Shaky economies across the globe may impact customer facing businesses in the form of reduced traffic and curtailed spending per visit. For small and midsized businesses, highlighting customer service and identifying opportunities to maximize each and every customer interaction is now a priority more than ever. Research from INVOCA, a leading contact center consultancy, suggested that customer service is still king when it comes to selling goods and service:
- 32% of respondents said they would stop purchasing from a favorite brand after only one negative customer experience
- More than half of respondents said they would pay a premium to brands that deliver exceptional customer service experiences
- 71% of those surveyed expect personalized interaction from brands and more than three quarters of that group have negative perceptions of the brand when that expectation is not met
Ensuring frontline agents are well trained and have the skills and resources they need is critical to achieving and maintaining high call quality and delivering exceptional experiences. New hires in contact centers need effective training and skills development to meet those lofty expectations of customers.
Customer Service Training – Contact Center Representative
ExpressTrainingSystems.com offers practical and effective contact center training that can deliver essential communication skills, organizational habits and job specific processes, getting new agents off on the right foot and contributing to the business faster. Customer Service Training – Contact Center Representative (CST – CCR) is specifically designed for small and midsize call centers and deliver the following key areas of learning:
- The components of a successful call
- Call flow and controlling pace with tone
- Interaction and engagement techniques to discover information
- Diffusing tense situations or aggressive callers
- Organizational habits for frontline agents
- Closing calls and tracking performance
CST – CCR is ideal for new hires and new to the industry agents as well as tenured agents who are enthusiastic about keeping their customer service skills fresh and up to date. Fast and effective, CST – CCR can be the perfect onboarding tool for new team members and can also provide practical upskilling opportunities for veterans on the team.
High Impact Methods Gets Agents Ready to Work
ExpressTrainingSystems.com offers CST – CCR digitally in either self paced or instructor led formats.
Self paced versions include content delivered through interactive slides, downloadable worksheets for exercises, 2 way role playing, knowledge checks and end of course evaluations to ensure material is understood. Self paced material is modular and can include job or business specific skills and job processes. Self paced formats are ideal for singular and individual training with less complex interactions or transactions.
Instructor led versions of CST – CCR dives deeper in the material and delivers detailed learnings and skills for more complicated or lengthier calls. Virtual classes also include highly valued Q/A sessions after each class. Real time polling, knowledge checks and evaluations ensure understanding of the material as well as implementation and next steps for the individual. Virtual sessions are limited in capacity to offer the best experience to the participant.
All formats include owners / manager access to monitor learning progress and performance and can be white labeled to match brand stylization and palettes.
Effective Training Drives Efficiency and Productivity
CST – CCR is an ideal training platform for small and midsize businesses that provide customer service via inbound contact or utilize outbound calling to generate revenue and / or build marketing presence. Deploying CST – CCR can offer distinct benefits to the business:
- More effective onboarding and transitioning, reducing costly turnover
- Increased productivity and accuracy
- Faster agent contributions with shorter training times
Contact centers are a performance driven business unit and maintaining high levels of quality and productivity are essential in keeping costs down and revenues growing. CST – CCR delivers essential skills to contact center agents that help businesses drive productivity and efficiency.
The Bottom Line
Contact centers provide essential customer service functions that represent the brand and can greatly impact overall performance of the business. Frontline agents who have essential skills and habits will be in a better position to elevate the customer experience which translates to significant benefits to the business. Training and development are key factors in determining the performance of an individual and delivering those critical skills and habits effectively will positively impact their performance from day one. Contact centers are known for high turnover rates, nearing 40% in some industries, but a strong onboarding process could also reduce costly attrition by giving new hires the tools they need to succeed and stay motivated. Customer facing businesses cannot afford to lose any traffic through entirely controllable bad experiences. Maximizing each interaction is essential for growth when consumer spending habits come into question. ETS training can benefit both the individual and business, especially in difficult customer service environments.
For more information, please visit the Course Descriptions / Training Access page.