Challenges

It is an undeniable fact that the quality of customer service can potentially make or break a company. With stiff competition in the market, excellent customer service requires more than consistency. In 2018, customer service also means delighting and surprising the customer in every possible interaction. Hosting on-site customer service training programs is one way to ensure that your staff keeps providing outstanding customer support. What are the challenges when it comes to training your customer service staff and how can they be fixed? Here’s a look!

1: MAXIMIZE TRAINING RESOURCES

Most organizations lack adequate training systems to provide sustainable customer support. No matter how experienced, hardworking or well-educated employees are, they all require regularly-scheduled, role-specific training. As a manager, it falls upon you to plan regular customer service training sessions that completely refresh their skills.

Remember that the training must be in-line with the company’s core values, and not some generic ‘cut-and-paste’ workshop. Ideally, all training activity should build measurable competence in the team members. Holding cross-departmental training sessions will encourage team-building across the entire organization. Such sessions are bound to strengthen your team’s relationship not only with the customer but with each other as well.  You can also make use of Training Game Kits to make the training sessions more interactive and engaging for participants.

2: MAINTAIN A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

Another challenge that customer service trainers regularly face is of maintaining a high morale among the team members. Part and parcel of any professional workshop is the recognition of one’s shortcomings before any correction or improvement can be made. This is often an uncomfortable realization to have, especially in front of one’s colleagues!  An accomplished workshop facilitator will be able to guide every participant through such an experience without compromising their self-esteem.

As a team lead, you can set a positive example by being open to feedback and providing clarity about customer-facing tasks. Everyone likes to work in a comfortable and friendly environment. The better environment you create, the more dedicated your staff will be. If you’ve got a positive approach,chances are your team will reciprocate by going the extra mile for your customers.

3: GATHER ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK

Surveys, feedback forms, online reviews: these are all meant to figure out what the customer thinks. A business poised for success will seek out actionable feedback from its end-customer, especially when it is highly critical. It only makes sense to close the loop by gaining actionable feedback from the internal customers, in this case the training participants, as well.

Within the scope of customer service, a leader can transform negative feedback into a teaching moment for their entire team. It is vital that your team acts on the feedback so there is an eventual improvement in the overall customer experience.

Ask any entrepreneur, it is certainly not easy to run a business. Get yourself a smart team that you know will work for the company’s benefit. Provide them with a good environment and invest in their continual training. Your customers are the reason your business generates revenue, so do all that you can to provide them with the best customer service. The end-goal remains to have satisfied customers at the end of every possible customer interaction.