Customer service soft skills training is important for all customer-facing employees. The goal of customer service soft skills training is to help employees learn how to provide excellent customer service, while also maintaining good job satisfaction.
This type of training should include the following topics:
- Value of customer service
- Exceeding your customers’ expectations
- How customers share experiences
- Building rapport with customers
- Managing challenging customers
- Active listening techniques
- Managing customer expectations
- Developing a customer-centric mindset
- Preventing upset customers
- Problem-solving in customer service
- Using language strategically
- Learning from upset customers
- Self-care and personal growth
In this article, we will break down each of these topics and discuss why these make up the essential aspects of customer service soft skills training.
Value of customer service
The customer is always right – or at least that’s what we’re taught in customer service. But why is it so important to give good customer service?
As an example, 81% of customers say that positive customer service experiences are what makes a difference in choosing to return to a company for future purchases.
Think of a company that you’re loyal to. Why are you a customer? It’s likely because they provide good customer service – they’re responsive to your needs, they solve problems quickly, and they make you feel valued.
There are many reasons, and understanding why you are doing what you’re doing is the key to providing excellent customer service and being satisfied at your job. That’s why learning the value of customer service should be the first step in any customer service soft skills training.
Exceeding your customers’ expectations
We’ve all had customer service experiences where the company has failed to meet our expectations. It’s frustrating, and it’s something that you want to avoid if you’re in customer service.
To exceed your customers’ expectations, you need to do more than just meet their needs – you need to go above and beyond. This could mean going out of your way to help them, following up with them after their purchase, or even just sending a handwritten thank-you note.
It’s the little things that make a big difference, and your customers will remember how you made them feel. If you can make them feel valued and appreciated, they’re more likely to be loyal customers.
But how do you do that? This is where customer service soft skills training can help you learn the skills you need to exceed your customers’ expectations.
How customers share experiences
These days, customer reviews and word-of-mouth are more important than ever. With the rise of social media, it’s easier than ever for customers to share their experiences – good and bad. A study by Salesforce found that 62% of customers will share a bad brand experience with others.
But what about how they share experiences with the customer service representative? It’s important to remember that the customer service representative is the face of the company. They’re the one who will be interacting with the customer and they have the power to make or break a customer’s experience.
So, no matter if you’re dealing with a customer directly or responding to a social media post, it’s important to know how customers share experiences. That way, you can decide how to handle them.
Building rapport with customers
Learning how to build rapport with customers is another important part of customer service soft skill training. This involves establishing a good relationship with the customer, making them feel comfortable and valued. It is important to build rapport with customers as this can make them more likely to return in the future and recommend your business to others.
The customer service soft skills training should give you strategies on how to build rapport with customers. This might include active listening, showing empathy, and mirroring the customer’s body language.
Managing challenging customers
One of the most challenging aspects of customer service is dealing with upset customers. It’s important to remember that the customer is always right – even when they’re wrong.
The customer service soft skills training should cover how to deal with challenging customers. This might include strategies like diffusing the situation, staying calm, and using language strategically.
It’s also important to remember that customer service is an opportunity to learn from upset customers. They can provide valuable feedback about your product or service and help you improve your business.
Activities, examples, and case studies should be a central part of customer service soft skills training.
Active listening techniques
One of the most important customer service soft skills is active listening. This involves giving your full attention to the customer, making eye contact, and using body language to show that you’re listening.
It’s important to use active listening techniques as they can help you understand the customer’s needs and solve their problem more effectively.
The customer service soft skills training should include activities and examples of active listening. This will help you understand how to use the technique and when to use it.
Managing customer expectations
Another important customer service soft skill is managing customer expectations. This involves setting realistic expectations with the customer and then meeting or exceeding those expectations.
It’s important to manage customer expectations as this can help you avoid upset customers. It can also help you build rapport with the customer and make them more likely to return in the future.
The customer service soft skills training should guide you on how to set and manage customer expectations. This might include setting clear expectations, over-delivering on customer service, and following up with the customer.
Developing a customer-centric mindset
One of the most important aspects of customer service is developing a customer-centric mindset. This involves putting the customer first in everything you do.
This is not an easy task, especially when you’re dealing with challenging customers. But it’s important to go back to the first aspect of customer service soft skills training – knowing why you are doing what you are doing.
The customer service soft skills training should help you develop a customer-centric mindset. This might include activities like role-playing, listening to customer feedback, and brainstorming ways to put the customer first.
Preventing upset customers
On top of handling upset customers, it’s important to prevent them in the first place. This can be done by setting clear expectations, over-delivering on customer service, and following up with the customer.
It’s also important to have a customer service plan in place so that you know how to handle customer service issues when they arise. The customer service soft skills training should help you develop a customer service plan. This might include activities like brainstorming customer service scenarios and developing customer service scripts.
Problem-solving in customer service
One of the most important customer service soft skills is problem-solving. This involves being able to identify customer problems and then find solutions to those problems.
Think about a great customer service experience that you’ve had in the past. Chances are, the customer service representative was able to quickly identify your problem and find a solution that worked for you.
The customer service soft skills training should help you develop problem-solving skills. This might include activities like brainstorming customer service scenarios and developing customer service scripts.
The customer service soft skills training should help you develop problem-solving skills. This might include activities like brainstorming customer service scenarios, role-playing, and developing customer service scripts
Using language strategically
Speaking the same language is only the first step to successful communication. It’s also important to use language strategically. For example, you might need to use different language when talking to a customer who is upset than you would use when talking to a customer who is happy.
The customer service soft skills training should help you learn how to use language strategically. This might include activities like role-playing, listening to or reading customer feedback, and considering the underlying meaning – or connotation – of certain words or phrases.
Learning from upset customers
Inevitably, there will be customers who are righteously upset. No company or brand is perfect and neither are you. The customer service soft skills training should help you learn how to take feedback and grow from an experience with an upset customer.
This might include activities such as listening to an upset customer complaint and discussing it. Learning from upset customers can help you improve your customer service skills and prevent future customer service issues.
We are never too good or too old to keep learning!
Self-care and personal growth
Last, but certainly not least, a customer service soft skills training should help you develop skills for self-care and personal growth. This might include activities like setting boundaries, taking breaks, and practicing self-compassion.
It’s important to remember that customer service is a challenging job – just like any other. It can be emotionally and mentally taxing at times. That’s why it’s so important to take care of yourself. The customer service soft skills training should help you develop skills for self-care and personal growth.
By taking care of yourself, you’ll be better equipped to handle customer service challenges. This, in turn, will lead to improved customer service experiences.
High-quality customer service soft skills training with CustomersFirst Academy
If you’re looking for customer service soft skills training that covers it all, look no further than the CustomersFirst Academy. Our comprehensive customer service training program includes everything from the value of customer service to preventing upset customers.
We offer the training completely online so that you can learn on your schedule. In addition to our valuable content, we also provide access to expert tips, resume advice, and job interview preparation content to get you ready to become a customer service superstar!If you are ready to learn how to be successful and fully enjoy a customer service career, get started today!
