t) Training Effectiveness

It shouldn’t be a crapshoot to get a good rep on the phone. Basic customer service skills are more essential today than ever before. Please, please, please take the time to hire good people and train them well.

There are a lot of reasons why I hate calling Customer Support. It doesn’t matter what company. The issues remain the same. If I had a wish list, these are the things I would like to see changed- immediately!

The first thing that bugs me is long waits with a message saying, “Your call is valuable to us. The approximate wait time is 22 minutes.” If I was a valued customer, the wait time would be minimal. Worse yet is the recorded message that says, “All of our representatives are currently taking calls, please contact our website at….” There is no option to speak to a live person, apparently ever.

When I do make contact with a rep, I need to be able to understand the person. If the person speaks too quickly or if the person has an accent that makes me focus on what they just said versus what they are currently saying, I get seriously frustrated. It certainly seems to be the responsibility of the call center to insure that everyone on the phone can be understood-all the time, not just when someone is watching them. People like me take notes. We write things down. Speaking too quickly or in a manner that I can’t follow makes me hang up and redial or worse yet, just give up.

Reps who can’t answer my questions waste my time. My expectation is that the rep will know the particulars about their product or service without having to place me on hold or connect me to someone else. Answers like, “I don’t think it is possible” or “I am not really sure about that” simply are not acceptable. Could somebody please educate these people! Would it be too much for them to learn one or two new products each month? Would it be too much for supervisors to quiz their reps periodically on product knowledge?

I don’t like reps with an attitude either. Hey, sometimes I am upset, and there may be a good reason for it. Telling me, “Don’t take it out on me” or “Just calm down,” only adds to my annoyance. How about taking ownership? If a shipment was late, broken or incomplete, it may have cost me money or jeopardized my relationship with a client. A sincere apology goes a long way with me. An artificial one gets my dander up. In a recent interaction with a support center, a rep said, “Hey that is just the way it is. Take it or leave it!” You can imagine what I did.

My final pet peeve is the rep who sounds bored and disinterested. Granted I may be the 40th caller of the day, but I like to feel that the rep on the other end of the line likes his or her job and likes people. From the initial “hello,” I want to feel that the rep cares and is interested in resolving my issue. The good reps always sound friendly.

It shouldn’t be a crapshoot to get a good rep on the phone. Basic customer service skills are more essential today than ever before. Please, please, please take the time to hire good people and train them well.

Question: Tell us how the call center in your company is improving how customer support is helping your customers. We’re interested in your reaction to this article.

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Impact Communications, Inc. consults with individuals and businesses to improve their presentation and telephone communication skills. It is not what you know but how you communicate it that makes a difference. When you have to have impact, phone (847) 438-4480 or visit our web site, www.ImpactCommunicationsInc.com.

Customer service organizations spend thousands of dollars each year on training. The hope is to improve skill sets, increase productivity, close more business or create customer loyalty. While typically there is a “bump” in improvement after any class, over time, the effect of the training seems to diminish. So what is the answer to making training stick?

First, participants need to know that management is expecting them to improve. At the conclusion of each class, they should create an action plan of the things they want to improve and how they will do it. Action plans should be realistic and tied to specific time frames. For example, a participant might say, “I want to improve the tone of my voice. I will practice by pausing more for inflection and will also tape myself two times a day for a month. I will get feedback from my supervisor who will listen in on my calls at the end of the month.”

Participants should share their action plans with their managers within one week after the training. This will reinforce the idea that the person will be held accountable for improvement. The supervisor or manager should offer suggestions or ask questions as appropriate. If a face to face meeting isn’t possible due to location, the individual should e-mail the action plan and review it with his or her manager over the phone. Ideally, improvement in the identified areas should become part of the individual’s performance review.

Managers and leads then need to become observant coaches. If the rep or sales person is making progress, he or she should be applauded. If the person has forgotten a skill, the supervisor must be ready to offer suggestions. This may require the supervisory team to participate in the same training as their representatives. A class on how to coach might also be appropriate.

Lastly, team meetings are another good way of discussing and reinforcing the concepts from a class. People can practice by role playing, etc.

Through training, people improve and exceed customer expectations. To make training stick, individuals must be held accountable and managers must coach.

Impact Communications, Inc. consults with individuals and businesses to improve their presentation and telephone communication skills. It is not what you know but how you communicate it that makes a difference. When you have to have impact, phone (847) 438-4480 or visit our web site, www.ImpactCommunicationsInc.com.

Now more than ever, managers and supervisors need to motivate their inside salespeople or their customer service representatives. Obviously, the more motivated people are the better sales and approval ratings will be. What managers and supervisors don’t often remember is that they personally may be responsible for a demoralized staff with their “off the cuff” comments. Here are some things anyone in a management position should never say.

1. Be lucky you have a job. Most inside sales people and customer service representatives are under a lot of pressure today. Customers are more demanding and their quotas are typically quite high. The last thing they need to hear is how lucky they are. What they would like to hear is “Thanks for your hard work. I know how difficult your job must be.”
2. You need to work harder. Your staff is already working hard, really hard. The issue is they may need to work smarter. Rather than criticizing, management should consider providing training to offer the team new approaches. Productivity and morale almost always spikes as a result of new learning or new insights.
3. Your voice should be friendlier. Sales people and CSR’s hear this all the time. It drives them nuts since they have no idea what to do about it. To their way of thinking, their voice is their voice. Managers and supervisors need to sit elbow to elbow with those who work over the phone on a regular basis and listen to recordings of calls and have people practice adding more warmth by pausing and breathing at appropriate times. One’s voice is their calling card, and it will affect their success, but it is the responsibility of the manager to show them how through coaching.
4. You’re spending too much time on each call. Customers want to feel heard. They like it when the sales person or CSR spends time answering all of their questions or getting to know them on personal level. Your reps know this and wish you would acknowledge their efforts at building a relationship, not just handling a transaction. The few additional seconds spent with each caller is an investment in future customer loyalty.
5. Deal with It! Today’s customers are very assertive about requesting free delivery, fee waivers or discounts. Sales people and CSR’s are often frustrated because they don’t know how to handle these and other situations when they arise. They don’t know how much latitude they have and constantly having to check with you lengthens the call and annoys the customer. The “What if’s” need to be discussed at staff meetings.

Managers and supervisor play a pivotal role in motivating staff. The most successful are those that spend time on the floor coaching their staff on an on-going basis. They are very affirming and recognize the stresses of the job. They weigh their words very carefully.

Impact Communications, Inc. consults with individuals and businesses to improve their presentation and telephone communication skills. It is not what you know but how you communicate it that makes a difference. When you have to have impact, phone (847) 438-4480 or visit our web site, www.ImpactCommunicationsInc.com.