This document discusses the importance of customer service training and provides guidance on developing an effective training program. It outlines several benefits of customer service training, including increased brand value, repeat customers, price justification, free marketing, and employee satisfaction. It then discusses establishing core values, recruiting the right people, exposing new hires to the job, and providing mentorship. The document also provides details on training programs, including demonstrating priorities, empowering staff, inculcating leadership, following processes, and monitoring performance. It stresses the importance of regular performance evaluations to ensure great customer support.

1. Everything you needed to know about customer service training
and its benefits.
1
Guide to
Customer Service Training

2. 2
Importance of Customer Service Training
Direct Impact on Brand Value
Be known for great customer service.
Customers will swear by you even during difficult times
Chapter 1

3. 3
Get Repeated Customers
The confidence in support leads to less perceived risk and more buying.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1

4. 4
Price Justification
With exceptional customer service you can manipulate your customer
into discounting a high price because of his affinity for your support.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1

5. 5
Free Marketing
Every satisfied customer will talk to her friends and peers about her
valuable experience – Great word-of-mouth marketing that’s FREE!
Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people about their
experience.
– White House Office of Consumer Affair
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1

6. 6
Employee Satisfaction
When your employees know they are delivering a service that your
customers love, they are more driven.
Importance of Customer Service Training
Chapter 1

7. 7
The Fall 2012 Workforce Moodtracker Report ties organization values
to employee performance. Report concludes that frequent timely
recognition linked to the company’s core values results in:
•Increased productivity
•Improved focus on customer service
•Enhanced employee engagement
First thing: Understand your Core Values
Chapter 2

8. 8
Companies that are known for their customer service like Zappos and Apple
have clearly established their core business principles and have put in place a
strategy around employee training and onboarding process.
Apple, for instance, has a Genius Training Student Workbook that every new
employee has to complete before stepping onto the Apple foyer.
Zappos has structured its interview process, training and evaluation programs
tied around their 10 core business values
Importance of Understanding your Core Values
Chapter 2

9. 9
Right people in the right seat
Recruitment is a failure when you are looking for a ‘resource’. You need
to look for ‘talent’ that exactly fulfills your requirement in every way.
Three ways to align Core Values and
Customer Service
Chapter 3

10. 10
Customer Centric Core Values
Build customer-centric core values and make sure every new employee in your
company implements the same in their work.
Three ways to align Core Values and
Customer Service
Chapter 3

11. 11
Three ways to align Core Values and
Customer Service
Chapter 3
Expose new hires to nuances of the job
Before you throw an employee into the ring, you need to accustom
him/her to the nuances of providing support that reflects your values,
and how to provide the ‘Wow experience’ to your customer.

12. 12
Expose
• Expose new hires to the functioning of the organization
• Be open to queries and ensure their understanding
• Simulate situations to evaluate their response to emergencies
Onboarding Process for Customer Service
Training
Chapter 4

13. 13
Explain
• Take them through past customer requests received
• Ask them to analyze and respond
• Also take them through the right way to respond to such requests
Onboarding Process for Customer Service
Training
Chapter 4

14. 14
Demonstrate
• Give access to live support calls attended by current employees.
• Make sure new hires spend a day or two watching demos and get
feedback.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service
Training
Chapter 4

15. 15
Evaluate
• Evaluate candidates on their understanding of the process.
• Have a detailed interview to measure their understanding.
• Suggest areas of improvement and provide constant feedback.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service
Training
Chapter 4

16. 16
Mentor
Assign a mentor for regular touch points on questions and clarifications
at least for the first 3 months on their job.
Onboarding Process for Customer Service
Training
Chapter 4

17. 17
The demonstration of basics of customer
service to new hires should include key
factors that directly influence great service.
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

18. 18
1. Getting priorities right
2. Empower support staff
3. Inculcate leadership
4. Follow organizational processes
5. Monitor activities
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

19. 19
1. Getting the priorities right
When a support staff has to attend to more than one customer query, it is
imperative that they understand which ones to target first.
Priority 1: Business Critical - Affects business operations and has to be resolved
immediately
Priority 2: Degraded Service - Intermittent issues that reduce quality of offering
Priority 3: Minor Issues - Queries, sanity fixes and non-detrimental issues
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

20. 20
2. Empower support staff
For your support staff to drive engagement & solve problems without a delay,
they have to primarily understand who the customers are and need authority
to make decisions on the fly. This may include
1. Offering discounts or service upgrade
2. Committing dates on critical deliverables
3. Summon team members on the priority of deliverables
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

21. 21
3. Inculcate Leadership
Your actions are your deeds. Staff should be able to make decisions
on the fly, considering various parameters and also be able to back
those decisions at tough times.
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

22. 22
4. Follow Organization Process
The process has to be standard, uniform and thorough so that no
customer is ever treated differently. Get approvals when required,
follow documentation, demo script, communicate adhering to standard
protocol.
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

23. 23
5. Monitor activities on daily basis
Monitor the performance of the new hires on a daily basis, find areas
that need improvement and make sure the same is communicated to
the support staff. Also provide them a way to measure their
performance constantly.
A Detailed Development and Training
Program
Chapter 5

24. 24
Appraisal Process to Evaluate Training and
Work
Chapter 6
The above graph from the Moodtracker survey highlights the need for regular appraisals for
support staff.

25. 25
Great customer support needs exceptional
support staff
If you are inclined to have a GREAT support team, do not forget these three
important factors:
1. Establish customer centric organizational values
2. Set your support training plan based on those values
3. Constantly evaluate and provide constructive feedback
Summary