Providing amazing customer service is so important for businesses today. But with new technologies and service channels popping up all the time, what worked yesterday might not cut it anymore. Customer expectations keep changing! So companies have to stay on top of the latest trends and best practices.

That’s why ongoing training is critical for customer service teams. You can’t just train people once and expect them to be set. Their skills will go stale fast! In this post, I’ll talk about why regular training matters so much, what areas to focus on, how to build a solid training program, and ways to keep it going strong. My goal is to give you lots of tips and strategies to help your team stay skilled up and ready for anything.

The Importance of Training for Customer Service Staff

It’s easy to underestimate the value of training for customer service teams. After all, hiring people with the right soft skills like friendliness, patience and communication skills seems like the most critical factor. While those fundamental attributes are key, there are many other important skills that require ongoing training.

Customer service training offers a wide range of benefits including:

– Increased customer satisfaction – Customers can easily tell when they are speaking to a well-informed service agent who can efficiently address their needs. This leads to improved first contact resolution and higher satisfaction scores.

– Improved productivity – Well-trained staff handle customer queries faster, have to escalate fewer calls, and resolve more issues independently. This leads to greater efficiency across the team.

– Enhanced employee engagement – Investing in training shows employees that they are valued. It also keeps their work interesting by allowing them to expand their skillsets.

– Greater consistency – Comprehensive training ensures all agents maintain the same quality standards in their work rather than relying on individual capabilities. 

– Higher sales conversions – Agents who truly understand products and services and are trained on sales techniques will be much more adept at identifying sales opportunities during support interactions.

– Decreased turnover – Excellent training and career development opportunities are key drivers for employee retention. This avoids high turnover costs.

– Improved compliance – Training on the latest laws, regulations, and compliance procedures reduces the risks of fines for non-compliance.

Given these significant benefits, it’s clear that training should be an integral part of any customer service program, rather than an occasional or one-off event. Skills must be kept sharp and expanded through regular training interventions.

Areas Where Training is Critical

There are a few key areas where customer service staff need frequent training to keep their skills current and excel at their jobs. These include:

Product and Service Knowledge

Comprehensive knowledge of the products and services the company offers is one of the most basic requirements for any customer service role. Unfortunately, product details and offerings change rapidly. New products are constantly introduced while existing ones are updated or discontinued.

Without regular training on these changes, agents will be unable to properly advise customers on what solutions fit their needs. At best this leads to a poor customer experience, at worst the company loses sales and opportunities.

Some best practices for keeping staff trained on products include:

– New product/feature launches – Anytime new products or major features are introduced, thorough training should explain the key details, target customers, and selling points. Hands-on demos are ideal.

– Updates to existing products – Agents need to know about any changes to pricing, specifications, delivery processes etc. for existing products. Brief update memos or short training sessions are helpful.

– Discontinued products – Make sure agents know when a product is being retired so they can suggest alternatives where appropriate.

– Role playing – Practice sales conversations related to products so agents learn how to ask the right questions to identify customer needs and recommend the best options.

Soft Skills

While soft skills are more inherent to individual personalities, there are still many aspects that can be improved through training. Some examples include:

– Communication skills – Providing guidelines, case studies, and examples on how to effectively communicate with customers can fine tune phone, email, and social media communication across service teams.

– Cultural sensitivity – Diversity training ensures staff provide respectful service to all customers regardless of factors like race, gender, age, disabilities etc.

– Problem-solving – Techniques like identifying root causes, implementing solutions, following up, and managing difficult situations can be strengthened through training. Roleplaying common scenarios helps prepare agents.

– Teamwork – Exercises and games that require collaboration help agents hone their interpersonal skills for better cooperation.

– Time management – Strategies for prioritizing tasks, tracking progress, and achieving goals efficiently are valuable for productive, low-stress work.

– Stress management – Burnout is common in customer-facing roles. Training on resilience, work-life balance, and managing emotions helps.

Technology Skills 

One of the most frequent training needs arises from the fast pace of change in software, apps, and other technologies used by customer service teams. Some examples include:

– New software – When new agent desktop or CRM software is implemented, thorough training is essential, covering the capabilities and optimal utilization of the tools. Refreshers are helpful as agents build expertise.

– App updates – Changes to mobile apps and tools mean agents need regular updates on new features and procedures. Many companies use brief monthly app training sessions.

– AI integration – The implementation of AI like chatbots requires training so agents understand the technology capabilities, handoff procedures, and impacts to their role.

– Social media – As companies expand service channels to platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. agents need guidance on proper etiquette, messaging and tool usage for each.

– Security – Cybersecurity risks make ongoing security training essential. This includes topics like phishing avoidance, strong passwords, data protection, safe web usage etc.  

Developing an Effective Training Program

For training to truly pay off, it is important to take a systematic approach rather than providing sporadic unstructured sessions. This requires proactively assessing needs, defining goals, selecting varied training methods and measuring outcomes.

Assessing Needs

The first step is identifying current skill gaps and emerging needs in order to design relevant training programs. This can be done through:

– Surveys – Ask agents what areas they need more training in. What challenges are they facing? What new skills do they feel are required?

– Performance data – Customer satisfaction scores, sales conversions, call duration and quality monitoring can flag areas for improvement. 

– Technology trends – Keeping abreast of software and technology trends used in customer service helps prepare training to address upcoming needs.

– Feedback – Input from team managers and leaders provides additional perspective on team training gaps.

Setting Goals 

Training should aim to achieve specific, measurable goals based on business needs. Some examples include:

• Increase first-call resolution rate by 15%
• Improve quality audit scores by 20% 
• Reduce average call handle time by 2 minutes
• Increase upsell revenue by 30%
• Reduce customer effort score by 0.5 points

Defining these objectives guides the design of the training program for maximum impact.

Choosing Training Methods

There are pros and cons to each type of training delivery method. A blended approach utilizing a mix of techniques will provide variety and enrich the learning experience. Options include:

Classroom Training

In-person classroom training allows for highly interactive sessions with hands-on learning. Useful techniques include:

– Presentations: Lectures paired with slide decks to convey key concepts and information.

– Demonstrations: Showing software usage and key processes.

– Role playing: Practice and feedback for customer conversations. 

– Case studies: Apply learning to real examples and scenarios.

– Group discussions: Facilitate problem-solving and sharing best practices.

The downsides are that in-person training can be expensive and time consuming to organize. Virtual classroom options have emerged to provide remote interactive participation.

E-Learning

Online self-paced training is inexpensive and convenient. Popular techniques include:

– Video tutorials demonstrations

– Interactive lessons with quizzes 

– Games with points and rewards

– Microlearning modules lasting 5-10 minutes

The challenge is keeping staff engaged as e-learning is typically passive. Short interactive segments are ideal for maintaining attention.

On the Job Training

Learning from team managers and fellow agents during day-to-day work is extremely valuable for skills development. Methods include:

– Shadowing colleagues

– Monitoring calls and providing feedback

– Coaching and mentoring from team leaders

While cost-effective, consistency and completeness of training can vary. Ongoing oversight is required to ensure all necessary skills are covered.

External Training Programs

Bringing in external experts can provide fresh perspectives and expertise. Options include:

– Conferences and seminars: Large events with multiple sessions/speakers on latest trends and innovations.

– Public courses: Send staff to general customer service skills programs. 

– Private workshops: Hire consultants to provide customized workshops tailored to company needs.

The investment required is higher but it can be worthwhile for specialized skills development.

Measuring Success

It’s essential to track the effectiveness of training to ensure it is delivering real improvements. Metrics to monitor include:

– Training participation rates

– Test scores assessing knowledge acquisition

– Improved performance on quality assurance evaluations 

– Customer feedback and survey metrics

– Business KPIs like resolution rates and sales growth

Analyzing this data will reveal which training programs have the highest ROI as well as identify recurring gaps that necessitate revised training.

Providing Ongoing Training  

Given the ongoing evolution of the customer service landscape, training cannot be a one-time activity but rather should be integrated as an essential part of company culture. 

Best practices for incorporating continuous training include:

– Setting annual training requirements – Establish a minimum number of hours or training courses to be completed by each agent annually.

– Monthly training newsletters – Send regular updates on new products, changed processes, ongoing training opportunities etc. 

– Lunch & learns – Short lunchtime sessions on relevant topics keep skills fresh.

– Refresher courses – Repeat essential training annually rather than just doing once.

– Team huddles – Start shifts or week with quick 10-15 minute training recap on key topic.

– Microlearning – Send quick daily training videos/quizzes on bite-sized topics.

– Gamification – Platforms like Looop that reward training progress helps drive participation.

– Tool tips – Display quick usage tips on software tools to reinforce learning. 

– Peer training – Agents training each other strengthens expertise and collaboration.  

Ongoing training ensures agents continuously expand their skills rather than only learning new systems and processes when implemented. This regular focus results in deeper knowledge and readiness to apply learning immediately.

Encouraging Self-Development

While formal training is invaluable, companies can’t necessarily anticipate and provide training on every new technology and emerging topic. Empowering staff to drive their own development helps fill any gaps.

Ways to promote self-directed learning include:

– Training resources – Provide budgets/subscriptions for online training platforms, books, webinars etc.

– Mentors – Match junior agents with experienced team members for guidance.

– Job shadowing – Allow agents to shadow other departments like sales or tech support to expand knowledge.

– Lunch talks – Agents can present on topics they’ve learned to share knowledge.

– Stretch assignments – Have agents take on special projects to build new capabilities.

– Tuition support – Offer tuition reimbursement for external classes relevant to role.

– Online forums – Encourage participation in industry forums and groups for insight on emerging trends.

– Home lab – Provide resources for agents to experiment with tools and technologies at home for self-guided learning.

Empowering agents to take control of their development rather than purely assigning mandatory corporate training enables deeper engagement. Support through resources and incentives results in improved expertise.

Making Training Accessible 

For training to be truly effective, it needs to be inclusive and accessible for all staff. Some best practices include:

– Localization – Translate training materials into all languages spoken across service teams. 

– Accessibility – Ensure materials meet all accessibility standards for agents with visual, hearing or other impairments. 

– Scheduling – Offer training sessions at various times of day to accommodate different schedules and time zones.

– Options – Provide choices for in-person, virtual or self-paced training to suit different learning preferences.

– Culture – Ensure training examples and terminology are culturally appropriate for all groups.

– Device agnostic – Deliver training in a format accessible on all agent devices – desktop, mobile, tablets etc. 

Removing barriers to participation ensures training reaches and resonates with all staff regardless of language, abilities, location or work style. This enables each agent to benefit and contribute at their fullest potential.

Conclusion

In the fast-changing customer service landscape, comprehensive training is absolutely vital for equipping agents with the knowledge and skills to deliver exceptional service. However, one-time training is far from sufficient. Ongoing training through varied methods and self-development opportunities are required to keep skills current.

By taking a strategic approach that continually assesses needs, sets targeted goals, implements engaging training with proper measurement, agents will be fully prepared to resolve customer issues, drive sales and strengthen satisfaction for their company. The investment of time and budget into robust training will pay off manifold through happier customers, productive employees and improved business results.