This post was originally published on lessonly.com.
Why is customer service training important? I could list dozens of reasons, but there is one in particular that stands out at the top of my list. Training is important because your employees are part of the lasting first impression of your brand and business. You see, customer service is key to engaging customers and finding solutions.
Think about it: If you want to bring in new business, happy and delighted customers are your best marketers. We all know that the best advocates are those satisfied by their experience with an organization. No campaign or messaging can match the personal referrals your customers make on your behalf. That’s why it’s essential to make every interaction as smooth and simple as possible for them. 89% of businesses compete through the level of customer experience they are able to deliver. If that number doesn’t make you seriously consider your current efforts and areas for growth, I don’t know what will.
Creating loyalty with customers
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. It’s easy to focus solely on website traffic, business growth, and sales numbers. But a quick step back to look at areas like customer retention, satisfaction, and overall experience can shed some light on areas we should pay attention to. We need our current customers to be locked in and have a degree of loyalty to us. But where does loyalty come from? Great question. We believe customer loyalty is born from a good customer service experience. It’s as simple as that!
A personal experience
There are plenty of stories and examples of good customer service, and I recently experienced a phenomenal customer service experience of my own. I ordered a photo book online, and with much anticipation I waited for the book to arrive. When it finally did, I opened it up, and the first thing I saw was a typo on the front cover. The problem was, I knew it was an oversight on my end for not proofreading it as well as I should have.
Even though I knew it was my error, I called the customer service line to see if there was anything they could do. After explaining the dilemma, the agent graciously walked me through the process for ordering a new book at no cost. Her great customer service skills left me hanging the phone up with a smile on my face and grateful for her help.
The point of this story is not that I got a free book. The point is, I had such a good experience that I ended up telling multiple friends and family about it. I promoted their business completely unintentionally, solely because I felt my needs had been taken care of far beyond my expectations.
Benefits of a great support team
Crafting customer service training for employees may initially seem like a ton of additional work to add to your already full plate. At face value, the customer service department may be on the lower end of your priority list. But, I’d challenge you to change your perspective. The customer service department and its representatives are on the frontlines of your business, and it only makes sense to equip and train those agents to take the best care of your customers.
You’re not just training your employees to make quick fixes with customer complaints. You’re training your employees to embody great customer service skills that will make a lasting impact on your current customers and those yet to come.
So where do you begin?
If you want to learn how to create a customer service training program, check out this blog post for some helpful tips. To maximize your training program’s potential, you first need to take an honest evaluation of your team’s current efforts. Then, look at data and actually talk with your reps to understand their day-to-day activities and problems. From here you can begin to set your customer service training course objectives.
By fine-tuning your customer service training plan, or in some cases building it from the ground up, you are paving the way to satisfy customers and generate the brand loyalty you want. Your organization will see the return on investment for years to come.
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