Frontline employees essentially encounter more challenges than ever whether they are talking to customers in person, on the phone, or online through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They need proper customer service training to help them sincerely represent your company and make their place in the hearts of the customers.
Why are we emphasizing the need of having effective training courses? The reason is simple. Customers are the backbone of your business. They represent you on so many levels. They openly talk about both their negative and positive experiences. In case they have a pleasant encounter with your company, they go about giving good reviews and bringing more customers to your business thus helping you make more sales and earn greater revenue.
However, if your representatives treat them with disrespect, they end up having a bad day and cut all their ties with your business. They tell their friends and family members to do the same and you end up losing a lot of your prospective customers.
Keeping all of this in mind, several companies especially telecom companies like Xfinity have started prioritizing their customer support departments. They train their employees to adopt a positive attitude, provide 24/7 assistance and even realize the importance of valuing their Hispanic users. This means that even if you contact Comcast Xfinity en Español at three in the morning for customer support, you will receive efficient assistance in both English or Spanish.
Hence, it is safe to say that investing in customer service training programs is a smart approach. We have conducted a little research of our own and have come up with all the significant topics that you must include in your customer service online training program. These topics will essentially help you develop helpful and knowledgeable resources for the employees. These resources will eventually help them in delivering an exceptional customer experience.
- Positive Attitude
A simple smile can go a long way. It is the greatest asset of your customer support representatives. We understand that staying happy and vibrant at all times can be a tough job especially when you are faced with problems almost every day. However, keeping an optimistic attitude is a very vital part of your job.
The demeanor of your customer care representatives says a lot about them. Posture, phrasing, and voice tone should all be covered in your customer service training. All of these factors drop little signals about how your agents are acting. And your agents’ energy spreads like wildfire! Make sure that they do not radiate negative energy.
2. Active Listening
Many people consider themselves good listeners. However, customer support essentially requires a different kind of skill called active listening. Being an active listener does not mean that you must stay quiet at all times and just listen to what others have to say. Active listening makes use of important techniques that interestingly keeps both parties engaged.
Adept customer support representatives know how to respond, rephrase, and pose follow-up inquiries. They may sometimes also need to rephrase or summarize what has already been communicated. Although some people are naturally good active listeners, it takes practice and proper training to become one.
3. Empathy
Your customer support representatives should possess the ability to read the consumers like an open book. They need to comprehend where the customer is coming from and try their best to acknowledge their feelings and emotions. If your agents find it hard to connect with the customers’ emotions, it is okay and completely understandable. You do not need to panic. Empathy is a feeling that can easily be learned.
How can you teach your employees to be empathetic? Start playing pretend games with them. Role-play a scenario in which employee A pretends to be a valued customer and employee B attempts to be the worst representative ever.
However, don’t tell employee A about the main aim of employee B. Once you are done with the entire role-play situation, call agent A, ask them what in their view was wrong, and how could the situation be made better. This game will essentially help them comprehend the position of a dissatisfied customer.
4. Clear Communication
Customer support representatives must be talented enough to explain intricate matters in simple, easy-to-understand language. Exceptional communication skills and the ability to explain different things clearly and concisely are critical and must be included in customer support training programs.
You should teach them the art of staying confident, structured, and coherent at all times. Also, keep in mind that sometimes direct, comprehensible communication may seem too blunt. We understand that the end goal is to place the entire focus on stating facts. However, some customers may find it impolite, discourteous, or too direct. To avoid all of this you should find a way to convey information in a way that the customers can easily process.
5. Telephone Etiquette
If you have customer support agents who assist over the phone, you should unquestionably include a section explaining telephone etiquette in your customer service training program. Equip your team with sufficient information about the correct way to answer a phone call. You must also teach them the proper way of greeting the customers and also the art of troubleshooting effectively.
Final Words
Some customer support agents are fast observers and learners. They pick up relevant information from their surroundings and include the necessary skills in their daily conversations with the customers. With time, they’ll gain more experience and would be able to approach all kinds of customers quite efficiently.
However, some customer service agents may require additional help. This is where training courses come in handy. Training programs are always a good idea as they not only boost the confidence of the representatives but also teach them the basics of winning the hearts of the customers by showing them practical examples. We hope the training topics that we have mentioned above would help you build a strong customer service team.
