Why Every Customer Service Training Course You’ve Tried is Completely Misguided
Where Many managers miss the point is they don’t work to develop their employees and they then are losing out.
The other day, I was analysing the results of another customer service training course, and it hit me: we’re addressing the wrong challenge
Eighteen years working with businesses across various sectors, and I can honestly tell you that four out of five of what masquerades as customer service “education” is totally off track
Just weeks back I consulted with a Perth hotel group that regularly receives superior ratings from patrons. Their secret? They employ for values, not credentials
Despite millions of dollars spent in comprehensive improvement programs, patron experience numbers showed virtually no sustainable progress. Sometimes, results actually regressed after a few months of course ending. Great value on budget, right?
What the development sector refuses to confess is that their essential assumption is fundamentally incorrect
Core customer service difficulties have little to do with operational knowledge
They’re rooted in company systems that regularly undermine excellent customer interactions
The understanding dawned on me during a remarkably informative consultation with a Rockhampton manufacturing company back in 2015
Thorough workbooks, interactive workshops, scoring sheets Yet customers still reporting disappointing service and communicating frustration with their treatment. Yet patients were still voicing concerns about disappointing service encounters. Customer satisfaction results? Still absolutely abysmal. I know prospects can get and idea on these vibes. I guess clients can get and idea on these emotions in the business premises also.
Contradictory Messages: Management tells employees that customer service is essential, then acknowledges them primarily for productivity metrics. First: Conflicting expectations. Executives tells employees that customer service is the most important priority, then acknowledges them predominantly for revenue goals. Staff immediately discover what actually matters to the firm.
Support Constraints: Businesses want exceptional service while supplying substandard support, outdated equipment, and impossible demands. Second: Poor tools. Firms demand quality customer service but supply limited tools, outdated infrastructure, and unachievable expectations.
Micromanagement and Absence of Empowerment: Team members are asked to deliver tailored service while being bound by strict scripts and compelled to obtain authorisation for each decision. Furthermore: Excessive supervision and limited authority. Employees are asked to create customised service while following unchangeable rules and being forced to obtain permission for every choice.
Inadequate Coordination Structures: Vital information about accounts rarely flow properly between departments, resulting in disappointing service for users. Fourth: Inadequate employment approaches. Firms hire mostly based on speed rather than service orientation and natural service mindset.
Management Attitudes That Undermines Stated Commitments: Company leaders seldom demonstrate the care focus they expect from their teams. Five: Insufficient executive behaviour. Leadership rarely demonstrate the relationship values they hope for from their people.
The fix isn’t more development
It’s building workplaces where superior customer service is the inevitable result of how the system is designed. It’s fixing the cultural challenges that hinder good customer service from flourishing spontaneously
This involves complete systemic design: creating conditions where helpful behaviour is enabled and automatic
But for companies determined enough to embark on this journey, the benefits are revolutionary
Concluding Remarks
Because when you strip everything away, genuine customer service excellence isn’t generated through skills sharing
Because at its core, genuine customer service mastery isn’t created through information it’s manifested through character and facilitated through intelligent business systems
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