Rather than treating the customer service department as the ‘clean-up crew’ (any mistake down the line, and the clean-up crew is sent in to do damage control and ‘fix it’), begin to think of these employees as what they are: business people. Many know more about the products, services, and processes than even the CEO! They have valuable opinions, insider knowledge on customers, experience with products and services … tap into this wealth for the good of the company.
Customer service reps have a challenging job. They deserve several things, the first of which is respect. Ask their opinion, have them sit in on client meetings, take them on site visits if possible. Secondly, they deserve support. If you’re not going to invest time and resources in these employees, don’t be surprised if they don’t perform to your expectations.
Training is an investment that has a huge R.O.I. for customer service providers resulting in better time management, better communication skills, decreased conflict, high confidence levels, better decision making, increased sales, and both client and employee retention.
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