It never ceases to amaze me how some businesses tout how customer service oriented they are, but really aren’t. They may have good intentions of providing real service to their customers, but unfortunately do not follow through and make sure it is consistently delivered. Part of the problem is that their employees, who work in their customer service jobs, are not properly trained. Ultimately, it is the owner or manager’s fault that the best service is not delivered to the customer in a timely and regular basis. Why? Because making sure their employees are delivering the best possible service to their customers is what they are paid to do.
Ongoing customer service training is critical to employees properly performing on the job. Regular funding for customer service training should be included in the annual budget. This is an item that is not really a cost, but an investment that will pay for itself many times over. That’s right, good customer service training will pay for itself and add profits to your bottom line. When you stop to think, for most businesses and organizations today, more money is spent on attracting new customers through advertising than is spent on retaining present customers through service. Too many businesses and non-profits make the mistake of assuming that once a person becomes a customer, they will come back again and again. There is nothing that could be further from the truth.
Today’s market place is overrun with competition. If the price is right and the service is better, people would rather buy from one of your competitors than from you. Service can be your main differentiating factor. You can use outstanding service to give you real leverage against your competitors or they can use it as real leverage against you.
Keep in mind that training in and of itself, will not insure that your employees will use it. That is where management plays a key role. All behavior change must be reinforced. What I am constantly urging my clients to do is to positively reinforce the new ideas and skill sets their people are learning, in my customized training programs. If they don’t reinforce these things, it won’t be long before “it’s back to business as usual.” No positive reinforcement usually means little or no behavior change.
One thing you can do as a business owner is to have a checklist of things you and your management team can do to positively reinforce your employee’s new ideas and skills sets that have been covered in your training program. On this check list you can include:
Ongoing customer service training is critical to employees properly performing on the job. Regular funding for customer service training should be included in the annual budget. This is an item that is not really a cost, but an investment that will pay for itself many times over. That’s right, good customer service training will pay for itself and add profits to your bottom line. When you stop to think, for most businesses and organizations today, more money is spent on attracting new customers through advertising than is spent on retaining present customers through service. Too many businesses and non-profits make the mistake of assuming that once a person becomes a customer, they will come back again and again. There is nothing that could be further from the truth.
Today’s market place is overrun with competition. If the price is right and the service is better, people would rather buy from one of your competitors than from you. Service can be your main differentiating factor. You can use outstanding service to give you real leverage against your competitors or they can use it as real leverage against you.
Keep in mind that training in and of itself, will not insure that your employees will use it. That is where management plays a key role. All behavior change must be reinforced. What I am constantly urging my clients to do is to positively reinforce the new ideas and skill sets their people are learning, in my customized training programs. If they don’t reinforce these things, it won’t be long before “it’s back to business as usual.” No positive reinforcement usually means little or no behavior change.
One thing you can do as a business owner is to have a checklist of things you and your management team can do to positively reinforce your employee’s new ideas and skills sets that have been covered in your training program. On this check list you can include:
1. Verbal recognition in private with your employee.
2. Gift certificate in pay envelope.
3. Verbal recognition in your weekly meeting.
4. Picture of the employee in the lobby as a member of the Employee of the Month club.
5. A monetary reward in the form of a separate check presented at your weekly meeting.
By reinforcing the new behavior and skill sets you want your employees to permanently learn and use, you will be maximizing the investment in the customer service training they are experiencing.
Tom Borg is a consultant in leadership management, team building and customer service. Please see more of his blogs at csjobsblog.com and businessworkforceblog.com To view additional job postings at Nexxt
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