SalesForce Training

 Quiz employees on new offerings, as well as basic products and services. Provide study materials and offer incentives to promote product knowledge throughout the company.

 Get creative. Make learning a game, or a fun team competition, to motivate your team to share knowledge and create accountability. Invent awards, or even a rotating trophy, to reward those who demonstrate the greatest product knowledge.

 Knowledge-centered service (KCS) is a method to improve customer experience, and reduce agent training time and attrition. This approach centralizes support around the evolving information agents access and collect. As patterns emerge, service managers surface the knowledge to relevant departments for action.

 To learn more about KCS and its potential, try Trailhead, our free online learning platform. The KCS module uses the story of a service case involving a leaky roof after a solar water heater installation. During the call, the agent creates an article on how to resolve the issue and attaches it to the case.

 Over time, managers notice that many customers contact support about the same issue. When management pulls case history data, it shows that a certain type of heater, roof, and long installation screw are always involved. They recommend that installers switch to a shorter screw, and the leak problems stop.

 This example demonstrates the power of creating knowledge articles and attaching them to a case. Because the first agent captured the information, others then used that information to fix the next issue. Because management looked at data, the organization fixed potential issues before they occurred.

 It’s one thing to create an article to help solve cases. It’s next-level service to catch issues before they happen. Use KCS to improve customer experience and the business at the same time.

 Nowadays, every service organization uses technology to get the job done. Some use artificial intelligence (AI) to create even better customer and agent experiences.

 Some agents will pick up these new tools, while others will need more skills training. Help your team learn by giving them hands-on access to explore and ask questions in real time

 The ability to communicate is important for any customer service team member. As mentioned, customer service agents need to know the product — and just as critical is the ability to explain it clearly and well. Customer service communication training should be a key part of your program.

 If agents bluff or seem in over their heads, this creates distrust in customers, which leads to eroded trust in your company. Trust is something that many companies are struggling to gain. In fact, 99% of customers believe companies need to improve their trustworthiness.

 In customer support, great communication means breaking complex concepts down into easy-to-understand parts. Training employees to be able to do this takes patience.

 Helping a customer solve a problem is, in some ways, similar to programming a simple robot. You can’t tell the robot, “Go to the door and open it.”

 Instead, you must tell it exactly how far to go, when to stop, and what to do next. Extend right arm, open hand, rotate 45 degrees, push down on handle lever, and so on. The same goes for service: You need to explain each step to your customers.

 Use the robot example as an exercise during a meeting or training session. In two-person teams, one agent pretends to be the robot, while one is the programmer. Keep it lighthearted and be supportive if anyone gets flustered. The idea is to create an “aha” moment and flex a new muscle.

 Emotional intelligence includes the ability to regulate emotions and put yourself in another’s shoes. For a support representative, patience goes a long way. As part of your training, be sure to encourage customer support teams to empathize with confused or frustrated customers.

 In order to train customer service employees to be patient, you also need to help them learn to effectively prioritize. After all, it can be quite difficult to be patient when you are helping someone with an issue. Especially when you feel the pressure to keep the conversation very short. Instead of rushing, agents must patiently listen and ask the right questions to find a helpful solution.

 Use the robot example as an exercise during a meeting or training session. In two-person teams, one agent pretends to be the robot, while one is the programmer. Keep it lighthearted and be supportive if anyone gets flustered. The idea is to create an “aha” moment and flex a new muscle.

 To increase your chance of long-term success, be sure to align your metrics and goals. Are your KPIs around average handle time and first call resolution in sync? It’s hard to be patient and provide the best experience for the customer when clocks drive interactions.

SalesForce Training

 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, but only 34% say companies generally treat customers as unique individuals

 It’s a cliche, but time really is money. So decrease hassles for your customers by getting rid of poor website navigation, uninformative help articles, and clunky chat experiences. These customer support obstacles often leave people feeling frustrated and unsatisfied.

 We’ve all had experiences of trying to get help from a company, only to be placed on hold. Or wait days for an email reply. From the customer service organization perspective, think about how much time agents spend filing many support tickets for the same issue. Compare that experience to a single, effective call to resolve the problem.

 Be careful however, not to sacrifice effectiveness to beat the clock. Consider these ways to be more effective:

 On top of product knowledge, teach agents to expect issues, and to prepare solutions — even when they don’t have all the facts. (A knowledge-centered service approach helps.)

 Each customer has unique needs, and many customers experience problems that have no obvious solutions. A true problem solver is able to identify solutions amid seemingly unimportant details.

 Attention to detail in customer service involves carefully tracking the details of the conversation, because they are clues that point to the appropriate solution. Make sure your training program includes ways to develop a detail-oriented mindset.

 Attention to detail in customer service involves carefully tracking the details of the conversation, because they are clues that point to the appropriate solution. Make sure your training program includes ways to develop a detail-oriented mindset.

 One way to help agents become more detail-oriented is to review cases with missed details, and encourage agents to find them. Another way to support detail-orientation is by creating automated processes that ensure agents follow all the required steps. For example, is your system allowing forms to go through without a zip code? Case management flows and automated forms guide agents to collect every necessary detail.

 Smiling team members gather in front of a laptop. They see a calendar notification for an upcoming peer training.

 Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) are technology systems integrated with websites and online applications that allow users to guide themselves through processes. These systems are often used for technical training. They may offer pop-ups and icons that help agents learn and explore the material being covered.

 EPSS technology puts users in the driver seat by empowering them to perform tasks, find information in databases, or present information. The information the EPSS serves up may appear in a variety of formats, such as videos, text, images, or data.

 E-learning is on-demand and accessible anywhere with an internet connection, and can include learning management systems and digital training manuals. Beware of passive or read-only programs without opportunities for interaction, though. Generally, users don’t recall information as well as when they actively participate.

 One interactive e-learning tool to consider for your customer support team is Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning platform, which provides a gamified experience. With Trailhead, a manager can recommend specific trails and modules relevant to the support team. Trainees can also expand their knowledge by exploring other modules of interest. Interactive quizzes and challenges incentivize progress through points, badges, and ranks.

 Instructor-led training depends on the skill of the instructor. The best workshops allow for conversation, problem solving, and knowledge sharing. On the other hand, lectures with little audience participation may create a poor learning experience for some team members. Of course the challenges of instructor-led seminars include time, cost, and travel or audience size limitations.

 A form of e-learning, webinars involve sharing knowledge through either a live broadcast or recorded video. Instructors may be on or off camera, and share presentations that include demonstrations or slides.

 Whether live and interactive or on-demand, most webinars offer an opportunity for questions and discussion. Webinars are one technique for helping different employees learn the same material in a consistent way over time.