Customer Service Training: Providing Value Beyond the Field

You already know how important great customer service is to your business. However, it’s just as critical to consider how you actually achieve it. The truth is, basic customer service skills are becoming a lost art. And if you want to continue to sustain and grow your business, you need to provide added value beyond great customer service in the field.

Why Is Customer Service Important?
Customer Service Training for Your Team
What Are the Best Customer Service Training Ideas? 
What Are the Benefits of Customer Service Training Courses?
Customer Service Training: How We Can Help

Why Is Customer Service Important?

Let’s start with some disconcerting statistics. Did you know that, according to Salesforce’s ‘State of the Connected Customer’ report, 47% of customers say they’ll stop buying from a company if they have a subpar experience? You read that right. Not a “bad” experience, but a “subpar” one. And according to PwC, 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience. In short, without a proper customer service plan in place, bad service can cost your business greatly.

But let’s not focus on the negative. According to Deloitte, customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that don’t focus on customers. And the good news is, great customer service training can help get you there. First, you should follow some basic customer service training best practices to discover what kind of training is right for you and your company.

Customer Service Training for Your Team

The best customer service training starts with the basics. Not only do your employees need to understand the importance of customer service, they also require the knowledge and support to execute on that part of their job.

Gallup conducted a study of the differences in performance between engaged and actively disengaged work units. In their research, they found that “those scoring in the top half on employee engagement nearly doubled their odds of success compared with those in the bottom half.”

Of course, it all starts at the top. According to PwC’s 19th Annual Global CEO Study, 90% of CEOs surveyed believe customers have the biggest impact on strategy, and 53% say that the biggest purpose of their business is their customers.

That means that customer service probably makes the biggest impact. Smart businesses invest in customer service training programs in order to further equip their customer-facing teams with new skills and knowledge and confidence in the office, in the field, on the floor or on the go.

More specifically …

What Are the Best Customer Service Training Ideas?

Customer service strategies are nothing new. However, educating our teams with customized training on strategic customer service concepts is. Here are a few main concepts that customer service training programs teach to trainees:

• Knowledge Is Power
  Do your homework by researching and educating yourself on specific pain points or challenges your customers might be facing. Then, should that problem arise, your customer service team will be uniquely prepared to offer an ideal solution.
• Listen Actively
  Never just offer a solution, product or service without listening to the customer first. Your customers will appreciate your insights and explanation if they feel like their voice has been fully heard.
• Find Common Ground
  When you’re actively listening, you’re also actively learning. Chances are, you share some of the same interests as your customers, and finding common ground can help you establish better client rapport.
• Maintain Strong Relationships
  A sale doesn’t end when a product leaves the store or a service is completed. Following up with customers is imperative to establishing and maintaining strong client relationships that will help your business grow.
• Look Beyond the “Fix-It Mentality”
  This idea is especially pertinent to the manufacturing and tech industries, because their field service professionals already have an idea of what their customers need. And only once you have successfully implemented the first four points, can you reach beyond your customer’s immediate needs and proactively identify new challenges that they might not even be aware of yet.

What Are the Benefits of Customer Service Training Courses?

Besides learning more in-depth customer service strategies related to the ideas presented above, the best customer service training programs will teach your team new skill sets and techniques that will benefit your customers and your employees as well.

Here are just a few of the benefits of hands-on training courses:

• Anticipatory Service
  You will learn how to deliver exceptional customer service in the field that addresses the needs of your customers before they actually express them to you.
• Securing New Business
  Happy customers are more likely to be loyal and to spread the word about your business. Therefore, customer service training programs help companies secure both future business and repeat business and turn customers into advocates.
• Improving Employee Engagement
  It’s quite amazing what a positive attitude can do. Employees who are well-educated about what makes for great customer service are more likely to be happy and to demonstrate stronger customer service skills, which is ideal for your overall business.
• Adaptability
  Strong customer service training helps your team adapt to uncomfortable situations and respond to customer pushback. Through advanced questioning and observation techniques and customized role-playing, your team will be able to open up a clear line of communication and problem-solve faster.
• Instilling Confidence
  Learn the power of empowerment by equipping your service employees with skills they need to succeed and take control of any situation.
• Increasing Productivity
  Customer service training will teach you not only how to promote a strong work ethic, but also how to reward it, which will help improve team productivity.
• Reducing Churn Rates
  The number of customers coming or going is always a concern. Good customer service training should help you reduce your churn rate to increase revenue.
• Training Evaluation
  Customer service training shows you how to analyze each touch point in the sales and service cycle, from field technician to the customer, in order to expose the importance of service skills every step of the way.

Customer Service Training: How We Can Help

By going through our tried-and-true process structure and Total Customer Focus™ Certification, your team will be ready to take on any customer service challenge and turn it into a positive solution.

Let’s talk. To learn more about GPT’s customized customer service training programs, schedule your consultation today.