Did you know that according to a report by Khoros, about 65% of customers said they have changed to a different brand because of a poor experience? Providing brilliant customer service is one of the most important aspects of any successful 21st-century business.
The quality of customer service not only affects retention levels and profitability but also has an impact on the overall growth of the organization. But what makes good customer service? The answer is obvious and it is- well-trained customer service agents!
Why Customer Service agent training is important
Be it new customer service reps or old agents, regular customer service agent training is extremely important as it can not only help new agents acquire the skills that they need but can also help existing agents brush up on their skills. Regular customer service training helps agents provide the best customer service experience possible which in turn increases customer satisfaction levels. How customer service agents handle customer interactions plays a very important role in the building of a positive brand image. Not providing sufficient training or poorly trained agents can not only frustrate customers but can also result in lowered customer retention levels.
7 Fun customer service training games that you should try out today!
1. The Customer Role Play Game
Customer role play is an excellent customer training exercise that businesses must do at all costs. Customer service reps can be divided into two groups.
In the first group, customer service reps can play the role of angry and annoyed customers. The aim here is to come up with ridiculous and barbaric complaints (like the product is too perfect or that the shirt looks too pretty than expected). They can be asked to achieve certain goals like getting a huge refund or returning a used product.
In the second group, customer service reps can play the role of actual customer service agents who are trying to resolve the ticket being raised.
This exercise helps customer service reps understand how barbaric or ridiculous customer complaints can be handled smoothly.
2. The Dumb Charade game
Another fun yet very insightful game that instructors can use to train customer service reps is Dumb charades! The instructor can divide the agents into groups and pick one member from each group to perform actions.
Each chosen member can be given the name of a place, song, viral video, movie or can even be assigned a product/service that is being offered by the company. Agents will then have to imitate in a manner that will help their group members identify the name of the thing assigned to them.
This is an excellent team-building exercise that helps agents understand the value of coordination and allows them to hit a high on the creative ladder due to the brainstorming that takes place.
3. The improvised game where you only say yes
Customers can be demanding and can also raise a customer service ticket for the most absurd reason.
In this game, the instructor can divide the agents into groups of 4 or 5 and give each team a prompt/theme that they have to use in their improvised script. But there is a twist! The agents can only say yes and cannot deny any kind of request made during the improvisation. Saying yes to everything a member says or does during the improvisation helps agents come up with unique solutions, responses to absurd customer requests, etc.
This exercise helps agents explore different ways in which they can deal with absurd customer tickets raised with the help of the Help desk ticketing system. In addition to getting their creative juices running, agents also develop a sense of patience needed to deal with such customers through this game.
4. The Chinese Whisper game
Everyone has come across the whisper game at some point in their life.
The agents can be made to stand in a straight line and the instructor can give the 1st member of the line a message that has to be whispered and transferred from the 1st agent to the 2nd agent and from the 2nd to the 3rd and so on till it reaches the last agent in the line. The exercise is successful only if the last agent in the line gets the message that the instructor gave the 1st agent right.
Though this game is prevalent and fun people tend to forget what the game brings out. This game is an excellent opportunity to judge how good customer service reps’ listening skills are. Listening is an important part of any help desk agents’ job.
5. The Icebreaker game
Ice breakers are extremely important. In this game, the instructor can divide the agents into groups of 5 and can assign a wide range of tasks like building block exercises where agents are given a set of blocks or Legos and are asked to build a structure.
Another good idea for an Icebreaker is dividing agents into groups of 3 and asking them to find out 3 facts about the other two members of their teams and later noting them down on a paper. This not only helps agents break the ice between them but also allows them to bond in a very personal and fun manner.
Ice breakers can help agents step out of that initial stage of shyness quickly and also in a fun manner.
6. The “Put yourself in the Customer’s Shoes” exercise
The agents can be divided into groups of 3 or 4 and can each be given a different part of the customer journey. All the agents have to do is put themselves in the shoes of customers and later brainstorm various customer expectations with respect to that particular part of the customer journey. After brainstorming all the members of the group can jot down 4-5 points each and share them with the other agents.
This exercise enables customer service agents to put themselves in the shoes of their customers and think out various reasons due to which the customers might feel like they have a problem. Now that they know about the plausible customer issues in each stage of the customer journey it becomes easier for agents to come up with solutions for the same.
7. The Crisis Communication exercise
Businesses go through a period of crisis at least once in a year or two. It can be faulty products, delayed deliveries, etc. During such times businesses tend to see an influx of customer tickets being raised.
In this exercise, agents are provided with a crisis prompt or crisis situation using which they have to come up with at least three responses that they are likely to use to handle the ticket management system during a crisis situation. This exercise helps agents explore different ways of using Help Desk Software so that they can easily handle crisis communication. It helps them get creative and at the same time allows them to learn from other agents as well.
Well-trained Agents = Amazing Customer Service
In order to provide the best customer service, training customer service agents regularly and efficiently is a must-do by Kapture’s Knowledge Management System. Poorly trained help desk agents can not only fail to facilitate an effective ticket remediation process for customers but their inefficiency can also lead to unsatisfied and unhappy customers which can then lead to lower CSAT scores. Conducting regular agent-training sessions using the service CRM software can keep agents updated on the latest customer service practices. These exercises not only help agents become more creative in the ticket remediation process but also focus on building valuable skills like teamwork, focus, and the ability to understand customer problems from different perspectives.
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