The keys to customer service training

Organizations are attuned to the importance of training their staff in customer service. Ottawa-based consultant Shaun Belding, in his e-zine, lists the following vital elements for such training programs:

-- An entertaining trainer, who displays the same attitude, passion and ability to connect to people that you want from those being trained.

-- A clear indication of the three to five behaviours that are non-negotiable - that you insist be present, or not present, in customer service.

-- Content that isn't so cutesy that those being trained are quietly laughing at you (such as when you try to frame the main items, awkwardly, around an acronym such as "Stellar Service.")

--Training on how to recover from a goof or bad incident involving the customer, because effective service recovery can create a customer for life.

-- A format that is 85-per-cent interactive. "Lecture is not an appropriate delivery mechanism for customer service training. We are, after all, talking about interpersonal skills here. Get interpersonal!" Mr. Belding writes.

-- Mechanisms to transfer skills into practice. Because customer service is common sense, many people in the training program will believe they already do everything you are calling for. Build in mechanisms and metrics for measuring how they fare after the program, as well as rewards to encourage improved performance.

-- Participation by everyone, because customer service delivery needs to be consistent throughout the organization.