My staff needs customer service training so that when I send them out “into battle” and I am not able to be there with them when they are confronted by upset customers they can be successful. They are open minded and want to help the customer, but need reassurance. How can I build their confidence to just deliver the “service” without so much hesitation?
The Team Doc Says…
First I think you need to consider how you perceive the customer relationship. Since you refer to it as going “into battle,” that’s probably how you view it and communicate it to your team members. That would scare pretty much anyone out of wanting to carry out customer service for your company don’t you think? So you need to work on yourself and stop looking at it as a conflict situation. Until you shift your thinking, you’ll never be able to convince others.
Continuing this introspective look, take a moment to consider whether you are trying to control your staff. Remember that delegation is a good thing that can save you tons of hours. You just have to make sure and delegate with a level of authority attached to it so your team members can do their job. Take a good look at your behavior and make sure that you aren’t holding back because you are trying to control everything.
Now to your question. You can help your team build confidence by defining the appropriate outcomes for your company’s customer service situations. Since you’re dealing with people here (both staff and customers), I’m sure the path to the right outcome could have many different scenarios, so make sure your focus remains on outcomes and not steps to get to the outcome (unless there are legal or safety issues involved).
Begin building your team members’ confidence by having 15- to 30-minute tailgate meetings at the start of every day. Share customer service scenarios they may encounter and possible solutions for solving the issue. Have team members talk about the experiences they’ve had and let them share how they resolved the customer problem. Offer a safe environment for getting feedback on how they handle the problems. And make sure you provide plenty of praise for a job well done.
I’d love to hear how this works out for you, so try it then come back and leave me a comment. In the meantime, does anyone else have any suggestions? Please leave a comment.
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