This post was originally published by Corey Kime on lessonly.com
If you’re scared or intimidated by creating your call center training manual, you have found the right place to start. Sometimes, getting your call center agents up to speed as quickly as possible becomes the priority. But, when ignorant or rushed reps hit the phones, you can expect your customer satisfaction ratings to drop. And that’s way more terrifying than the idea of building a customer service training guide.
The good news is we’re here to help. Our free call center manual gives you everything you need to make sure your team can learn, practice, and grow. To ensure that your team gets consistent and thorough customer service training, be sure to include these three things in your call center training manual:
The basics
To start your employees out on the right foot, go over some office basics. Don’t rush them into the product. In this section, the focus should be on getting them acclimated to the rest of the team and the work environment. This would be a time to tell them where to park (don’t be surprised if someone leaves during this section), benefits they might not have known about, and even your safety and security suggestions.
The definiton
Every single company has a different definition of customer service, so it’s important to answer, “What is customer service?” for your team. Customer service definitions should provide a clear direction. This will make it easier for reps to address customer needs and bring the vision of great customer service to life. Be sure to make sure your definition of service is easy to understand, customer-centric, and authentic.
The approach
Teams that provide truly great customer service typically have one thing in common. They all develop a system, culture, and attitude that promotes customer-friendly service. That’s why your customer service training materials should also break down your company’s approach to great service. This approach should consider your industry, customer base, and employees. This is also a great section to include any tips for working in a call center or how to become a good call center agent.
The skills
Working a call center is also multi-faceted, which means there are a number of qualities that every top-notch customer service rep should embody. Oftentimes, we’re asked, “What skills do you need to work at a call center?” We’ve seen that the best call center training guides highlight both call center skills and abilities that reps need for success. These include call center soft skills like active listening, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.
The company
In this section, introduce them to the foundation of the company, the history, the values, the culture, the mission, and the vision. Your employees should be aware of where the company is going regardless of how new they may be. Clearly defining culture and values can help expedite the soft-skill onboarding process. It is also a great way to maintain the culture you initially set out to create.
The product
Now you introduce them to the product. After they understand what their role is in the grand scheme of the business, it’s time to get down to the product. They should be able to answer frequently asked questions, understand feature updates better than anyone, know how to keep up with upcoming features, and how to forward a call to a specific department when they can’t answer a question. If you have a flow chart or script, now is the time to share that with them and do some role-playing.
The customer
When they can answer every question about the product or know who can, they should know who to expect on the other end of the line. Employees who understand customers can often prepare to answer questions before they are even asked, which is always impressive to customers. You should also share customer case studies in your call center training manual to remind your employees why they are there and give some easily-accessible motivation.
Make call center training less frightening
Our powerfully simple training software makes it easy to turn your call center training manual into engaging training that gets reps up to speed quickly so they can deliver the best service possible. See how customer service teams use Lessonly by Seismic with a quick demo.
