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Satisfying customers is essential to your organization’s long-term success. You can’t assume that employees automatically know how to address customers’ concerns and keep them happy, and that makes training a top priority. Avoid these critical mistakes in preparing employees to provide top-notch customer service:
• Short-term, superficial training efforts. The end of the orientation or training session is just the beginning. You’ve got to re-emphasize the value of customer service, and update employees’ skills on a regular basis. A motivational speaker won’t do the job (not alone, anyway). Commit to ongoing training that keeps employees’ skills and motivation fresh.
• Lack of employee commitment. For many employees, training is a vacation—or maybe an irritating distraction. Either way, they don’t see your efforts as integral to their success. Teach them the importance of serving customers well, and hold them accountable for customer satisfaction. When they see that training is designed to help them succeed, they’ll pay full attention.
• Weak or generic training programs. A consultant who spouts bland clichés—“The customer is always right!”—won’t provide much in the way of motivation or useful information to your workforce. Work closely with training providers to ensure that they can deliver content that applies directly to your organization and workforce.
—Adapted from the Business 2 Community website