Can you get better Retail Customer Service Training

No service provider should endure ongoing customer abuse. We are in service to help, not get hurt. Defuse abuse with your clarity and commitment to serve. If that works, so can you. If it doesn't work, get yourself out of the way.

Action Steps

Make sure your customer service training thoroughly covers how to defuse abusive customers, and when to call for help. Be sure everyone on your team is committed to preserving the dignity of everyone else, including the customer.

Who are the most important people in your organization? It may come as a surprise to learn that the most important people are your employees - not your customers. Customers come second. Without qualified and well-trained employees committed to strong customer service all of your efforts to please customers will be fruitless. Customer service training has become a popular way for service organizations to provide employees with the information they need to meet customer needs.

It should not, however, be considered a one-time or annual event. Customer service training is an ongoing process that needs to be incorporated into the organization's culture and way of doing business.Good customer service training will be based on the needs of your organization as well as the skill level of your employees. Following are some key elements in ensuring that your customer service training efforts get results.

1) Start with the end in mind. What do you want to accomplish with your customer service training efforts? Your answer will be unique to your business, the product or service you provide and the type of customer you serve. For example, if you run a dry cleaning business, your expectation may be that customers are greeted promptly when they come into your store, that clothing is cleaned to their specifications and that any problems or issues are resolved according to prescribed policies/practices that have been clearly communicated to customers.

If you run a consulting business your customer service expectations may include lengthy interactions with clients to clearly determine their needs, identified check-points throughout the consulting process, etc. Regardless of the specifics, the point is that you need to have a clear idea of the end results you're looking for. Then you can use these results to help direct the focus of your customer service training efforts.

2) Define success. Employees need to have clear expectations; they want to succeed, but they need to know what success "looks like" and how you will be judging their efforts. Based on the objectives you identified, quantify as best you can measures of customer service success. Provide these measures to employees as the goals they will be charged with obtaining.

3) Communicate your expectations - be specific. Don't assume that employees know what you expect in terms of service. Be specific and make sure you "catch them early." A new employee's orientation is the time to let them know what your service expectations are.

4) Provide the tools that employees need to serve your customers. Employees need tools, and need to know how to use those tools, to serve customers effectively. For example, if employees don't have access to e-mail they may be hampered in communicating effectively with their customers.