"Do I really have to attend class? I already know how to help our customers."

That's a ques­tion many peo­ple ask when they hear they have to attend a cus­tomer ser­vice class. Of course, many peo­ple may feel that they know how to help cus­tomers, but are they truly pro­vid­ing excel­lent cus­tomer ser­vice or are they just being nice and friendly to customers?

It's impor­tant to be sure that all employ­ees not only under­stand your department's level of ser­vice expec­ta­tions, but can also per­form the skills required to go from "friendly" to "stel­lar." This is where cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing comes into play.

"So, what's in it for me?" This is def­i­nitely a thought employ­ees may have when it comes to attend­ing classes. Com­pa­nies pro­vid­ing cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing are not only invest­ing in employ­ees and their careers, they're also pro­vid­ing skills to make their job eas­ier and more enjoy­able every day-skills like build­ing rap­port, under­stand­ing cus­tomer needs, and deal­ing with dif­fi­cult cus­tomers. Cus­tomer ser­vice classes should be posi­tioned this way from the beginning.

In real­ity, the real value of cus­tomer ser­vice classes is for both employ­ees and the com­pany as a whole. As cus­tomer loy­alty improves, as talk time comes down, and as calls are resolved quicker, com­pany prof­its improve. This makes cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing a win-win sit­u­a­tion for cus­tomers, employ­ees, and the company.

In addi­tion, cus­tomer ser­vice classes offer the fol­low­ing benefits:

• The com­pany can train on new ser­vice strate­gies and reit­er­ate ser­vice expectations.
• Employ­ees get fresh per­spec­tives as they share their thoughts and learn from one another.
• Employ­ees become ener­gized and excited to put their newly learned skills into practice
• Man­age­ment becomes aware of process and pro­ce­dure prob­lems that may be impact­ing cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion and han­dle time.

Whether you con­duct your classes in a tra­di­tional class­room, via webi­nar, or online, remem­ber that instead of view­ing cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing as a neces­sity alone, think of it as the invest­ment it truly is.

Monique Castillo is an Impact Per­for­mance Spe­cial­ist with knowl­edge and back­ground in cus­tomer ser­vice, sales, coach­ing and men­tor­ing. When she is not help­ing cus­tomers improve their busi­ness, she is also a world trav­eler, gym enthu­si­ast, and an aspir­ing foodie.

Monique Castillo

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