7 FREE CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING IDEAS THAT REALLY WORK

Customer service is constantly evolving. It is also one of those fields which needs regular trainings to help our agents remain at the top of their game. Innovation and improvisation are the key words here .We can’t remain stuck in the rut.

Agents are the key to running customer service processes and if they are not regularly trained and upgraded business may incur a big setback .Here is presenting seven free customer service training ideas  that really work :

Create a customer service vision

To create a customer service vision we must include every member in the team to see and visualise the goals .The team needs to be on the same page to stick to the vision .This has manifold benefits .Everyone will understand their roles in the bigger scheme of things. Employees will come up with ideas and suggestions to deliver the best form of customer service .Now this is very crucial for the overall morale of the agents .The top call centres in India follow this and encourage their employees to come with ideas and suggestions .Here a feeling of belonging is emphasized and we always deliver better when we feel included in the grand scheme of things. This way team automatically makes commitment to fulfil the vision .The feeling of inclusion is always a great training strategy and one that works wonders.

Team huddles

Team huddles are great way to start the business day .They set the tune for the day .Also are the favourites of managers  agents bonding .Many a things can be discussed and goals set informally in team huddles .The tasks are being defined and set .Daily team huddle is a good idea and one that is being followed universally .It is short and consistent reiteration to the agents .A quick appreciation dose and invigorating encouragement could all be included in the daily team huddle .The take away can be :

Quick retraining on small issues

Reinforce on key skills and areas

Update on target for the day and also evaluation of previous day performance

Schemes and incentives for the day

Keeping focus on key areas

Encouraging challenging scenario discussions and solution

Almost all top call centres in India as well as BPO companies are using this tool and remains one of the favourites of all .A lot can happen over these huddles.

Subscribe to weekly email reminders

While we may safely say that our customer service agents know their jobs and are raring to go .However reminders are essential part of training strategy .The agents can also fell in the trap of

Procrastinations and general forgetfulness. The daily weekly reminders are great way to get work done smoothly and also I act as good training strategy. They really get the job done worth minimum fuss and no cost .No wonder they are also the favourite of all call centres /BPO’s etc. Few benefits:

Building and keep building rapport with our customers.

Listening skills and how to use them efficiently on the call to understand customer needs and preferences

Empathy with customers and hand holding

We can start with using  customer service reminder system like customer service Tip of the week etc. can ask team to subscribe and start sharing one tip one week .Later on learnings and case studies can also be part of it .

Ad hoc training programmes

Customer service is all about different experiences every day. They are also unique interactions .Ad hoc trainings are a good idea to help facilitate vigorous training programmes .Particular issues faced and Specific case studies could be part of such sessions .For example the customers might be facing problems with a particular feature of the product .The same issue can be properly investigated and the solution shared with the team via such ad hoc sessions .It saves a lot of time and effort as well as helps in quicker rectification of the issue Hence always a good idea to conduct such sessions .

Be aware and keep yourself upgraded

One can learn a lot while being a customer. Keep abreast of latest happenings in the business of customer service and apply the learnings .This is probably one of the easiest and quickest way to stay pro in the game .Gather information on your own .Practise empathy ,listening skills and rapport building and later apply the principles first hand on the call .

Reviews and discussions

We can learn a lot from our experiences. They teach us far more customer service skills than a training class. One way to help employees learn from their experience is an after calls review. These can be discussed in detail for each employees benefit and help reach amazing results .We can start by identifying what went well on the call to what was not so good and what was complete lacking .We can also take them as learning lessons for all .

Filming short videos

Videotaping a session is always a good idea. Short training videos can be shot over cell phones etc. and be circulated among the team with clear guidelines and learnings .This is quite easy and fuss free training tool and with zero cost .In any case visual impact is always far greater than a regular session .Thus can be used as a training tool in customer service .This can include:

Discussing goals and setting them.

A product training video explaining features.

Reminders so the team with important updates.

All these are free customer service ideas which work wonder in the customer service.