As an employer you have to ensure your customers are not being let down by your employees. Therefore you have the responsibility of educating your workers, providing suitable training and monitoring their customer service performance. However, there’s plenty of bad advice on how to train your employees and here are some of the worst ones that should be avoided at all costs.
Always Check with Your Manager
Employees need to be given clear advice on what to do when they’re confronted by an unhappy customer. You must provide them with the freedom to deal with the issue without having to call on their supervisors for assistance. Customers should be treated with respect and have their problem solved quickly, they don’t want to hang around while a solution is agreed. Create your policies, share them with your employees and train them on how to cope with each situation using role play. Your employees should also feel confident to use their own initiative when necessary. The supervisors and managers should only be approached if the customer asks to speak to them directly.
Leave the Problems for Me
It’s never a good idea to make customers wait to have their questions answered or problems solved. While you may want to deal with certain issues it’s important to ensure your employees have the confidence, manners and knowledge on how to deal with all potential problems so customers aren’t left waiting. All customer enquiries in person, on the phone or via email need to be dealt with as soon as possible and if you’re not available let the employees deal with the issue in your place.
Never Admit You Made a Mistake
Consumers are king, and if they have experienced a problem or left unsatisfied they deserve a heartfelt apology. Your workers should never make the customer feel as if they aren’t important or that they are in the wrong, even if they are. Train your staff to be sincere and genuine and remain professional and to apologise for any inconvenience caused. The customer is always right, even when they’re not!
Ignore the Customer Complaints
Some businesses don’t listen to free feedback that is given to them by their customers, which is a huge mistake. It’s important to take all criticisms and concerns of the customer and investigate them. If one customer has taken the time to give you this feedback it’s clear they feel it’s something that is important enough to address. Listen and learn from the feedback and make the necessary improvements to avoid the experience being repeated.
Customers expect to be treated like royalty. They know that they can find products and services elsewhere if they’re left unhappy, so they will only remain loyal to you if you manage to keep them happy. It’s down to you to work on ensuring your team have the correct training and skills required to help you compete. If you’re unable to spend time training your staff or if you’ve decided to improve your workforce speak to contractual retail services today.
The author is the owner of a successful retail business, responsible for over 100 employees and he understands the importance of excellent customer care services in all businesses. He recognises the need to provide constant accurate training to employees. He has written several articles on customer service training that can be found online and in print.