Customer Service Training
Top quality merchandise and the lowest prices won't be enough to guarantee a successful business if your customer service isn't top notch. From sales assistants to technical support workers to waiters and receptionists, customer service is a part of many work places. Through customer service training employees learn to deal with the public in various situations to help ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business.
Although chain or franchise businesses may have a standard customer service training program they use in all their outlets, owners or managers are usually responsible for selecting and carry out customer service training. The three main times when managers shop for customer service training are when they first open a business, when a new employee is hired or when they feel there is a problems with their current service routine. The kind of training selected varies depending on which of these situations your encounter.
If you are starting a new business, a training workshop or seminar in which training experts address all your employees at once can be the most cost effective. Training programs that provide managers with the tools and knowledge necessary to train employees themselves are useful if you're going to be hiring a few new employees at various times throughout the year. Finally, if you're having problems with your current customer service, you can select a training company that will design a program to suit your particular needs. In this type of program a trainer will often observe employees in action to determine the reason for your problems. Poor customer service can stem from many sources including workers treating customers badly, unreliable equipment, outdated or overly complex computer software or a poorly layed out work area.
Customer service training can be delivered through lecture style seminars, group workshops, training workbooks or manuals, on the job training, videos or DVDs and role playing activities. Most programs will use a combination of these methods and some may provide parts of their program through online learning so employees can learn at their own speed. Some programs offer certification which means employees receive a document stating that they have completed the training program and outlining the skills they learned. A certified program may also provide a plaque or certificate that employers can display in the work place to reassure customers that everyone is appropriately trained. Most professionals agree entertaining or humourous training will be the most powerful when it comes to motivating your workers to remember and use what they have learned.
Some aspects of training will be specific to a particular job, but there are basic components that will be part of any customer service training program. Learning how to handle an angry customer, maintain composure during stressful or busy times, use persuasive language and effectively prioritize tasks are skills that will be useful whether you are providing customer service via phone or in-person. Service training can also cover special situations such as helping hearing or visually impaired customers, addressing suspected shoplifters, or reporting fraudulent customers. Topics like improving employee moral, decreasing employee turnover, creating positive word-of-mouth advertising, and developing and reinforcing a customer service philosophy can be part of service training as well.