Don’t Forgo Customer Service Training in Challenging Times

With all the uncer­tainty and insta­bil­ity in today’s work­place and many orga­ni­za­tions hav­ing scaled-back bud­gets, one of the areas that tends to get cut is cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing. While this might seem to make sense, it can actu­ally be a counter-productive strat­egy. Cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing is of the utmost importance.

When com­pa­nies are faced with bud­get and/or hir­ing lim­i­ta­tions at work, they nec­es­sar­ily have to find ways to “do more with less.” This is the right time to focus on, and invest in, the devel­op­ment of cur­rent employees.

Fol­low­ing are some ben­e­fits of pro­vid­ing cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing dur­ing chal­leng­ing eco­nomic (and emo­tional) times. By invest­ing in train­ing, you’re able to:

• Enhance employ­ees’ skills and knowledge.
• Ensure that they feel val­ued by the organization.
• Main­tain a sense of nor­malcy and con­ti­nu­ity in the work environment.
• Remain com­pet­i­tive (by keep­ing skill level high).
• Sus­tain and enhance cus­tomer rela­tion­ships by mak­ing sure your staff gives cus­tomers them the best ser­vice possible.
• Ensure cus­tomer ser­vice reps are pre­pared for pros­per­ous times.

Chal­leng­ing eco­nomic times can also mean a reduc­tion in staff turnover. When this hap­pens, you have an oppor­tu­nity to focus on devel­op­ing your staff and increas­ing the level of their engage­ment with the orga­ni­za­tion (and hope­fully their pas­sion for the job). When times get tough, you should not react by stop­ping the learn­ing process. This is an oppor­tune time for com­pa­nies to con­tinue to be com­pet­i­tive and focus on grow­ing and main­tain­ing clientele.

Keep in mind that invest­ing in cus­tomer ser­vice train­ing is an invest­ment that will give your com­pany a com­pet­i­tive advan­tage both with your employ­ees and with your customers.

Coach­ing Tip

Main­tain con­tin­u­ous com­mu­ni­ca­tion with your cus­tomer ser­vice team mem­bers. Dif­fi­cult times can take a toll, espe­cially if cus­tomer ser­vice reps sus­pect (rightly or wrongly) that they’re not being fully informed of every­thing that’s going on with the depart­ment or orga­ni­za­tion. To avoid the rumor mill, hold weekly meet­ings with your team. At these meet­ings, have a set agenda, but also allow some time for a Q&A ses­sion, where you open the floor up to questions.

For more tips on train­ing and per­for­mance, visit www.impactlearning.com or give us a call at 800 545 9003