Conduct individual interviews with various people and ask as many questions as needed to gain an in depth understanding of how to get customer service
reps to perform at their best. Here are some people to interview:

• Top performers. You especially want to interview these individuals if you are unable to observe them live.
• Average performers. Get their feedback on what worked when they were initially trained and what they wish was better about their training.
• Customer service rep managers. Find out what they look for in a top performer and what individuals who
are not top performers need to improve upon.
• Team leads. These are usually the go-to people when reps have questions. Determine their most frequently asked questions and their recommendations for the
training program.
• Quality assurance team. Gather their feedback on what they think are elements of a great customer interaction versus a poor one. By taking the time to complete a thorough needs assessment, you will gain better insight into what a positive customer service experience looks like in your organization. The next crucial part of your training needs assessment is identifying the exact skills reps need to become top performers.

The purpose of the training you’re designing is to equip customer service reps with the skills they need to meetor exceed customers’ expectations. To do so, identify the specific skills and capabilities that make a rep friendly and knowledgeable. Note: Your training and development program needs to focus on both hard and soft skills. (See the resource at the end of this issue for blended learning ideas for both skill sets.)

Hard skills, or knowledge, are the technical factors that a rep needs to know and do to efficiently help customers.

Being a friendly customer service rep means being kind, being easy to work with, and saying such phrases as “Thanks for being a customer.” Consider the following capabilities related to soft skills to include in your training program. During your needs assessment, for each capability, ask:

• What do reps do to exemplify this soft skill?
• What are some phrases reps say to express this soft skill

Active listening. This is a critical skill that proficient reps must possess. It means letting the customer share without cutting them off and paying full attention to what they are saying. Active listeners ask questions to better understand the information they heard, takenotes to remember details, and—when necessary—repeat back what the customer said for clarification. The same is true for email and chat conversations, but in those cases, reps need to have great comprehension skills to understand what the customer shares so they can provide the best assistance.

Effective communication. Being an effective communicator, both verbally and in writing, is similarlyimportant. Customers will have questions they want answered, or they may need assistance on how to solve a problem. Reps must be able to provide clear, accurate, and concise responses. Further, reps need to communicate effectively not only when interacting with customers but also when working with team members. For example, if a rep has a question about a customer interaction or needs to pass the customer over to another rep, she will need to share preliminary information about that interaction with her colleague. No matter whom reps are interacting with, they must be able to effectively express their thoughtsto others.

Friendly tone. Because one customer expectation of reps is that they are friendly, include in the training program information on how reps should maintain a friendly tone. That includes greeting the customer at the beginning of every interaction, smiling while talking to sound happier, and expressing their desire to assist. It also means being well mannered by always saying please and thank you. Even in a difficult situation, customers should never sense reps’ frustration. And with reps maintaining a constant friendly tone, customers never will.

Empathy. Reps undoubtedly will have to interact with an upset customer at some point. The customer is likely looking for someone to right their situation. The best way to turn that interaction into a positive experience is for the rep to first show empathy. That means not only expressing it in words but also through action. Along with a friendly tone, empathy is a fundamental way for reps to quickly calm someone who is upset or angry.

Patience. The only way for reps to maintain a friendly tone, even in tough interactions, is for them to practice patience. This is critical to providing positive customer experiences. When a customer is upset, reps need patience and de-escalation techniques. They also neeto know when to pass the customer over to a colleague or manager.
Patience is required in situations beyond upset cus tomers. For example, they may not be tech-savvy or may have a language barrier. Reps will need to speak slowly and possibly repeat themselves a few times. Reps will encounter diverse customers with a variety of needs, and your training program needs to equip them to maintain patience and assist everyone with the same level of interest and eagerness.

Being a friendly customer service rep means being kind, being easy to work with, and saying such phrases as “Thanks for being a customer.” Consider the following capabilities related to soft skills to include in your training program. During your needs assessment, for each capability, ask:

• What do reps do to exemplify this soft skill?
• What are some phrases reps say to express this soft skill

Active listening. This is a critical skill that proficient reps must possess. It means letting the customer share without cutting them off and paying full attention to what they are saying. Active listeners ask questions to better understand the information they heard, takenotes to remember details, and—when necessary—repeat back what the customer said for clarification. The same is true for email and chat conversations, but in those cases, reps need to have great comprehension skills to understand what the customer shares so they can provide the best assistance.

Effective communication. Being an effective communicator, both verbally and in writing, is similarlyimportant. Customers will have questions they want answered, or they may need assistance on how to solve a problem. Reps must be able to provide clear, accurate, and concise responses. Further, reps need to communicate effectively not only when interacting with customers but also when working with team members. For example, if a rep has a question about a customer interaction or needs to pass the customer over to another rep, she will need to share preliminary information about that interaction with her colleague. No matter whom reps are interacting with, they must be able to effectively express their thoughtsto others.

Friendly tone. Because one customer expectation of reps is that they are friendly, include in the training program information on how reps should maintain a friendly tone. That includes greeting the customer at the beginning of every interaction, smiling while talking to sound happier, and expressing their desire to assist. It also means being well mannered by always saying please and thank you. Even in a difficult situation, customers should never sense reps’ frustration. And with reps maintaining a constant friendly tone, customers never will.

Empathy. Reps undoubtedly will have to interact with an upset customer at some point. The customer is likely looking for someone to right their situation. The best way to turn that interaction into a positive experience is for the rep to first show empathy. That means not only expressing it in words but also through action. Along with a friendly tone, empathy is a fundamental way for reps to quickly calm someone who is upset or angry.

Patience. The only way for reps to maintain a friendly tone, even in tough interactions, is for them to practice patience. This is critical to providing positive customer experiences. When a customer is upset, reps need patience and de-escalation techniques. They also neeto know when to pass the customer over to a colleague or manager.
Patience is required in situations beyond upset cus tomers. For example, they may not be tech-savvy or may have a language barrier. Reps will need to speak slowly and possibly repeat themselves a few times. Reps will encounter diverse customers with a variety of needs, and your training program needs to equip them to maintain patience and assist everyone with the same level of interest and eagerness.