Ongoing development of key skills is essential for anyone who aims to provide great customer service.
Initial customer service training should establish the basic rules of communicating:
– in writing
– face to face
– over the telephone
– by email
– online
More advanced training could include:
– Defining good customer service
– Roles in customer service
– Advanced listening and responding skills
– Building rapport and relationships with customers
– Customer perception
– Internal Vs External customers
– Dealing with difficult customers
– Handling customer complaints
Some ideas for telephone training:
– Projecting a professional image and voice skills
– How to use the phone to influence
– Call planning and follow up
– Listening techniques
– Questioning and summarizing skills
– How to re-direct calls
– Time management on the telephone
– Recovery strategies for when the call does not go as planned
In addition to providing your own in-house training, there are many professional training companies that can provide off the shelf or customized training for your organization.
The bottom line is customer service training is very important!
