customer service ethics ppt

Improve your customer experiences with the latest service insights.

The Customer Code of Ethics for a Great Service Attitude

Laura Stack

Share article.

My father is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He has a PhD in philosophy and taught at the Air Force Academy most of my childhood. He taught morality and ethics and spent his free time teaching it to me and my two brothers. A Code of Ethics is branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality. Our family had a particular code of ethics that we were expected to abide by.

Today, as a business owner of a productivity training firm for over 20 years, our staff also follows a code of ethics, which are seven protocols that govern the way we treat our customers. This code is an integral part of our company values, so it helps us to be consistent in how we respond to customer service situations. 

1. We Are Here Because of Our Customers.

The customer must  always  come first. One happy customer may tell a few people about their service experience; however, the unhappy ones will tell  everyone  in their circles (it’s a small world with social media). Some research estimates that it takes twelve positive service incidences just to make up for one negative incident.

2. We Understand Our Customers Are Our Future.

Even the world’s most successful companies can’t take survival for granted. When your customers needs change, change to meet those needs. Abandon the status quo and push beyond your comfort zone. And be grateful that your customer base changes—because stagnation leads to death (e.g., Borders Bookstore).

3. We Treat Customers Like Family.

Don’t see your customers as walking wallets; make them feel special. Learn to love them, because they’re the ones who keep your company alive. Build rapport. Be fully present when you’re with them. Learn their special dates, so you can send cards or say Happy Birthday. Take notes on their families and hobbies. They’ll be very grateful for your concern—and that gratitude will translate to profit.

4. We Always Listen to Our Customers.

We listen when they are happy, dissatisfied, or say nothing. We always ask about service quality so we can do better next time. Pay attention to their needs; make a special effort to hear what they’re saying. Don’t just go on autopilot. Focus on them and give them all of your attention, proving they’re important to you. The biggest reason people leave a company is because they sense the company doesn’t care about them anymore. Never let that happen. Make them so happy they sing your praises, drawing in others.

5. We Work Hard to Solve Any Problems.

When a customer has a problem,  you  have a problem. Don’t let yourself be satisfied until they are; give 110 percent to settle their problem, so you can retain their business. Most customers will do business with you again if you fix their problem; it’s even better if you fix it on the spot. They want to feel important, and they want you to be fully prepared to help them.

6. We Maintain Positive Attitudes.

Even with difficult customers, keep your attitude relentlessly positive. The smile on your face and the tone of your voice can make a huge difference. Accept that even if their experience is perfect, they probably won’t comment on it, because they expect perfection. And remember, their attitudes will change over time. What was once good enough may become unsatisfactory if they encounter something better. So give them that something better—and do it with a smile. All it takes is one indifferent employee to kill your business. 

7. We All Impact Customer Service.

Everyone in your company, no matter how minor, impacts customer service. I once visited a neighborhood restaurant where the service was great and the food was wonderful. I had a great time—until I felt a wad of chewing gum on the underside of the table, which completely killed the experience for me. I didn’t go back there, despite the otherwise wonderful atmosphere. The cleaning crew had let everyone down. Little things and small actions can stick in the customer’s mind, damaging their experience. 

Embrace and believe in this code and you’ll have a better chance of surviving the changes that constantly wash through the business environment.

Just For You

36 Customer Service Statistics To Move Your Business Forward

What is Knowledge Management? The Complete Guide

Explore related content by topic

• Business as a Platform for Change
• Customer Relationships

Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE, aka The Productivity Pro®, gives speeches and seminars on sales and leadership productivity. For over 25 years, she’s worked with Fortune 1000 clients to reduce inefficiencies, execute more quickly, and increase profitability. To inquire about having Laura speak at your next sales kickoff or conference, please tweet her @laurastack or visit www.TheProductivityPro.com.

Get the latest articles in your inbox.

Call Center Burnout: 8 Signs You’re Hitting a Wall — And How To Bounce Back

4 Customer Service Metrics You Should Measure

What Is a Customer Portal – And Why Do You Need One?

What Is Good Customer Service?

5 Customer Service Trends You Need to Watch

3 Ways to Improve Your Field Service Sustainability Now

How to Provide a Great Contact Center Experience — Every Time

What Is Dispatch Management? Tips for Efficiency

360 Highlights

Yes, I would like to receive the Salesforce 360 Highlights newsletter as well as marketing emails regarding Salesforce products, services, and events. I can unsubscribe at any time.

By registering, you confirm that you agree to the processing of your personal data by Salesforce as described in the Privacy Statement .

Thanks, you're subscribed!

New to Salesforce?

• What is Salesforce?
• Best CRM software
• Explore all products
• What is cloud computing
• Customer success
• Product pricing

About Salesforce

• Salesforce.org
• Sustainability

Popular Links

• Salesforce Mobile
• AppExchange
• CRM software
• Salesforce LIVE
• Salesforce for startups
• América Latina (Español)
• Brasil (Português)
• Canada (English)
• Canada (Français)
• United States (English)

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

• España (Español)
• Deutschland (Deutsch)
• France (Français)
• Italia (Italiano)
• Nederland (Nederlands)
• Sverige (Svenska)
• United Kingdom (English)
• All other countries (English)

Asia Pacific

• Australia (English)
• India (English)
• Malaysia (English)
• ประเทศไทย (ไทย)

© Copyright 2024 Salesforce, Inc. All rights reserved.  Various trademarks held by their respective owners. Salesforce, Inc. Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States

• Website chat Bring modern messaging to your website
• WhatsApp Support customers on the #1 messaging app
• Facebook Messenger Connect to the social network
• SMS The universal messaging channel
• Threema The most secure messaging app
• Telegram The popular alternative
• Instagram COMING SOON Message with your followers
• Message Center Your shared messaging inbox
• Chatbots & AI With GPT-4 Automate the right way
• Video calls Easily switch from chat to video
• Data Privacy & GDPR Born and hosted in Germany
• Add-ons Connect your favorite tools
• Enterprise features Tackle support at scale
• Blog Explore insights about customer service and more
• E-books Free resources to learn and grow
• Customer stories This is what success looks like with Userlike
• Partners See our partners or apply to become one
• Professional services Our workshops for personalized guidance
• Help center Learn everything you need to know about Userlike

How to Develop Your Own Customer Service Ethics

How did you react the last time you faced unjust treatment from a company? Did you shout at the service rep, write a bad review, or did you just silently swear to never buy from there again?

It doesn't take a lot of reflection to realize that treating customers unfairly is a serious matter. That's why customer service ethics are so important.

To give a definition, customer service ethics are the moral principles that govern a company's conduct with its customers, potential customers and ex-customers. They are based on a particular set of values relating to the question of what is “right” or “wrong.”

We're not here to pull a Moses and share the 10 ethical commandments your customer service team should abide by. Instead, we’ll walk you through a few questions that will help you construct your own code of conduct – and explain how it applies to a few common situations.

Why do we need customer service ethics?

In customer service, doing the right thing is an end in itself. But a firm code of ethics also shows good business sense. You’ll soon notice:

It attracts customers. Millennials, for example, are shown to be particular about the brands they buy from . They look for companies that fit their criteria of social responsibility: investing in the betterment of society, making a positive impact on the world, being honest about their efforts and “giving back” to their community.

It attracts talent. A reputation as an ethical company is also an asset in attracting talent . Companies with a poor moral reputation actually have to pay a salary premium to incentivize people to work for them.

It minimizes bad reviews. The rise of review platforms has given disgruntled customers a stronger voice than they had a few decades ago. A clear moral code as a basis for behavior and reference helps decrease your number of bad reviews .

It maximizes customer loyalty. Customers are likely to drop you the minute they feel unethically mistreated. Showing utmost respect and care for your customers is an easy way to build loyalty.

But isn't it all relative?

Moral relativism says that there is no single true morality. As long as different cultures with different values exist, we can never truly have a worldwide ethics agreement. So why bother?

While moral diversity definitely complicates matters, it's not a valid argument for discarding ethics altogether. Although we will never all agree, it’s entirely possible to find common ground for discussion.

According to the Moral Foundations Theory , the full diversity of human morality can be reduced to six moral foundations:

• Care/harm. This reflects the intuitive attachment we feel toward others and our ability to empathize with pain.
• Fairness/cheating. When we help others, we appreciate those who return the favor. This is because we value justice, equality (receiving our fair share) and proportionality (being fairly compensated).
• Loyalty/betrayal. Humans naturally form coalitions and value those who are loyal to it. This reflects our virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for our group.
• Authority/subversion. We have a natural ability to form social hierarchies, which is determined by our virtues of leadership and followership as well as our respect for traditions.
• Sanctity/degradation. Stemming from our desire to live with nobility and dignity, we repel anything that disgusts or contaminates us.
• Liberty/oppression. We feel tension when under extreme authority or if we’re unfairly dominated. This causes us to come together to take down oppressors and fight for liberty.

In “The Righteous Mind,” author Jonathan Haidt explains how people's moral intuitions diverge along these foundations. He shows how they can conflict with one another and the way this reflects in structural political and religious division within and between societies.

So while moral diversity exists, we can still reason with each other on the basis of these foundations. But because we have unwavering preferences, it’s necessary to specify which are important to you.

What should you base your customer service ethics on?

As we’ll soon show, the respective moral foundations are more or less helpful depending on the service scenario in question. Your own value preferences play an important role as well.

However, the care/harm and fairness/cheating foundations are exceptional, as they are largely universal and therefore the easiest to apply. This is a good place to begin when thinking about your morals.

Userlike: Instant chats, long-term customer relationships

Over 10,000 companies like Toyota and Hermes trust Userlike to connect with their customers every day - via website chat, WhatsApp, chatbots and more.

I’m sure you’ve heard the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It perfectly encapsulates these two main foundations. Since remote service is often faceless, it’s all too simple to lose empathy and dehumanize the customer. But if you don’t enjoy long waiting times, hidden charges, nasty contract clausules, a clueless sales staff or dismissive agents, then why should your customers tolerate it?

Some customer situations are also complex. Say a customer asks for a refund on a charge that he overlooked in the contract. Unless you’re part of the 1% who reads entire contracts and terms of conditions, you can sympathize with their mistake.

The veil of ignorance has a similar idea, but from a community standpoint. It forces us to imagine a more just society where we can harmoniously coexist:

The Veil tests your fairness in customer service situations. If you wouldn't know whether you'd be on the giving or receiving end of a specific customer policy, how would you set it up?

With all of this in mind, ask yourself these questions:

• Would you feel comfortable sharing all of your customer responses with the public?
• If your customers were to write reviews about how fairly you are operating, what percentage of them would be positive?
• If interviewed, would your support team say their actions at work were in line with their values?

Now let's look at some archetypal service scenarios that require our sense of ethics:

• Rejecting customers
• Sales support
• Customer policies
• Setting customer service standards

1 Rejecting customers

This is a tricky topic that we continue to struggle with at Userlike. Sometimes there are business models or services we simply can’t support.

Each company has to draw the line for themselves. What is unacceptable to us may be peachy for you. However, there are some situations that have less of a moral gray area than others:

• The customer deals in illegal business
• The customer is rude or harmful to your team
• The customer asks you to go against your moral values

Other less cut and dried scenarios require a firm understanding of your own ethics when making a decision. For example, deciding whether or not to work with a company in an “unethical” industry. Most businesses have no problem partnering with meat distributors, but for vegan- and vegetarian-friendly companies, this could be worth considering.

According to Shaurya Jain, founder of Attention Always , sometimes you have to reject a customer because you risk harming them :

You need to be sure that you will be able to add more value to your customer's business than you charge them. I always ask my potential clients how much their website traffic is worth to them and what is the conversion rate of that traffic. If the expected increase in site traffic and leads is less than my fee, I reject to take them on for their own good.

If it’s clear that a customer doesn’t need your service or product, are you able to walk away or would you push the sale?

2 Sales support

Customer support before the sale is called sales support, and it's often indistinguishable from traditional sales .

It’s important to distinguish persuasive from manipulative sales techniques to determine if you’re backing your potential customer into a corner, or giving her the power of choice.

A useful framework for determining your company’s morality is the Manipulation Matrix . For it to work, consider these questions about your product or service:

• Would I use this product/service myself?
• Will it help users materially improve their lives?

The Facilitator, one who uses their own product and claims it improves lives, is likely to be trusted by customers and provide fair customer service. The Dealer is in it for the money and traffic and likely to have a poor reputation.

Because your ethics in selling is contingent on your product’s value to consumers, you need to determine where you fall. If it's clear that a potential customer would not benefit from what you offer, are your team members empowered enough to apply their ethical judgment? Could your incentive system get in the way of their values?

3 Customer policies

Customer policies are established so your team knows the appropriate steps to resolving issues in a fair, transparent way. Ideally, they help avoid misconduct and improve customer satisfaction.

But not all customer problems are cut from the same cloth. Unique situations require unique solutions, so you would do your company a disservice if you treated your policies like rules. Which, unfortunately, happens too often.

A train ticket inspector wanted to fine me for riding without a valid ticket. I didn’t understand how this was possible because I was using a train card that was issued to me by my new job just the day before.

“It’s not valid until tomorrow, the first of the month,” said the inspector.

I figured once I explained that I was new to Germany, that I was unaware that the card isn’t valid right away and that I would be more than happy to buy a ticket to make up for the journey and my mistake, he would let me go fine free. But I’m not in Texas anymore. This is the Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe, where policies are heavily enforced!

I walked away with a 65 Euro fine.

Even though Userlike is a German company, we prefer viewing policies as principles, malleable enough to suit different circumstances. This approach helps you make humane decisions, like when issuing reimbursements or fines.

If you’re still unsure of where your morals lie, imagine the customer as one of your close friends or a family member. How would you behave toward them? Take it a step further; would you feel comfortable honestly sharing the way you treat customers with your family during dinner?

4 When setting service standards

As I mentioned above, remote customer service makes it all too simple to dehumanize the customer. When we fail to set customer service standards that our company and agents must meet, we show that we don’t care to do the bare minimum.

Both the fairness/proportionality and loyalty/betrayal foundations apply here. If your company is meeting the minimum expectations, there are a few easy ways to go the extra mile:

• Improve response times and efficiency by using live chat software, like Userlike .
• Keep your customers in the loop by regularly updating them about any changes or fixes.
• Use a Customer Health Score to monitor customer happiness, and approach them when something seems wrong.
• Make sure your agents have the right resources and training to confidently answer customer questions.
• Create a website that is easy for customers to navigate and provides all the information they need.

These fixes show that your company is aware of the frustrations customers face and is doing something about it.

Define your customer service ethics, because they define you

Intuition and gut reasoning only take you so far. Creating a values statement or compliance policy sets the tone of your company’s conduct.

People who make unethical decisions don’t typically wear a devil’s mask. Despite our good intentions, we’re all vulnerable to making choices that negate our personal morals. This is why I like Harvard Business Review’s advice to create a list of unethical things you would never do:

Write a list of actions you will not take. Re-read it from time to time. Writing a list of things you won’t do doesn’t shield you from temptation. It doesn’t guarantee you won’t do something you’ll regret later. It doesn’t make you rich or famous; you don’t get credit for not doing something. It doesn’t resolve questions about lesser evils. But your list just might help you recognize where your slippery slope begins.

Once you’re able to identify your moral strengths, you can apply this to your business. Take a firm stand for your customer service team to promote and uphold.

Leah is a copywriter and AI expert. She’s a proud Texan who spends her free time cuddling her dog, learning Japanese and rereading Harry Potter.

Your customers' favorite contact channels

Customer Service Ethics

by Lindsay Kramer

Published on 8 Aug 2019

Many companies develop ethical codes. These are the broad sets of beliefs that drive the companies’ actions, including how business decisions are made, how employees are treated, how they expand in new markets and how they interact with the consumer market. Often, companies develop separate codes of ethics for each of these categories because they each require unique ethical considerations. For example, the ethics used to develop strategies for improving employee engagement are different from those relied upon when making decisions regarding the development of new marketing strategies.

Customer Ethics Definition

Generally, customer ethics are defined as a set of ethics that service providers follow to ensure that they treat their customers with respect. Often, non-discrimination is one of these ethics and as such, it guarantees that every customer is treated with respect regardless of her age, religious or cultural background, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class or history with the company.

Other customer ethics include valuing the relationship with the customer over the sale and keeping meticulous records of all customer interactions to reduce the chance of employee errors causing problems for customers. Valuing the relationship with the customer over making a sale often means taking any step necessary to correct a customer’s problem, even when it means the company does not profit from the transaction that led to the problem.

Developing a Customer Service Code of Ethics 

Before a company can develop a customer service code of ethics, its leaders need to identify their ethical viewpoints for the company and how these can translate into a code of ethics.

A customer service code of ethics is not the same as a customer service code of conduct; while a code of conduct is a set of specific guidelines employees are to follow at work and, in some cases, outside the workplace, a code of ethics is a set of morals and beliefs that the company strives to operate by. Generally, a code of ethics is the basis for a code of conduct, and the code of conduct may reference the code of ethics at numerous points.

Common ethical values companies work into their customer service codes of ethics are:

• Responsiveness
• Transparency
• A drive to solve problems

A code of ethics is not just a vague list of values like these. It is a set of statements that spell out how these values drive the company’s actions. These statements are the policies that make up the code of ethics and should be made readily available to employees. Often, a customer service code of ethics and all other company ethics policies are included in its employee handbook.

Putting Ethics Into Action

Creating a code of conduct for employees working in customer service is one way for a company’s leaders to put their code of ethics into action, but this is not the only way. Other ways to act according to the customer service ethics they have identified include:

• Making sure customers get the best deal by honoring competitors’ coupons 
• Believing all customer claims, even those that seem exaggerated or fabricated 
• Publishing information about how the company sources its materials
• Connecting all customer service callers directly to human representatives, rather than a robo-menu
• Rewarding loyal customers with discounts, price lock-ins and special promotions
• Resolving every customer problem that arises, even those that were not the company or its products’ fault 
• Tailoring the type of service each customer receives to his unique needs
• Discussing products and services in honest terms, rather than trying to upsell and oversell them
• Advertising honest promotions and prices and avoiding “bait and switch” advertising tactics
• Complying with consumer protection laws
• Thoroughly testing all products before they reach the market and issuing prompt recalls for every released product found to be defective
• Using customers’ names and terms like “sir” and “madam” when interacting with them 
• Responding to all customer inquiries promptly
• Honestly assessing customers’ challenges and recommending the best solutions for them, rather than the solutions that will be the most profitable for the company
• Never sharing customers’ personal data without their consent 

An ethical stance that feels right for one company might not work for another. For some brands, accepting all customer returns without question is the most ethical stance to take because the company’s goal is to make every customer happy. For other brands, setting firm, yet fair, limits on acceptable returns is a way to foster two-way respect between the brand and its customers and keep the company from facing financial and inventory challenges related to an excess of returned items. Typically, the ideal ethical stances for a brand are determined by its industry and its position within the industry.

Can Ethical Behavior Be Taught?

Ethical behavior in customer service can be taught. In fact, it must be taught to employees to ensure that beyond knowing their employer’s ethical stances, they understand why their employer holds these ethics and how they are expected to lean on these ethics in the course of their daily job duties.

Even when an employee has had customer service training at a previous job, it is important for him to become familiar with his current employer’s ethical standards. These may be different from his former employers’ ethical codes, and training him to interact with customers according to his employer’s ethical code can prevent him from making mistakes.

Training Ethical Behavior in Customer Service

There are a variety of ways an employer can train employees in customer service ethics. Many of these strategies are games and collaborative activities like role playing customer service scenarios and having group discussions about the current state of customer service at the company.

One way to engage employees in a discussion about customer service ethics is to ask them about their own experiences with customer service representatives and how they, themselves, would like to be treated when they are in the customer’s position. Another is to implement a customer feedback system and offer incentives for employees who score well according to this system.

Another way companies can improve the service their customers receive is to maintain high ethical standards for employee treatment. When employees feel respected at work, they are more likely to take their work seriously and engage positively with the customers they serve. Paying fair wages, offering workplace perks like short-term leave benefits and paid vacation time and cultivating a workplace culture that makes employees feel valued can drive them to do their best at work. In a customer service role, an employee doing her best means delivering the highest quality customer service possible.

Ethical Behavior in Customer Service Pays Off

Developing a customer service code of ethics and abiding by it does not just give employees a set of guidelines to follow when interacting with customers; it sets the tone for each customer’s relationship with the company. A customer who feels she is valued by the companies she supports will remain a loyal customer for years, potentially even decades. Loyal customers often speak well of the companies they support online and in-person and advise their friends and loved ones to support those companies as well. For many companies, developing an effective set of customer service ethics is an investment in future earnings and growth.

The Ultimate Guide to Training for Customer Service & Support

Turn your customer service team into a competitive advantage and engine for growth with these training ideas and tools.

FREE DOWNLOAD: CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING MANUAL TEMPLATE

Train and onboard your new customer support hires with this customizable template.

Updated: 04/17/24

Published: 05/18/23

Customer service training is essential if you want to retain customers for the long term, reduce employee churn, and create a successful customer-centric company. But how do you begin training your reps to provide remarkable support?

We've compiled this guide to answer that question. After all, 90% of Americans say customer service plays a significant role in choosing a company.

Exceptional customer service is an absolute must if you want your company to succeed and thrive in years to come.

In this post, you'll learn how customer service training benefits your business, when different types of training come in handy, and what materials you'll need to execute a training program.

By the end, you'll walk away with a comprehensive understanding of customer service training.

What is Customer Service Training?

Why is Customer Service Training Important?

Types of Customer Service Training

Customer Service Basics and Soft Skills

Free Customer Service Training Materials

What is customer service training.

Customer service training is the coaching that employees receive to improve support and satisfaction among customers. A strong customer service training program includes exercises for improving interpersonal communication, product knowledge, conflict resolution, crisis management, and more.

There are lots of types of customer service training . However, this training is typically an iterative process that involves teaching skills, competencies, and tools needed to better serve customers.

Any employee interacting and dealing with customers is a good fit for customer service training, regardless of their seniority or experience level.

Because your customers are your best growth opportunity, every employee should work hard to keep them happy — as marketers, executive assistants, management, or customer service representatives.

Nowadays, customer-facing teams are labeled many different things: customer support, customer success , or customer service . For this article, we'll refer to customer service when discussing service and support training.

Free Customer Support Training Template

Train and onboard your new customer support hires with this downloadable template.

Training Timeline

People to meet, 100 day goals, you're all set.

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Fill out this form to access your template.

Who should be part of your customer service training.

Everyone in a customer-role should be a part of your customer service training. While not everyone in such a position is in the customer service department, they should all have familiarity with your core customer service philosophy and participate in training programs that reinforce those principles.

Why is customer service training important?

What experiences stood out to you more as a shopper: marketing tactics or customer service? Most likely, the latter.

Customer service is a company's opportunity to connect with customers, solve problems, and show they care.

And when customer service is executed well, it can resonate with customers for years. Afterall, people are more likely to return after a positive customer service experience.

That's why training your customer support team is just as important (if not more) as training your marketing or sales teams. Service experiences are what stick with your customers and inspire reviews and word-of-mouth advertising.

Here are a few of the reasons you should invest in a customer service training program.

1. Happy customers become brand advocates.

It's not uncommon for businesses to view their customer service teams as an afterthought. Once a consumer becomes a customer and pays for your product or service, the hard work is done, right? Wrong…

Happy, delighted customers come from excellent service and are your best advocates — even better than your most talented marketers.

Here's why it matters: 94% of people recommend a company with "very good" service, and buyers are 92% more likely to buy after reading reviews.

With this in mind, you can see how your current and past customers are your top bet for bringing in new business.

Customer service can be one of your strongest marketing strategies. Meeting and exceeding customer expectations isn't optional. It should be a top priority.

2. Remarkable customer service is a competitive advantage.

One of the easiest ways to stand out among your competition may surprise you. It's delivering excellent customer service that makes it easy to choose your company over others in your market.

If you normally have great service, 75% of people are more likely to forgive you for a bad experience. And conversely, if they think your service is poor, only 15% of people are likely to stick around.

That's why providing top-notch customer service — and training your reps to provide that service — is essential for gaining an edge over your competition.

Ultimately, a great customer service training program can help you create a strong reputation so your company becomes the obvious choice when people are looking for options in your niche.

3. Great customer service increases retention.

Customer service is a key player in the game of customer retention .

Think about it. If a customer has a pressing question about your product, what would make them happy and willing to stick around? A generic email response or a personalized, well-researched answer from a service representative dedicated to their success?

The latter will win more brownie points.

More importantly, three-quarters of consumers expect personalized experiences.

So when your customer service training program ensures that your frontline team members understand why it's important to personalize every engagement, your company wins big.

Better yet, this customer might 1) be satisfied with their interaction with your company and customer service team and 2) go on to recommend your business, products, and services to their friends and colleagues.

That's why customer service training is so important. You're training your employees to deal with some of the most influential people in your life: your customers. (Sorry, family.)

4. Service reps can feel more empowered to handle difficult situations.

35%  of customers have experienced feelings of anger or frustration during their interactions with customer service representatives. Through training, reps learn how to manage customer expectations, de-escalate conflicts, and turn negative experiences into positive outcomes.

Not everyone has had experience dealing with conflict, or if they have, they know that not every conflict can be solved with the same solution. Proper service training demonstrates specifc scenarios and context that they can benefit from knowing before they have to think on their feet.

This not only improves customer relationships but also equips reps with the tools to navigate challenging interactions and reduce stress among employees.

5. Service training demonstrates commitment to professional development of reps .

33% of U.S. hiring managers anticipate employee turnover at their company to increase in the next year, costing an average of  $36,295  (e.g., cost to rehire, lost productivity) annually. Creating a culture and system that prevents turnover and encourages retention could make all of the difference.

When reps receive ongoing service training and support, they are more likely to feel valued and motivated in their roles, leading to higher job satisfaction and loyalty to the company. This focus on employee development and retention ultimately contributes to a more stable and productive customer service team.

Fostering a supportive and engaging work environment looks like a company that encourages personal growth.

Hiring vs. Training Customer Service Candidates

At this point, you might be asking, Why can't I just hire the right people from the get-go and leave it at that?

Well, you should always hire the best fit for each role, customer service included. But hiring skilled people and thinking the job is done is doing a disservice to both your team and your customers.

Regardless of how talented your new employees are, teaching customer service skills is essential if you want your reps to effectively represent your company.

It's also critical to help them understand your methodology so they know why you take a specific approach and can confidently serve your customers with that reasoning as their North Star.

And even the most experienced team members can use a refresher from time to time. In addition to people's expectations and the world itself changing rapidly, it's good to revisit skills and techniques with fresh eyes.

Take HubSpot's content team, for example. We were hired because we know how to write, but when we started, we weren't simply handed a laptop and told, "Now, go type a bunch of stuff." Instead, we received training on HubSpot's style guide, how to represent the company and brand online, and how to ensure every piece of content meets all of the quality standards.

The same goes for your customer support and service folks. Of course, you're going to hire highly-skilled people.

However, that doesn't negate the importance of onboarding new hires and training them to be part of a team with a bigger goal — serving and delighting your customers.

Hiring for Customer Service

While training for customer service is the main topic here, let's take a slight detour and discuss hiring for customer service, too.

The right hires help you build a strong foundation for your customer service team. And your hiring process is how you can ultimately ensure that your team is receptive to your training.

While some skills and strengths can be taught or fine-tuned through the different types of customer service training, there are some attributes your team members must have upon hiring.

No software, training exercises, or tools can compensate for gaps in these areas.

Skills To Look for When Hiring for Customer Service

Here are some skills to look for — even if just a hint — while interviewing and screening customer service candidates .

1. Emotional Intelligence

Your customer service team deals with a variety of customer problems, some that you can forecast, and some that no one can predict.

The true heart of customer service beats with the ability to patiently listen, decipher someone else's problem, and empathize with them .

Unfortunately, this skill doesn't come naturally to everyone, nor is it something everyone can master in training.

Emotional intelligence is all about how you relate to other people. And, since this is central to excellent customer service, you want to ensure your hires have this skill before bringing them onto your team.

One way you can gauge emotional intelligence is by asking: "Can you tell me about a time you tried to do something and failed?"

2. Good Communication

If your candidates can't answer an interview question, how would they communicate with your customers (who most likely have much higher expectations than you)?

Customer service training can teach new and improved communication techniques. However, new hires should be able to showcase the ability to simplify complex topics and teach others new skills.

To gauge good communication skills, ask questions like: "How would you explain a complicated technical problem to a colleague with less technical understanding?"

3. Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is the difference between responding to a problem with "I don't know" and "I will find out." Problem-solving skills, initiative, and creativity are just a few competencies that align with resourcefulness.

While these skills can be cultivated through customer service training, your candidates should display some resourcefulness — or at least a willingness to try to figure things out on their own.

To gauge resourcefulness, ask questions like: "Describe a time when you faced a significant obstacle to succeeding with an important work project or activity. What did you do to solve it?"

While passion isn't quite a skill, it's fundamental to going above and beyond in the customer service field.

Delighting your customers and turning them into superfans of your company means that your support team should have a sense of excitement and passion for the success of both the company and the customer.

Your candidates might not have a strong passion for your company just yet. Truthfully, it may never be their top passion in life.

However, they should be passionate about working with people — specifically, your customers — and helping others solve their problems.

To gauge passion, ask: "When have you been most satisfied in your work at your previous company?"

If hiring the right candidates is like planting seeds in the right soil, training your customer service team is like cultivating and growing your garden to its maximum potential.

To continue the analogy, satisfied customers are the bountiful harvest at the end of the season.

With that in mind, let's dive into training for customer support and service.

Customer service training ensures that your team can adapt to all kinds of different situations.

After all, when your team understands the key principles that guide your customer service philosophy, they're better able to apply that knowledge to every customer encounter.

While the concept of customer service training is to train your team to serve and delight, specific training methods and practices vary based on your company, your employees, and a variety of other factors.

Let's break down a few instances where you might conduct customer service training and what you can expect as a hiring manager or owner.

1. New Hire Customer Service Training

As with any new role, the first month or two of training can dictate an employee's long-term success with your company. Customer service training for new hires isn't any different and should be an essential part of onboarding.

This specific type of training will help new employees acclimate to a new job, company, and culture and ensure they're ready to communicate with your valuable customers.

The steps of new hire customer service training involve:

Acquainting the Team

Your customer service team should be, well, a team. They need to work together to serve customers and handle problems. This means you must establish and maintain agility by introducing and involving new hires from the get-go.

Some examples of doing this include:

• Scheduling a team lunch on your new hire's first day.
• Ask experienced team members to provide an office tour.
• Make the first day or two all about team building.

The bottom line is that when your team has time to connect, they can form a bond that makes it easier to work together. And it helps new employees acclimate and feel more comfortable in their roles.

Establishing Expectations

New hires should know what's expected of them during training and in their first month of work.

Setting clear expectations upfront minimizes confusion and allows new employees to understand their responsibilities. It doesn't serve anyone to be loosey-goosey on expectations.

Some examples of this include creating:

• A new-hire training guide including activities to expect during training and what responsibilities they'll have during their first few months.
• At-a-glance checklists and scripts for core activities they might encounter or perform daily.
• A weekly schedule of meetings.
• A manual that outlines how to perform key aspects of their job step-by-step and a list of internal resources for more information — whether colleagues, reading materials, or even file locations.

Equipping your new customer service hires to do their jobs sets them up for success. Think of this as giving them a set of training wheels they can return to at any time.

Rome wasn't built in a day. If you don't have all of this yet, you don't have to create it immediately. Instead, you may start with one or two of these things and build as you go.

Setting Up Tools

Could we even do our jobs without various tools, software, and digital subscriptions?

Probably not, and neither can your new employees. Before training, set up your employees with the apps, tools, and memberships they need to communicate and collaborate with the team .

Looking for an example of how to do this?

Consider creating a checklist of all the apps and logins they need, so you can be sure to set them up for success. As you check off each item, add the username for each to the list so they have a quick reference guide for tools.

Introducing the Company and Product (or Service)

To best serve your customers, your customer service team needs to know your company and product or service offering better than anyone.

• Providing your hires with a one-page overview of the company, including the brand story, core values, guiding philosophies, and a list of key leadership and colleagues.
• Creating a "say this, not that" brand voice guide to make sure new hires build a consistent customer experience.
• Setting aside time for dedicated product training so that your new hires can learn your product(s) so well they could teach others.
• If bringing on multiple new hires, having them take turns "teaching" each other.

2. Regular Customer Service Training

Whether your customer service team has been around for six months or six years, they should still undergo regular training. Consider revisiting this every quarter, half-year, or year, depending on what works best for your company.

What this training looks like depends on your company. However, here are a few regular customer service training examples.

Skills or Competence Check-In

Just as you'd conduct a routine performance review, a quarterly or half-year training is good practice for your customer service team.

Skill-based training is ever-evolving based on trends in the outside world, customer expectations, and new developments in your offerings.

What's more, certain skills can erode if not maintained over time. Conducting routine training keeps everyone on the team aligned, fresh, and doing their best work.

Best Practices Workshops

Some teams find that a monthly customer service workshop is a great way to keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening while ensuring your team stays fresh.

Going into these meetings with an agenda is a great way to ensure they are productive and stay on track. Sending a request for topics a few days before is also a good idea.

Your agenda might include:

• Identifying trends in problems as well as customer feedback.
• Discussing how to handle these problems successfully.
• Role-playing solutions to these problems.
• Asking for additional input.

Ultimately, this gives you regular check-ins with your team and ensures they know how to handle relevant common themes.

Team-Building Exercises

While working in customer service can be rewarding, it can also be tough. Those difficult days can take a toll on employees and their team relationships.

Routine team-building activities and training can help maintain strong relationships.

This gives your employees a chance to have fun, while simultaneously resolving challenging distractions so your employees can focus on their jobs.

Some examples of team-building exercises can include:

• A compliment circle, where every customer service employee compliments another on something, whether how they handle specific situations or a general approach.
• A brainstorming session where everyone brings a few ideas for improving things. These can range from adding a new Slack channel to streamlining customer service.
• A scavenger hunt. Whether online, in person, or hybrid, these are great ways to build relationships with small groups.
• Lunch-and-learns about new topics, whether personal or professional development.
• Cooking classes, whether virtual or in person.

3. Emergency or Time-Sensitive Customer Service Training

Sometimes, customer service training can't be planned. Perhaps there's a product recall, a major rebranding, or a national advertising campaign.

This type of customer service training can also result from news breaking in your industry that may have your audience taking notice, even if it doesn't directly involve your company .

Because 90% of customers rate an "immediate" response as important, you must prepare your front-line employees (your customer service team) to take calls, answer questions, and resolve conflicts.

Emergency customer service training is all about equipping your team with everything they need to know to do their job and help your audience.

Here are examples of how you can deliver urgent customer service training.

In Times of Crisis

During a recall, crisis, or company emergency, your customer service team should be updated on all events and trained on how to respond.

Because your audience will be concerned, full transparency is strongly encouraged. Your team needs to be aware of the problem and your solution, or how you are approaching the solution .

Share how you'll send out updates. These trainings should be a top priority on everyone's calendar. You can better ensure complete organizational alignment when you can train your team.

To give you a real-world example, when news breaks of an online data breach, even if it's not your company, your customers may worry about the security of their data and may reach out in a panic.

If your team can speak to the problem, how you're being proactive, and where customers can go for updates or more information, you can ensure more positive experiences with your company.

Product or Company Updates

This type of customer service training is less of an emergency but is just as time-sensitive.

Whether you release a product update, run a major marketing campaign, or alter your website, your customer service team should complete training on these updates and be equipped to handle any customer questions or concerns.

For example, our customer service teams receive new training materials in the months leading up to HubSpot's annual INBOUND event.

These resources give employees the most up-to-date information on any new products that'll be announced at INBOUND — which can be upwards of four or five major product releases!

Your customer service teams should be looped in on company updates or changes so customers aren't blindsided when they have questions.

4. Customer Service Phone Training

Today, 48% of customers want to communicate with companies via phone call for customer service. Based on this, training reps knowing how to provide a delightful experience via phone call is critical to your success.

Here's what you should focus on in terms of phone training:

• Maintaining a positive tone and attitude throughout the call.
• Remaining calm and professional, even on difficult calls.
• Speaking slowly and clearly.
• Asking customers clear and direct questions that help reps come to an effective solution efficiently.
• Presenting solutions in a way that will make sense for each individual customer.
• Using verbiage that's representative of your brand.
• Being an active listener.
• Always showing empathy and authenticity.
• Staying in control of the conversation and leading the customer towards an effective resolution.
• Making sure customers don't have any other questions or concerns before hanging up.
• Thanking the customer at the end of the call.

An example of customer service phone training includes setting up a series of role-play scenarios where one person is a customer with a problem, and the other is a customer service rep deciphering the problem, empathizing, and offering resolution.

In addition to role-play, scripts are helpful when it comes to solving specific problems.

Alternatively, because word-for-word scripts can sound impersonal, you might also consider offering bullet points your team members can use in their responses.

5. Live Chat Customer Service Training

Live chat is one of the up-and-coming customer service channels because it delivers the immediacy customers require. More than half of millennials prefer live chat, as it allows you to offer a personal touch with speed and convenience.

As the largest generation in U.S. history, millennials represent a huge percentage of your buyers, so live chat customer service training is necessary in today's world.

Fortunately, live chat training can resemble phone call training with scripts and bullet points your team members can use.

Being a customer service representative is challenging.

There are some basic ways to teach customer service to your reps to ensure they have the skills they need. Remember, their goal and yours should be the same — effectively serving and delighting customers.

You can separate these skills into different categories — which we'll review momentarily — so you can easily focus on teaching and building them with your reps.

Let's take a look.

Customer Service Basics

• Interpersonal Skills: Customer service reps should be positive and empathetic when communicating with customers.
• Clear Communication: Customer service reps should be able to succinctly explain complex concepts to customers.
• Assertiveness and Directness: Customer service reps should be confident when interacting with customers.
• Product Feature and Application Knowledge: Customer service reps should know the product inside and out.
• Crisis Management Skills: Customer service reps should know how to effectively handle negative situations.
• Team-Building and Camaraderie Skills: Customer service teams should have a strong sense of community to increase employee retention.
• Customer Advocacy and Success Skills: Customer service reps should be able to champion their customers.
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Customer service reps should know how to de-escalate negative situations with customers.

Ensuring your reps learn the following customer service basics and soft skills will make all the difference in your company's growth.

Your employees face customers every day. Customers will judge your business based on interactions with your people and your reps' behavior.

Only with thorough training in critical areas can your customer service representatives confidently deal with customer issues and turn angry customers into satisfied ones.

Let's dive into each of the customer service basics and soft skills your reps need to succeed in their roles.

1. Interpersonal Skills

For effective customer service, reps should look inward and focus on interpersonal skills critical to fostering positive and trustworthy customer relationships.

Positivity isn't just about smiling. It's also about keeping your language upbeat and promising so customers remain positive.

The last thing you want to do is introduce a new negative idea that leaves your customers more concerned than when they first called.

Whether your team serves customers via social media, email, chat, or the phone, train them to replace negative words with positive ones.

For example, instead of saying, "I'm afraid that…", teach your customer service team to start sentences with, "I'd love to help…". This keeps the response in a positive light while remaining honest with customers.

Positivity Training Exercise

• Jot down five to 10 negative customer service responses and ask your team to rewrite them as positive statements. They can work alone or in small groups or pairs.
• Divide your team into pairs and give each pair two problems to role play, so each person can play the role of customer and rep. Have the customer for each problem pay attention to negative words and phrases and then let the other person know what they heard.
• Bring a transcript of an actual conversation to a meeting, and anonymize the customer and the rep. Then walk through the conversation as a group and identify opportunities to make the entire exchange more positive.

Empathy is critical for serving customers. When your team members genuinely want customers to be happy and successful, they can be your biggest assets.

One of the ways to help people develop empathy is to help them walk in a customer's shoes so they become just as invested in finding a solution to a problem.

In addition to helping your customer service team reach that resolution much quicker, you can make a customer for life.

But empathy doesn't come easily to everyone, especially more technical, logical people. While they care, they're often not as well-equipped to express those feelings.

To develop empathy in your customer service team, encourage them to spend time with people who are different from them.

Whether with someone at a community event, an Uber driver, someone in line at a grocery store, or a stranger at a conference, having conversations outside their comfort zones can help diversify their thinking.

Empathy Training Exercise

Tell your team to think about a time they were a customer and might've had a frustrating transaction or unsatisfactory experience. Have them share their stories and recall how they felt and were treated.

2. Clear Communication

Although this is technically an interpersonal skill, it's vital for effective customer service and support that it deserves a separate section.

Clarity in communication can improve customer service interactions tenfold. It's the difference between sending 10 emails or one when explaining a product.

While easy to decipher during interviews and onboarding, speaking with clarity remains a skill that customer service representatives should hone throughout their careers, especially as new products or updates are introduced.

Reddit's Explain Like I'm Five is a great example of clarity in action. On this thread, people take pretty complex topics, from biology to engineering to technology, and explain concepts as if they were teaching a child.

Now, "dumbing" answers down to this extent isn't necessary for your very adult audience, but it's a good example of explaining something clearly and concisely.

And keep in mind, there's a difference between breaking things down and being condescending, so if you share this example with your team, ensure they know where the line is.

Clear Communication Training Exercise

Have your team present product demonstrations as if you were a brand-new customer. Challenge them to explain the product (or a portion of your product) in five minutes or less.

3. Assertiveness and Directness

Customer service reps need to be both assertive and direct.

Doing so helps reps establish authority as someone who can solve customer problems, while simultaneously maintaining clear communication and boundaries.

The ability to face problems head-on without dancing around uncomfortable topics also gives them the tools to help customers find and share the best solutions for their challenges more efficiently.

Think about it this way — customers want quick and effective solutions to their challenges. They don't want to wait around for some wishy-washy answer that may or may not work.

By being assertive and direct, reps make customers feel confident that the information they're receiving is accurate.

Assertiveness and Directness Training Exercise

Encourage reps to try role-play exercises with each other where one person pretends to be an unhappy and vocal customer with many questions.

The other person should practice regaining control of the conversation and respectfully but directly navigating the discussion to the solution the rep can offer.

4. Product Feature and Application Skills

Companies are always growing and evolving — from product updates to new branding. And this is exactly how it should be because the world is also continually changing.

Customers have new expectations, competitors have new offers, and new technologies mean that companies that don't evolve and adapt won't thrive in the future.

With that in mind, you cannot afford for your customer service team to stagnate in their skills or training. Customer service training in your company should be ongoing across the board, but especially for the people on the front lines.

Considering you're essentially teaching them to teach, they should know your product inside and out.

Product Feature and Application Training Exercises

Here are a few examples of customer service training on your product and company:

Assign a mentor.

Organize a mentorship program for every employee, especially your new hires.

The mentor should be someone in another department to expose the employee to different business segments and allow them to stay up-to-date on company-wide happenings.

Additionally, when this mentor isn't in the direct chain of command, they can remain neutral when giving feedback.

Coordinate job shadowing.

This exercise is highly encouraged for new hires but can also benefit customer service veterans.

Shadowing introduces your team to new approaches, responses, and applications of customer service and your product that they'd otherwise not be exposed to.

Hold demonstration sessions.

This is similar to the training idea mentioned above, but it involves having your team present to their teammates. This will challenge them on their communication and understanding of the product.

Encourage attendees to provide constructive feedback to help one another grow. And consider recording these sessions for the person giving the training so they can hear how they present themselves.

Create a knowledge base.

Teaching others is the best way to learn, and it's especially true for customer service. Have your team create a knowledge base of your product or service offering in the form of a guide or directory.

This will challenge your team on their knowledge and clarity and ultimately help customers by creating a lasting company resource.

And, if you make someone responsible for updating it each quarter, you'll have a fantastic record to cross-train new departments.

Learn how to set up your knowledge base of articles in HubSpot's Service Hub.

5. Crisis Management Skills

Research shows that 70% of unhappy customers whose problems are resolved are willing to shop with a business again.

Just because a customer comes to you unhappy, angry, or rude doesn't mean they have to walk away with the same sentiment.

Appropriately managing each customer's crisis and actively working to change their attitude is how you serve and retain customers in the long run.

Discover how to manage, plan for, and communicate during crises with these management plan templates.

Crisis Management Training Exercises

Even those with thick skin can get worn down and discouraged after dealing with many angry customers. So, here are a couple of training exercises to teach your customer service team how to deal with — and delight — difficult customers.

Conduct role-play activities.

This training exercise is highly recommended for all customer service representatives and can be especially helpful for pacifying angry customers.

Conducting mock calls that resemble a real customer service issue (and involve a seemingly angry caller) can help acclimate your team to the realities of upset customers.

Have your team work together. By encouraging veterans on your team to use real situations they've dealt with in the past, you can ensure that your new hires get relevant training.

Teach the LAST method.

Despite intensive training on skills like empathy and patience, some difficult customers will simply be impossible to relate to.

That's where methods like reflective listening and LAST come into play.

LAST stands for L isten, A cknowledge, S olve, and T hank.

Teach your team to pause, listen to, and acknowledge upset customers. These steps can make the difference between solving an angry customer's problem and turning an angry customer into a satisfied one.

6. Team-Building and Camaraderie Skills

Camaraderie and community among professional teams in any industry can help with overall performance, but it's especially important in customer service.

I included this section in my list of customer service training ideas because that's essentially what it is — training your team to take care of themselves so they can take care of your customers.

Team-Building and Camaraderie Training Exercises

Here are a few ways to train your team to cultivate community and take care of themselves:

Encourage meditation.

Dealing with customers all day, every day, can be incredibly draining and stressful. Meditation can be a helpful tool to regain mental balance and relaxation amid customer service chaos.

Dedicate time to learning meditation and relaxation methods, so your team feels comfortable taking a break. Apps like Headspace and Calm can help your team, especially if they meditate together.

Inspire healthy competition.

Customer service training isn't just about teaching your team how to do their job; it's also about encouraging them to reach their full potential.

Inspiring healthy competition through a leaderboard or monthly awards will challenge your customer service team to go above and beyond, helping more customers, creating camaraderie, and contributing to their overall success and future career.

Fun fact: HubSpot's own customer support teams use a leaderboard and have found it motivates and inspires performance.

Take team outings (in-person or digitally).

Traditional product and skill training can bring your team together at work, but out-of-office activities can also inspire community and friendship that further encourage camaraderie in the office.

Treat your team to an event or activity unrelated to work, such as a museum trip or a remote team-building game. These activities are fun, casual, and lead to lasting connections that can mitigate otherwise tough days at work.

In other words, they can lead to strong employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.

Since it takes people up to two years to get fully up to speed, making sure your customer service team is satisfied is a good business practice.

7. Customer Advocacy and Success Skills

To create an atmosphere of customer advocacy and success, your training has to go above and beyond teaching soft and technical skills.

You can win big when you can turn happy customers into customers who actively promote your company.

However, it's not just about delivering a quality product or service. These customers don't simply exist once they purchase from you.

Instead, they're created when your customer service team treats them well and fights to solve their problems.

Customer Advocacy and Success Training Exercises

Here are examples of customer service training to build a world-class customer-focused culture:

Teach new language.

I referenced positive language in a previous section, but this is a little different.

The key to customer advocacy is aligning your goals and needs with the customer and essentially "joining their team" as you work towards a solution. This can be done with a simple switch in verbiage.

Consider creating a "say this, not that" document your team can refer to in conversations. Doing so helps them enhance how customers perceive your company and improve their experience.

For example, how does "I'm not sure we can do that for you" sound compared to "let's see what we can do to solve that"?

How about: "Let's get you set up with the right person to help" versus "I can't help with that"?

Changing responses to align with a customers' frustrations and needs tells a customer, "We're on your side, too."

Encourage exceeding expectations.

Let's say your team must solve a minimum of 10 tickets per day. You could train your employees to get that done and leave them alone. I mean, they are doing their work, right?

Sure, but this hardly creates an environment of going above and beyond for the customer (not to mention each employee's potential). Instead of settling with "good enough," challenge your team to do the best they can do every day.

This motivation will change how much work is done and influence how they work with and satisfy customers.

Not sure how to do this? An example could be creating a leaderboard or gamifying your team output, which we mentioned earlier.

Collect (and use) feedback.

Feedback is the lifeblood of any team or company that wants to improve. Invest in infrastructure that collects customer feedback through surveys, social media, or direct messages.

It's not enough to get customer feedback. You must also use that feedback to measure the team's success and identify improvement opportunities.

It helps individuals improve their skills and shows your customers that you care about what they have to say.

Of note: If you act on a specific piece of feedback, send a note to the customer thanking them for the input and letting them know how you've acted on it so they feel heard and appreciated.

For example, if a customer mentions that they wish you included a resources section on your website for quick self-service, and you decide to create one, let them know.

8. Conflict Resolution Skills

Conflict resolution skills are necessary for any service and support calls reps have with customers. After all, customers reaching out to your service and support reps are doing so because they're trying to find a solution to a challenge or roadblock.

Not to mention, reps are bound to encounter angry, frustrated customers from time to time, too — this requires an even deeper level of conflict resolution on the part of reps.

Conflict Resolution Training Exercises

You can teach reps to resolve different types of conflict in a wide variety of ways. Here are some examples of tips you can encourage your customer service team to use:

• Draw on past experiences to set expectations.
• Communicate clearly.
• Show empathy.
• Use active listening.
• Acknowledge the people's specific needs.
• Don't point fingers or place the blame on anyone.
• Use "I" statements.
• Say you're sorry.
• Stay calm and professional.
• Help people how they want to be helped.
• Don't interrupt.
• Remember the importance of maintaining the relationship.

A lot goes into customer service training, and it can be a daunting process to manage alone. Thankfully, there are plenty of customer service training materials available online. We've gathered some of our favorites below.

Learn everything you need to know to get started with the HubSpot Service Hub.

1. Customer Service Training Manual [ Download for Free ]

Aligning your team with universal training documentation is an assured way to inform new hires of their roles, goals, and expectations.

You can use this free customer support training manual template to build a customizable business manual.

New Hire Guide

This part of the template allows you to welcome your new customer service reps and give them an overview of the team. It also lets you warmly greet them and get them excited about their new role.

Customer service reps are one of the roles with the highest turnover , so you want to get them started on the right foot.

This short, flexible section allows you to give ballpark dates for when certain parts of the training will start and end.

Later in the manual, you can provide a more detailed 100-day plan with specific milestones, but this section will help you set the stage and establish expectations.

Tech and Software Setup

Your reps will need to leverage many tools to get their job done efficiently, but you don't want them to feel overwhelmed. Feelings of overwhelm can quickly lead to burnout.

Use this section to outline where they can get a monitor and headset, which customer service software and CRM they'll use, and how to access and set up each tool.

Remember that camaraderie we were talking about earlier? You should strive to foster that starting from the training period.

Giving your reps a list of people to schedule "coffee chats" with can help them get acquainted with the team more quickly. This is especially important if your customer service team is remote.

A strong 100-day or 30-60-90-day plan can get your rep started on the right foot and give them guidelines for how they should perform by a certain date. No rep wants to be hired and feel like they have to perform perfectly on the first day.

Reassure your reps that they'll be "ramped up" to full performance standards by outlining what will be expected of them as time goes on.

Feedback and Reviews

Providing feedback as you train your customer service rep is essential for ensuring their success. This section lets you set dates for checking in with your new rep to let them know how they're doing.

These meetings don't have to be formal, but you should know how to conduct a performance appraisal before starting one.

Interacting with Customers

In this section of the manual template, you can provide concrete guidelines for handling customer inquiries and complaints.

Here, you can provide a few guidelines for fostering a positive customer service tone during the call. You might also link to your customer service scripts and/or role-play scenarios.

Escalation Framework

A top-performing customer service rep knows when to escalate a problem to someone who can deal with it more effectively. This part of the manual gives your new reps guidance on when to do just that.

Consider including a chart and scenarios when escalation is necessary to keep the customer (and your rep) happy. Remember, if your service rep feels forced to deal with a situation that is out of their hands, everyone suffers.

Product FAQ

While you should hold a dedicated product training during your new hire onboarding process , you should still include an easy-to-reference section with FAQs about your product.

This part will address any product questions that may come up as the rep gets acquainted with the product they'll provide support for. It should also provide quick answers to frequent support questions.

Resources for Success

Leave the customer service rep with a list of tools that will help them more effectively ramp up and get acquainted with the ins and outs of their role.

You can include logistical information here — such as a link to your documents about PTO — and also inspirational materials, such as a video from the CEO.

2. Customer Service Training Courses

Online customer service training courses teaching vital skills can be a great addition to your training program.

As self-led seminars, employees take ownership of their training and are exposed to skills and competencies outside the organization.

Below is a short list of some free customer service training courses for your team.

1. Delivering Exceptional Customer Support by HubSpot

This short course from HubSpot will acquaint your reps with key competencies and tactics for delivering support your customers will praise you for.

It's a quick course — less than an hour long — making it an ideal and convenient addition to your training schedule. You could even get your entire customer service team in one room and play it for them at once.

The course is split into three sections:

• Understanding customer support competencies. Your reps will learn the basic skills they need to deliver excellent support and how to improve those skills continuously.
• Support case framework. Your reps will learn how to structure their approach to each case to resolve customer issues more effectively.
• Managing your time as a customer support rep. Time management is the lifeblood of a strong workflow. In this short lesson, reps will learn how to increase their productivity.

2. Customer Service Training by Alison

Alison is a digital education hub that offers free courses and paid certifications on various skills. Its customer service training course is geared towards beginners in the field, so it's a perfect place to start.

This course will give your employees an understanding of essential customer service factors and help them understand how to deliver a customer-friendly approach that's best for your business needs.

They'll also learn the benefits of providing excellent service and cover a few do's and don'ts when dealing with customers.

3. Culture of Services: New Perspective on Customer Relations by edX

Like Alison, edX is another digital learning platform offering free courses.

They partner with universities worldwide, such as Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Kyoto — the school to which the Culture of Services: New Perspective on Customer Relations course is presented.

This course focuses on customer service's social and cultural aspects and takes 9 to 11 weeks to complete. Throughout the course, your employees will be exposed to various services — such as sushi bars, restaurants, hotels, and apparel.

They'll study customer service's "nuanced and paradoxical nature" and learn how to approach it from a cultural and social perspective.

4.  Customer Service Training  by GoSkills

GoSkills, an innovative online learning platform, is dedicated to helping organizations and individuals worldwide acquire essential business skills.

Their customer service training, led by the dynamic David Brownlee, goes beyond generic courses. It offers engaging lessons such as "Psychology of Your Company," "Verbal and Nonverbal Cues," and "Anticipate Customer Needs," among others. These lessons are designed to be concise, with durations of 3-6 minutes, allowing learners to complete the video content within an hour and a half. Additionally, each lesson is accompanied by supplementary exercises to reinforce learning.

Your team can access this invaluable course through a free trial or via your organization's GoSkills Courses or GoSkills Platinum plan. It's also important to note that all GoSkills courses are CPD-accredited, ensuring the highest standard of professional development.

5. Innovative Customer Service Techniques by LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an award-winning online education platform run by the most popular professional social media platform. It primarily teaches digital and business-related skills.

The Innovative Customer Service Techniques course is created and presented by customer service expert Jeff Toister and consists of a short 45-minute video.

Your employees can access the course through a seven-day free trial or join LinkedIn Learning's paid membership.

6. Bonus: Business Courses by Treehouse

Treehouse is another online course library, but the program requires a paid membership.

HubSpot uses Treehouse for our own customer support and service training. Treehouse offers courses on soft skills and others that may contribute to overall customer service education.

3. Customer Service Training Games

Using games and activities can make customer service training much more fun.

Whether they require materials like a whiteboard or simply involve your team, games are a way to teach valuable skills while encouraging teamwork and collaboration between your employees.

Check out these free, quick-and-easy games to play during customer support and service training:

• Fun and Powerful Training Games for Customer Service Teams by UserLike
• Free Customer Service Training Games by BusinessTrainingWorks

4. Customer Service Training Videos

Sometimes it's valuable to incorporate outside insight or perspective during customer service training.

Best of all, it's not something you have to do on your own. Videos from thought leaders and industry experts are powerful additions to your customer service training programs.

Here's an example of a well-made, valuable customer service training video. Also, check out this post for more videos .

Customer Service Training Video Example

In this 12-minute video, business coach and consultant David Brownlee explains the essentials of customer service in friendly, easy-to-understand language. With over 4,000 likes, the value of this video speaks for itself.

Brownlee is an expert in the customer service field and advocates for creating relationships of trust and loyalty with customers, promoting customer care versus simple service.

Grow Better With Customer Service & Support Training

Consumers view customer service as the test of how much a company truly values them.

Roughly three out of every four customers view their interactions with customer service as more important than marketing or sales — and it's why customer service is such an important engine for growth.

With your customer service team on the front lines of customer service and retention, they need to be properly trained and equipped to handle any challenge that comes their way.

Execute these customer service and support training ideas, and your customers and employees will be more satisfied overall.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

Customer Service Scripts: 20 Easy-To-Use Templates For Your Support Team

The Top 5 Most Important Customer Service Standards, According to Consumers

10 Customer Service Principles Every Great Support Rep Should Follow

Customer Service & Support Training: 45 Free Resources

13 Body Language Tips That Can Make or Break Your Customer Service

30 Employee Engagement Ideas & Activities Your Team Will Actually Enjoy

Customer Service Culture: 7 Effective Ways to Build It [+ Examples]

How to Provide White-Glove Customer Service

What Is a Customer Service Self-Evaluation? [+Examples]

How DISC Personality Tests Can Help New Service Reps

All fields are required.

• International
• Topical and themed

Early years

Special needs.

• Schools directory
• Resources Jobs Schools directory News Search

Lesson Resources

Over 900,000 resources made by teachers for teachers

76,711 resources

377,345 resources

677,607 resources

19,775 resources

Popular resources

2024 AQA Christmas Carol Predicted Exams

NEW Topic 3 organisms exchange substances model answer revision notes AQA A Level Biology

AQA A Christmas Carol - Mock Exam Questions

AQA GCSE Biology P1 & P2 (Combined & Triple) 2024 Predictions

Collections and subscriptions, 14-18 now project.

Commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War with the 14-18 NOW project

Add an element of creativity by adding art and design into the traditional STEM combination

Digital citizenship

Why not take a look at activities to help your students become empowered digital citizens?

Mastery resource packs

Explore these comprehensive, pupil-friendly mastery resource packs for year 1-6

Latest blog posts

Conjunction resources for English

13th May 2024 at 11:00

Tes Maths: Projects, investigations and enrichment tasks

13th May 2024 at 10:20

Teaching prepositions

10th May 2024 at 10:00

Summer topic plans and activities for EYFS

10th May 2024 at 09:40

Featured author shops

Jubblord's Shop

NikNak's World of Science

Gstephenson84's Shop

Taylor's Teaching Timesavers

• Service Ethic
• Popular Categories

Powerpoint Templates

Icon Bundle

Kpi Dashboard

Professional

Business Plans

Swot Analysis

Gantt Chart

Business Proposal

Marketing Plan

Project Management

Business Case

Business Model

Cyber Security

Business PPT

Digital Marketing

Digital Transformation

Human Resources

Product Management

Artificial Intelligence

Company Profile

Acknowledgement PPT

PPT Presentation

Reports Brochures

One Page Pitch

Interview PPT

All Categories

Powerpoint Templates and Google slides for Service Ethic

Save your time and attract your audience with our fully editable ppt templates and slides..

This slide defines the global distribution of Islamic financial service industries based on different regions and segments. It includes details related to banking, sukuk, takaful, Islamic fund assets, etc.Present the topic in a bit more detail with this Global Distribution Of Islamic Financial Service Institutes Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Use it as a tool for discussion and navigation on Commercial Banks, Investment Banks, Wholesale Banks. This template is free to edit as deemed fit for your organization. Therefore download it now.

This slide defines the global distribution of Islamic financial service industries based on different regions and segments. It includes details related to different regions such as GCC, Africa, Southeast Asia, etc.Deliver an outstanding presentation on the topic using this Global Distribution Of Islamic Financial Service Region Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Dispense information and present a thorough explanation of Islamic Financial Institutes, First Islamic Established, Commerce International using the slides given. This template can be altered and personalized to fit your needs. It is also available for immediate download. So grab it now.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to Al Rajhi Bank earlier known as Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation is a Saudi Arabian bank and the worlds largest Islamic bank.Deliver an outstanding presentation on the topic using this Al Rajhi Bank Products And Services Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Dispense information and present a thorough explanation of Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Corporate Banking using the slides given. This template can be altered and personalized to fit your needs. It is also available for immediate download. So grab it now.

This slide defines the best islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to dubai islamic bank the first islamic bank in the world to have incorporated the principles of islam in all its practices.Introducing Dubai Islamic Bank Products And Services Ethical Banking Fin SS V to increase your presentation threshold. Encompassed with six stages, this template is a great option to educate and entice your audience. Dispence information on Trade Services, Mobile Banking, Smart Payments , using this template. Grab it now to reap its full benefits.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to the Kuwait finance house, the first bank operating in accordance with the Islamic shariah rulings.Deliver an outstanding presentation on the topic using this Kuwait Finance House Products And Services Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Dispense information and present a thorough explanation of Profits Announcement, Financing Repayment, Investment Plans using the slides given. This template can be altered and personalized to fit your needs. It is also available for immediate download. So grab it now.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to the Boubyan Bank, one of the emerging banks in Kuwait, and the GCC Gulf Cooperation Council.Present the topic in a bit more detail with this Products And Services Offered By Boubyan Bank Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Use it as a tool for discussion and navigation on International Transfers, Finance Individuals, Features Benefits. This template is free to edit as deemed fit for your organization. Therefore download it now.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to the Dukhan Bank which emerges as the largest Shariah compliant banking institution in the country. Deliver an outstanding presentation on the topic using this Products And Services Offered By Dukhan Bank Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Dispense information and present a thorough explanation of Current Accounts, Personal Loans, Management Services using the slides given. This template can be altered and personalized to fit your needs. It is also available for immediate download. So grab it now.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to the Qatar Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in Qatar, receiving an award for being best in corporate social responsibility CSR and corporate bank.Increase audience engagement and knowledge by dispensing information using Qatar Islamic Bank Products And Services Ethical Banking Fin SS V. This template helps you present information on six stages. You can also present information on Shariah Complaint, Provide Financing Solutions, Savings Account using this PPT design. This layout is completely editable so personaize it now to meet your audiences expectations.

This slide defines the best Islamic financial institutions in the world. It includes details related to the Standard Chartered Saadiq considered the best sukuk and Islamic investment bank.Present the topic in a bit more detail with this Standard Chartered Saadiq products And Services Ethical Banking Fin SS V. Use it as a tool for discussion and navigation on Islamic Economic, Geographical Regions, Market Insights. This template is free to edit as deemed fit for your organization. Therefore download it now.

The following slide outlines various products and services offered by our company to clients. The major services outlined are investment strategy, asset allocation, risktolerance, security and asset allocation, continuous portfolio monitoring, etc. Increase audience engagement and knowledge by dispensing information using Products And Services Offered Ethical Investing Investment Pitch Deck. This template helps you present information on six stages. You can also present information on Investment Strategy, Risk Tolerance, Asset Allocation using this PPT design. This layout is completely editable so personaize it now to meet your audiences expectations.

Presenting ppt sample ethical challenges in hr services ppt design. This is a sample ethical challenges in hr services ppt design. This is a eight stage process. The stages in this process are employee responsibility, performance appraisal, privacy issues, restructuring, employment issues, safety and health, race and disability, cash and compensation plans, ethical issues in hr.

Presenting our Ethical Human Services Ppt Powerpoint Presentation Inspiration Files Cpb PowerPoint template design. This PowerPoint slide showcases three stages. It is useful to share insightful information on Ethical Human Services This PPT slide can be easily accessed in standard screen and widescreen aspect ratios. It is also available in various formats like PDF, PNG, and JPG. Not only this, the PowerPoint slideshow is completely editable and you can effortlessly modify the font size, font type, and shapes according to your wish. Our PPT layout is compatible with Google Slides as well, so download and edit it as per your knowledge.

This slide represents details related to creating strategic plan for encouraging customers to opt in for receiving messages from the enterprise. It includes tactics to encourage customers for joining SMS lists such as create unique offers etc. Present the topic in a bit more detail with this Develop Plan To Ethically Incentivize Sms Marketing Sms Marketing Services For Boosting MKT SS V Use it as a tool for discussion and navigation on Create Unique Offers, Give Time Sensitive Deals This template is free to edit as deemed fit for your organization. Therefore download it now.

This slide represents details related to creating strategic plan for encouraging customers to opt in for receiving messages from the enterprise. It includes tactics to encourage customers for joining SMS lists such as create unique offers etc. Deliver an outstanding presentation on the topic using this SMS Customer Support Services Develop Plan To Ethically Incentivize Customers To Subscribe. Dispense information and present a thorough explanation of Develop Plan, Ethically Incentivize Customers, Subscribe For SMS Marketing using the slides given. This template can be altered and personalized to fit your needs. It is also available for immediate download. So grab it now.

The following slide outlines various products and services offered by our company to clients. The major services outlined are investment strategy, asset allocation, risk tolerance, security and asset allocation, continuous portfolio monitoring, etc. Increase audience engagement and knowledge by dispensing information using Products And Services Offered Ethic Investor Funding Elevator Pitch Deck Ppt Background. This template helps you present information on six stages. You can also present information on Investment Strategy, Asset Allocation, Risk Tolerance using this PPT design. This layout is completely editable so personaize it now to meet your audiences expectations.

Presenting Customer Service Values Ethics In Powerpoint And Google Slides Cpb slide which is completely adaptable. The graphics in this PowerPoint slide showcase two stages that will help you succinctly convey the information. In addition, you can alternate the color, font size, font type, and shapes of this PPT layout according to your content. This PPT presentation can be accessed with Google Slides and is available in both standard screen and widescreen aspect ratios. It is also a useful set to elucidate topics like Customer Service Values Ethics This well structured design can be downloaded in different formats like PDF, JPG, and PNG. So, without any delay, click on the download button now.

Presenting this set of slides with name - Work Organization Chart Company Ethics Service Relationship Management. This is an editable three stages graphic that deals with topics like Work Organization Chart, Company Ethics, Service Relationship Management to help convey your message better graphically. This product is a premium product available for immediate download and is 100 percent editable in Powerpoint. Download this now and use it in your presentations to impress your audience.

Presenting our Ethics Health Service Ppt Powerpoint Presentation Icon Show Cpb PowerPoint template design. This PowerPoint slide showcases four stages. It is useful to share insightful information on Ethics Health Service This PPT slide can be easily accessed in standard screen and widescreen aspect ratios. It is also available in various formats like PDF, PNG, and JPG. Not only this, the PowerPoint slideshow is completely editable and you can effortlessly modify the font size, font type, and shapes according to your wish. Our PPT layout is compatible with Google Slides as well, so download and edit it as per your knowledge.