You know how important customer service is to your
business. When you see a customer leave
your business with a smile on their face, you know they are likely to do business
with you again. Moreover, there’s a good chance they will recommend you to their
friends and family.
Knowing this, you probably provide some customer service
training to your employees (If not, you really need to!). I challenge you to consider how much of your
training focuses on procedures (i.e. what to do) vs. behaviors (i.e. how to do
it).
What to do How
to do it
Make customers feel welcomed Be genuinely interested in your customers
Exceed customer’s expectations Empathize with your customer's situation
Maintain a positive attitude Recognize and manage your emotions at work
Chances are you have been focusing mostly on training procedures,
which is good. Unfortunately, “good” isn’t
what you are aiming for. Raising the level
of your customer service requires that you train the behavioral skills your
employees need to truly “wow” your customers.
Learning behavior skills works best when the training is
customized to individual strengths and personalities. Don't assume that a group training session is going to do the trick. Follow it up with individual meetings to find out what part of the training your employees felt was most valuable. Ask thoughtful questions about how they will apply what they learned. Providing individual
attention improves employee engagement, retention, and skill development. This is especially true with younger employees who are used to more individualized attention from parents and teachers. Give it a try. It'll be the most valuable time you spend improving performance all year, and might even improve your relationships with your employees.
