Everything you needed to know about customer service training and its benefits.
1
Guide to Customer Service
Training
2
Importance of Customer Service Training
Direct Impact on Brand Value
Be known for great customer service.
Customers will swear by you even during difficult times
Chapter 1
3
Get Repeated Customers
The confidence in support leads to less perceived risk and more
buying.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1
4
Price Justification
With exceptional customer service you can manipulate your
customer into discounting a high price because of his affinity
for your support.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1
5
Free Marketing
Every satisfied customer will talk to her friends and peers
about her valuable experience – Great word-of-mouth
marketing that’s FREE!
Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people
about their experience.– White House Office of Consumer Affair
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1
6
Employee Satisfaction
When your employees know they are delivering a service that
your customers love, they are more driven.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1
7
The Fall 2012 Workforce Moodtracker Report ties organization
values to employee performance. Report concludes that
frequent timely recognition linked to the company’s core
values results in:
•Increased productivity
•Improved focus on customer service
•Enhanced employee engagement
First thing: Understand your Core Values
Chapter 2
8
Companies that are known for their customer service like Zappos
and Apple have clearly established their core business principles and
have put in place a strategy around employee training and
onboarding process.
Apple, for instance, has a Genius Training Student Workbook that
every new employee has to complete before stepping onto the Apple
foyer.
Zappos has structured its interview process, training and evaluation
programs tied around their 10 core business values
Importance of Understanding your Core Values
Chapter 2
9
Right people in the right seat
Recruitment is a failure when you are looking for a ‘resource’.
You need to look for ‘talent’ that exactly fulfills your
requirement in every way.
Three ways to align Core Values and Customer Service
Chapter 3
10
Customer Centric Core Values
Build customer-centric core values and make sure every new employee
in your company implements the same in their work.
Three ways to align Core Values and Customer Service
Chapter 3
11
Three ways to align Core Values and Customer Service
Chapter 3
Expose new hires to nuances of the
job
Before you throw an employee into the ring, you need to
accustom him/her to the nuances of providing support that
reflects your values, and how to provide the ‘Wow experience’
to your customer.
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Expose
•Expose new hires to the functioning of the organization
•Be open to queries and ensure their understanding
•Simulate situations to evaluate their response to
emergencies
Onboarding Process for Customer Service Training
Chapter 4
13
Explain
•Take them through past customer requests received
•Ask them to analyze and respond
•Also take them through the right way to respond to such
requests
Onboarding Process for Customer Service Training
Chapter 4
14
Demonstrate
•Give access to live support calls attended by current
employees.
•Make sure new hires spend a day or two watching demos and
get feedback.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service Training
Chapter 4
15
Evaluate
•Evaluate candidates on their understanding of the process.
•Have a detailed interview to measure their understanding.
•Suggest areas of improvement and provide constant
feedback.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service Training
Chapter 4
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Mentor
Assign a mentor for regular touch points on questions and
clarifications at least for the first 3 months on their job.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service Training
Chapter 4
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The demonstration of basics of customer
service to new hires should include key
factors that directly influence great
service.
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
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1. Getting priorities right
2. Empower support staff
3. Inculcate leadership
4. Follow organizational
processes
5. Monitor activities
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
19
1. Getting the priorities right
When a support staff has to attend to more than one customer
query, it is imperative that they understand which ones to target
first.
Priority 1: Business Critical - Affects business operations and has to be
resolved immediately
Priority 2: Degraded Service - Intermittent issues that reduce quality of
offering
Priority 3: Minor Issues - Queries, sanity fixes and non-detrimental issues
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
20
2. Empower support staff
For your support staff to drive engagement & solve problems
without a delay, they have to primarily understand who the
customers are and need authority to make decisions on the fly. This
may include
1.Offering discounts or service upgrade
2.Committing dates on critical deliverables
3. Summon team members on the priority of deliverables
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
21
3. Inculcate Leadership
Your actions are your deeds. Staff should be able to make
decisions on the fly, considering various parameters and also
be able to back those decisions at tough times.
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
22
4. Follow Organization Process
The process has to be standard, uniform and thorough so that
no customer is ever treated differently. Get approvals when
required, follow documentation, demo script, communicate
adhering to standard protocol.
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
23
5. Monitor activities on daily basis
Monitor the performance of the new hires on a daily basis,
find areas that need improvement and make sure the same is
communicated to the support staff. Also provide them a way
to measure their performance constantly.
A Detailed Development and Training Program
Chapter 5
24
Appraisal Process to Evaluate Training and Work
Chapter 6
The above graph from the Moodtracker survey highlights the need for regular
appraisals for support staff.
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Great customer support needs exceptional support staff
If you are inclined to have a GREAT support team, do not forget these
three important factors:
1.Establish customer centric organizational values
2.Set your support training plan based on those values
3.Constantly evaluate and provide constructive feedback
Summary