Improving your customer interactions with online training

There’s no doubt that customer service is still one of the most important factors when it comes to any business.

Customer service teams aren’t just responsible for sales – they also need to know how to complete returns, carry out special orders, respond to product enquiries, handle customer complaints, and build long-term customer loyalty.

The way in which your employees interact with customers during these experiences will have a positive or negative effect on your company’s reputation, success and longevity.

If you want to improve the way your employees are interacting with customers, you’ll need to provide them with the right learning and development opportunities and resources. These days, online training is one of the best ways to do that.

Here’s what you need to know about using online training for your customer service team.

The power of positive customer interactions

One of the most important aspects of good customer service is knowing how to build good rapport with your customers.

Rapport is that sense of feeling when two or more people are on the same wavelength or page. They feel ‘in synch’ with each other and are likely to have a good understanding of where the other person is coming from.

When people have a solid rapport, communication and ideas are able to flow easily – in a customer service scenario, this means you’re showing each customer that you’re interested in finding the best solution for them and meeting their individual needs.

In contrast, poor rapport with your customers will create a negative experience overall. Customers will feel disconnected, misunderstood, and likely to look elsewhere. Negative customer service experiences can very quickly lead to a bad reputation by word of mouth or online reviews.

When customers have a positive experience, with a good rapport, you can expect higher customer loyalty, better sales figures, and greater success.

Using online training for customer service

Online training is a great way to improve your customer service skills.

Through online courses and learning materials, customer service staff can learn all aspects of customer service training,

Well-known eLearning expert Christopher Pappas advises using the following learning tools and resources to develop an effective online customer service training program.

Simulations to help improve customer service staff’s active listening skills. Simulations also provide staff with a good opportunity to try out the exact tools, resources, and equipment they’ll be using on a daily basis in the work environment.

eLearning videos are great for demonstrating the difference between good and bad customer service scenarios. They can contrast and compare the two online training scenarios and identify correct performance behaviours.

Branching scenarios where employees can engage with virtual customers in a supportive online training environment, with choices leading to positive or negative outcomes. Through images, dialogue, and choices, staff can try out different problem-solving approaches to overcome common customer service challenges.

Incorporating these three online tools into your customer service training program will greatly enhance your employees’ learning experience.

eLearning courses for customer service staff

Ready to get your customer service teams involved in online training?

You may like to check out this article, where we’ve handpicked five of the best eLearning courses for customer service. Through these short, interactive online courses, you’ll learn how to listen to customers, form positive connections, build customer loyalty, improve your telephone technique, and handle complaints.

It’s also vital that you include feedback channels in your training program. Be sure to conduct surveys and interviews to get honest feedback from your employees about the online training they’ve just completed. This will help you improve your company’s customer service reputation, as you’ll be able to identify any gaps in skills and knowledge you need to address with your team.

Online courses to improve customer service aren’t just beneficial for people working in a customer-facing role. Improving your customer service skills will greatly help your career, whatever position you’re in – because we all deal with customers daily, whether they’re external or internal to the business. So why not have all staff partake in customer service online training?

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