Training Staff About Customer Service

It’s great to be able to invite an industry professional in to provide training and development to improve customer service, but it’s not always practical to get the entire team together to schedule training for staff and maybe harder to still to pay for quality training.

Here are some tips for putting together your own Customer Service Training Manual.

The first rule to Customer Care is consistency!

Consistency in your customer care is key, because even low end, budget customer services will attract a trusted following, so long as they can know what to expect and this is delivered every time. This is called the Customer Experience and so long as each customer experience consistently delivers what is promised, the result will be customer satisfaction.

Next - change the way you answer: What is a customer?

The best way to keep the rule of being consistent in all your customer relations, is not simply define your customer as anyone who pays for your services, but as those who want a repeat of the customer experience you provide. This is to be ever mindful of the ‘life’ of the customer, which means how many times will they pay for your core services or customer support?

What is customer service vs What is the customer experience?

When someone pays for your service, customer service just happened! No matter if it was good customer service, bad customer service, exceptional or hardly perceived at all. When we as consumers pay, we have agreed to take whatever the service is and we are protected in law that the service is fit for purpose, with certain consumer rights if it is not. So if you have found someone willing to buy your service, providing customer service only requires you to meet those basic obligations. The point is there’s nothing special about customer service – except of course getting paid!

Now a restaurant waiter may argue – I’ve gave great customer service for over 2 hours while the customers dined, or you may have just paid for your holiday yet won’t set off for over 2 months, so feel you’ve only bought the promise of future customer service. 

These scenarios are actually part of the Customer Experience. The promise of food whilst waited upon and the promise of the purchased inclusions at the holiday destination of your choice is the customer service you are willing to pay for, but the actual customer experience will determine how prepared you are to do it again or recommend it to others. This is why the customer experience and how consistent it is to be trustworthy of being repeated is the all-important focus of your customer service training manual.

Now we know the importance of how we think about the terminology we train our staff, here is a quick practical list of what to include in your Customer Service Training and Development Manual;

SERVICE SYSTEM           

Consistency is the key!      

SIGNATURES    

The touches that set you apart

SERVICE OPPORTUNITY SESSIONS

Client Record System

Non Verbal Language       

Client Appointment Cards

Identifying Client Belongings           

Remembering Refreshments            

Consultation Recommendations    

Confirm Rebooking           

Retail Recommendations 

Future Rapport Notes        

Chemical & Technical Histories      

Salon Focus and Seasonal Promotions          

When the phone rings

For price enquiries

Setting an appointment

Confirming client’s appointment

Late clients

MEET & GREET

Waiting area

CONSULTATION              

Great example consultation questions to ask your client

Skin allergy test procedure

THE SERVICE   

Conversational F O R M Topics

Explaining Products

 “FAB” when recommending products and services

BE CONFIDENT & PROFESSIONAL           

THE FINALE      

REBOOKING      

Great reasons to Rebook