It’s no secret that customers in 2021 determine brand loyalty based on experience. Prices and product quality are no longer the leading factors in getting people to choose your company over the competition, so that’s no longer where your focus should be.
Check out these interesting facts and statistics that show what a difference customer service makes:
- 86% of buyers are willing to pay more money for excellent customer service.
- 49% of buyers have made an additional purchase after receiving great service.
- 72% of buyers will share positive experiences with at least 6 people, while 13% share a negative experience with 15 people.
- 1 in 26 customers will complain, but the other 25 just leave!
Outstanding customer service will bring in customers, keep them buying from you, and encourage them to share their enthusiasm with their friends. It’s also what drives their site and product reviews, influencing 90% of buyers’ decisions!
But how do you teach good customer service skills that keep your customers coming back for more? It’s really very simple, but it does require time and targeted customer service training objectives.
Here are our top 5 customer service skills and training steps to prep your reps for top-notch service.
Top 5 Customer Service Skills
- Patience: Customers call in with problems, and those problems often carry strong emotions. A patient rep will show callers the time and validation needed to correctly solve the issue.
- Empathy: The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes goes a long way. Your reps need to put their feelings aside to understand where the customer is coming from.
- Communication: Your reps must concisely and clearly communicate your company’s policies and procedures to callers without accidentally increasing the problem. They also need to accurately explain to your management where the systems have failures and what causes the most customer problems.
- Problem-solving: A good rep will always be prepared for the unexpected and be willing to look beyond the surface of an issue. This requires an in-depth knowledge of your company’s products, software, and procedures so that they can provide quick, realistic solutions. Additionally, many customers don’t actually understand what caused their problem. But a top-notch rep will recognize where the issue lies, fix it, and help the customer understand it for next time.
- Positive language: The way your reps speak can accelerate or decelerate many problems. Ensure that your representatives are prepared to use positive phrases and words that curb negativity and turn each interaction into an encouraging one.
Top 5 Customer Service Training Ideas & Objectives
- Set reps up for success with the proper technology. Your representatives can only be as good as your company’s software allows them to be. One of the biggest complaints customers have is that calls take a long time to complete. Help simplify and speed up processes by investing in an omnichannel platform. This will allow your reps to do everything they need in one software program, rather than switching back and forth from order logs to password reset pages, etc. This also simplifies training because your reps will only need to learn one system.
- Emphasize team morale. A happy worker is a good worker. Your customer service reps will spend a lot of their days being degraded, yelled at, and put down for things that were out of their control. If you want effective reps (and low turnover rates), you must create an atmosphere of positivity! Schedule fun team bonding exercises [link to blog] and set up a team happy hour from time to time. And always look for ways to encourage each rep to counteract the negativity they’ll face every day. Your reps will stay longer and work better if you do.
- Expect the unexpected. Role-playing scenarios and simulated tickets are great ways to teach reps how to handle everyday situations. But make sure that you put a strong emphasis on uncommon problems as well. If your representatives aren’t trained to use their critical thinking skills, they won’t satisfy customers who call in with odd issues. Create training scenarios with unexpected problems and give high praise when a rep handles the situation correctly.
- Use great reps to train more great reps. Every company has a few customer service reps that just seem to shine. Let them use that talent to lead the way for any newcomers. This will give your top-performers a chance to share their tips, problem-solving ideas, and sage advice that might not get covered in your basic training.
- Train reps to take personal responsibility for the customer journey. A good rep will be polite and do his best to answer a problem in one call. A great rep will go above and beyond to solve the issue, even if it takes extra steps. Instill a sense of personal responsibility in your workers to see each customer complaint through to its end. This may include sending follow-up emails or making an additional call. Whatever it takes (within company policy), a great rep will ensure that the customer ends the interaction wanting to do more business with your company.
Providing your customers with exceptional customer service will set your company up for ongoing success. But it starts with having the right representatives for the job. If you’re looking to expand your customer service team to provide better service, be sure to give RemoteReps a call. Our representatives are professional, highly-trained, and ready to provide your customers with fantastic service. Call us today at +1 (855)-311-REPS for more information!