Low-Cost Customer Service Training that Pays Off

BOONTON, N.J. - April 29, 2013 - PRLog -- This month in Customer Service Newsletter, a reader asks how she can ensure that reps continue to develop their skills when training budgets are tight.

Karen Kehoe of MicroAire Surgical Instruments replies that, "outside training is great, but we often find that training is so much more effective if we conduct it ourselves. This allows us to perform short sessions, frequently, to keep the information fresh in our agents' minds. It also gives us the ability to tailor the content around scenarios that are special to our industry."

Kehoe suggests that managers build their own role plays. "Our organization utilizes call monitoring software. Through call monitoring, we are able to identify specific, repetitive situations that our team tends to struggle with. We record these situations, have them transcribed, and then have some fun with a little role playing.

Sherry Rotolo of SPX Hydraulic Technologies also recommends in-house training. "In times when the training budget is low or non-existent we have done different internal training sessions utilizing the large amount of knowledge we possess internally."

One of Rotolo's favorite programs is called, "A Day in My Shoes." She explains: "I put together a training schedule for the CSRs involving their spending a day in different departments within the company over a month or month-and- a-half time frame, rotating them among others so as to not leave the department short-handed." Rotolo notes that the program gives reps needed information and added confidence when speaking with customers.

Additional low-cost training ideas appear in the April issue of Customer Service Newsletter.

About the Customer Service Group

For more than 20 years, the Customer Service Group has helped customer service, call center and help desk managers increase productivity, improve service quality and boost customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. The Customer Service Group publishes Customer Service Newsletter and The Customer Communicator.

Website: http://www.CustomerServiceGroup.com