customer service topics for presentation

10 Customer Service Training Topics & Ideas

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, customer expectations are higher than ever. Therefore, in order to meet and exceed these expectations, businesses must look to enhance their customer service.

And the best way to do just that? Optimizing your customer service training. By rolling out comprehensive training to your workforce, you empower your employees to deliver outstanding service and memorable experiences with every interaction.

Like what you hear? Then keep reading to discover 10 essential training topics and ideas to enhance your customer service.

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1. What is customer service? 2. Why is customer service important? 3. Customer service training topics

What is customer service?

Customer service is the all-encompassing service you offer to your customers. What this looks like varies from business to business, however, common customer service actions include product information and recommendation, problem-solving, and responding to general questions. Today’s consumers have the option to interact with companies across a multitude of touchpoints that include face-to-face, email and social media.

It’s important for businesses to know the difference between customer service and customer experience. Customer service is one part of the customer experience or, another way to put it, customer service is a single interaction between customer and business, whereas customer experience is the customer’s entire journey with your brand.

Why is customer service important?

Customer service is crucial because it directly impacts a plethora of business areas. Companies with outstanding service outperform those without. Let's take a closer look:

Increased customer retention

Returning customers spend 67% more on average than new ones, making it important to build loyalty. Additionally, 96% of customers say good service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand, and 89% are more likely to make a repeat purchase after an excellent customer service experience.

Reviews and recommendations

Customer service directly impacts customers’ perceptions of your business. Great service results in great reviews, and negative interactions often lead to poor reviews. And in today’s online world, reviews are more important than ever .

Increased Revenue

The ability of CS to increase sales, foster loyalty, and generate positive recommendations results in increased revenue. In fact, businesses can grow revenue by 4%-8% when they prioritize the customer service experience.

10 customer service training topics

Product-related training

Product knowledge.

The foundation of excellent CS. With an in-depth understanding of the products you sell, your workforce can provide accurate answers to product-related questions, offer practical recommendations, and provide expert insight to your customers about the products they’re interested in. 

Today’s consumers are more informed than ever, making it increasingly difficult for store associates to position themselves as experts. In fact, 83% of consumers believe they know more than store associates. But with thorough knowledge of your products and services, employees are empowered to help shoppers with every interaction.

Training tip: Utilize microlearning to increase knowledge retention. Learning the details of every single product can seem almost impossible, but breaking the knowledge down into bite-sized lessons presents the task as more manageable while accounting for our shortening attention spans.

Product demonstration

65% of humans are visual learners, meaning they need to see something happen in order to remember it. Product information is invaluable, but customers may struggle to keep up with the facts in real time. 

Employees can improve customer service by taking that extra step and demonstrating how to use the product. Once you’ve finished explaining how to set up the T.V., take the time to show them . Not only does this add to your image of expertise, but consumers will also appreciate you taking the extra time to help them.

Upselling skills

Upselling is the art of convincing a customer to purchase either an upgraded product or product-related add-ons. When optimized, upselling can increase revenue by up to 30% .

However, it’s important to remember that the customer also benefits. While hearing the word ‘sales’ often conjures up the image of a shady salesman who prioritizes self-interest above all else, upselling is actually a mutually beneficial experience . When done well, upselling presents all available options to the customer and helps them make an informed decision. The sales process then becomes a consultative experience instead of a transactional one. The customer leaves, satisfied with their experience, and the business profits from the sale. 

Training tip: Teach basic sales techniques . Product knowledge is important, but it’s useless if employees don’t know how to utilize it. Role-play is an effective way to account for the variety of customers your workforce will face, and enough simulations can help you build a script that acts as an upselling foundation for your team.

Store optimization training

Visual merchandising.

Customer service extends beyond face-to-face interaction, and the layout of your store plays a major role in defining the customer’s experience. 

We already know the majority of us prefer visual stimuli, and a further 93% of consumers list visual appearance as an important factor during the purchasing process. Optimizing your visual merchandising draws customers in, assists your workforce during interactions, and improves the overall service.

Training tip: Follow the rule of three. Grouping three items together appeals to our brains' psychological bias of positively responding to things in threes.

Store layout training

A good store layout (whether physical or virtual) can enhance the overall customer experience. Similar to visual merchandising, there’s a psychology that comes with optimizing the layout of your business, such as the customer’s inclination to turn right upon entering a store, or that consumers are easily overwhelmed by cluttered entrances. 

Reinforcing the importance of an optimized store layout to your managers and employees can make a huge difference.

Training tip: Provide employees with knowledge hubs so they can access relevant information when they need it.

Tech optimization

Technology is now a vital part of customer service . Chatbots, mobile POS systems , Augmented Reality—all are leveraged to enhance the overall experience. Technology is valued by both customers and employees,  ranking third on a list of factors that frontline workers say could help reduce workplace stress.

However, the wrong technological investment can act as a hindrance to your employees, with one-third of all frontline workers saying they do not have the right technological tools to do their jobs effectively. And without an optimized workforce, you can never have an optimized customer service.

Training Tip: We recommend utilizing short, snappy G uides to instruct your workers on how to use new technology. Present practical instructions in a fun and engaging way.

Customer-related training

Active listening.

Listening is a skill we often take for granted, after all, we do it every day. But active listening goes beyond simply hearing the words a customer is saying, instead one must seek to understand the intent behind the words and become an active participant. This often includes reading non-verbal cues, asking open-ended questions, and paraphrasing (among many others!).

When you employ a team of active listeners, it positively impacts customer service and can even increase sales by up to 8% .

Training tip: employ quizzes to test your employees on their active listening! Have them watch a customer interaction via video and ask them what they would have done differently.

Empathy training

Empathy is the capacity to understand the emotional response of the customer, even if the problem is out of your control.

An empathetic workforce is highly valued by consumers. In fact, 96% of consumers view empathy as a key element of customer service, and 61% stopped buying from a company because a competitor offered a more empathetic experience. 

Training tip: Role-play really is the best way to mimic real-life situations and improve employee-customer interactions. Variation is key and you should present your workforce with a variety of problems to prepare them for any real-life scenario .

Complaints handling

As most businesses have already discovered: it’s impossible to keep everyone happy. However, it’s how you respond to complaints that define the brand. 

This is a chance for your employees to put their empathy and active listening training to the test! Identify the problem, put forward an empathetic response, and resolve the issue. 

Training tip: Make training standardized . Many businesses today employ an omnichannel approach where customers can reach out over multiple channels. Consistent service is key to a thriving business, and those who roll out a strong omnichannel approach have increased customer retention and revenue.

Crisis management

Your website crashes. You're short-staffed. Your POS systems are down. Whatever it is, you’re in crisis mode. How do you respond? 

Crisis management is about predicting a future crisis and formulating a plan that minimizes disruption and maintains excellent levels of service. Covid was an excellent barometer for crisis strategies, and 30% of respondents agreed they did not have a core crisis management team in place when the pandemic struck.

Training Tip: Formulate a crisis plan. Train your workforce on what steps to take when a crisis occurs. You can’t avoid a crisis forever, so preparing for one is the next best thing.

eduMe is the platform of choice for businesses looking to optimize their workforce training and enhance their customer service. By leveraging the power of microlearning and seamlessly integrating into existing technology, we make it easy to roll out engaging training at scale. After partnering with eduMe, food delivery company Takeout Central experienced a 10% increase in quality of service.

Get in touch with us now to see how we can help!

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Human Resources | Tip List

13 Customer Service Training Ideas & Topics

Published January 12, 2024

Published Jan 12, 2024

REVIEWED BY: Robie Ann Ferrer

WRITTEN BY: Jennifer Soper

This article is part of a larger series on Hiring .

• 13 Customer Service Training Ideas & Topics
• Training Topics
• Training Ideas

Bottom Line

• Related Articles

Customer service training involves the coaching and support a customer service representative receives to improve their handling of customer issues and create excellent customer satisfaction and experiences. Regardless of the product or service you offer, going the extra mile in customer service builds trust, loyalty, and customer retention.

To bring out your reps’ full potential and provide exceptional customer service, we’ve put together our top customer service training ideas and topics.

Customer Service Training Topics

It’s important that your reps show professionalism when dealing with customers. To achieve this, it’s best to brush up on the basic customer experience training topics, like core competency skills, how to say no, your product portfolio, your company’s brand, how to be authentic, and complaint management.

1. Core Competency Skills

The first step is to pinpoint and train on the core skills your customer service representatives need. To start, reflect on your personal experiences with customer service teams. Think back to both positive and negative experiences. Ask yourself what made a rep great to deal with or—if things didn’t go according to plan—why it transpired that way.

Some of these key customer support skills may include:

• Empathy : Reps need to see a customer’s point of view and understand their emotions––even if they’re extremely irate or frustrated. Have your reps practice empathy by staying focused on the customer, listening for key facts and feelings, taking notes, and confirming what they heard.
• Active Listening : Striking the right balance between asking questions and listening can be challenging. It can be tempting to jump to a solution without fully understanding the depth of the problem. Train agents to know when to let customers take the lead in the conversation and when to pipe up with their insight. Reps can practice active listening by repeating what the customer says and paraphrasing it so the customer knows they understand.
• Clear Communication : Agents need to properly answer customer questions and stay focused on the conversation all the time; using vague language, disengaging, or muttering can be frustrating for customers. Meanwhile, being articulate and staying on topic will instill confidence. Have your reps act as “customers” during customer service training activities. This will give them a chance to better understand what it’s like on the other side and how they should address common issues in a professional manner.
• Solutions Focus : Agents need to think on their feet and offer suitable solutions for all types of problems. Provide your agents with basic problem-solving techniques and explain how they can be used in real-world scenarios. Trainees should understand why it is useful for them to approach customer issues with an open mind, identify root causes of problems, utilize available resources and technologies, and consider multiple solutions before making a final decision.
• Prioritize : It’s not possible to respond to all customers at the same time. Agents need to identify the most pressing customer issues and act accordingly in an acceptable time frame. Ignoring a customer complaint for too long may push them to take their valuable business elsewhere. Mock scenarios provide an opportunity for participants to practice their prioritization skills with realistic examples that resemble actual problems they may encounter on the job.
• Continuous Learning : To answer customer questions effectively, reps need to be up-to-date on new products, company policies, and how the purchasing process works from the customers’ point of view. Companies should establish clear guidelines and expectations for staying informed. They should set specific deadlines for employees to follow when it comes to learning and sharing new information with customers. Additionally, they should ensure that their employees have access to reliable sources of information, such as industry news outlets or company intranet sites.
• Patience : Keeping a cool head and understanding the person’s anger isn’t a personal attack is vital. Trainers can give examples of situations where a lack of patience could negatively impact customer relations and explain how having more patience could help to solve or de-escalate those situations. This will give trainees an understanding of why it’s important for them to remain patient when communicating with customers.
• Honesty : No one can know the answer to every possible customer issue—and faking it could fire up a customer even more. Instead, agents should admit when they don’t know the answer and offer to get back to the customer. One way to teach honesty in customer service professional development is to create situations where employees must practice responding honestly while also navigating tricky customer inquiries or requests.
• Optimism : When customers contact a rep, it’s because there’s a problem. Staying positive and focusing on the solution will reassure customers that their issue is being addressed. Organizations should provide instruction on how employees can frame conversations in a way that reflects an optimistic outlook without appearing insincere or patronizing.
• Openness to Feedback : Reps who are open to further training and constructive feedback will help maintain high standards. Role-playing scenarios that simulate real-life situations allow them to practice responding effectively in difficult moments, while also learning from mistakes made by others throughout the simulation.

Developing these key skills will equip your customer service team for a range of challenging customer issues and ensure they’re on top of their game. Communicating expectations and core values during new employee onboarding will keep customer service reps on track from day one. This can even start from the job interviews—treat these like conversations and communicate what your organization values the most from the get-go. Even your job descriptions should demonstrate your company values in order to make it clear across the board.

2. The Art of Saying No

No one enjoys hearing the word no––least of all your customers who want a solution to their issue. It’s only normal for anyone to feel disappointed when they’re told there’s something they can’t have. But of course, you’ll have to decline some of your client’s requests.

Instead of saying a short no, the key is to offer some solid alternatives and options that may appeal to the customer.

Here are some examples.

Instead of: “No, I can’t send you a replacement blue jacket because it’s out of stock.” Try: “Could I interest you in one of our jackets in black? I know you love blue but there may be a delay of several weeks until we’re restocked.”

Instead of: “No, it’s against company policy to provide you with a refund for delayed delivery.” Try: “I apologize for the delivery delay. Would you accept some credit toward your next order?”

When customers have options instead of a hard no, they’re less likely to become irate and will usually accept one of your solutions.

3. Your Product Portfolio

The more your staff understands and knows about your products, the more they can help the customer. Instead of bluffing their way through possible solutions or referring to colleagues, reps should have the confidence to provide technical solutions themselves.

Provide regular product training sessions where you share new additions or business changes. That way, when a customer complains about a product-related technical issue, your agent can be sure they know the answer and can provide a solution.

It’s good to provide them with a constantly updated document on topic details and frequently asked questions. These critical-thinking skills will also come in handy when dealing with customer issues on the spot.

4. Company Branding Alignment

These days, most business conversations happen via email, chat, and over calls instead of in person. For that reason, the choice of words, language, punctuation, and emojis is incredibly important.

It’s a good idea to draft a company document that outlines your brand presence . Categorize it into sections that include how reps should interact with customers across different communication channels. Depending on how you offer customer service, you should provide brand voice guidelines for phone calls, emails, and live chat. Prepare canned or customer service training template responses to commonly asked questions.

Here are some examples of what to include:

• Tone of voice: Do you want reps to sound upbeat, formal, or informal?
• Language: Can reps speak colloquially, or do you want them to use formal language only? Should they write in British or American English?
• Emojis: Do you prefer written communication to be with or without emojis?
• Punctuation: How correct should punctuation be in written communication?

Maintaining a brand voice will ensure reps provide a consistent customer experience.

5. Authenticity

Building authentic relationships with customers starts by treating them with kindness and respect. If reps show that they genuinely care about customers and their experience, customers will feel comfortable doing business with you and are more likely to remain loyal.

It’s important to train your customer service reps or anyone else who talks to your clients to build meaningful business relationships.

Here are a few ways to do this:

• Understand that customers are individuals: It’s easy to think of customers as just data on a screen, but you need to remind reps that they’re individual people with worries, questions, stress, and hopes. Reps need to remember to listen to customers as people and treat them with respect.
• Be yourself: Customers can sense inauthenticity from a mile away, and it’s not a good look for reps or businesses. So be yourself, be honest, and admit when there’s not an immediate solution.
• Use some small talk: During calls, it can be easy to jump right into the issue instead of asking how a person is or how their day is going. Engaging in some small talk, especially if you have a smaller base of customers, will help build rapport. Be careful, though, as some customers may be less willing to engage in small talk than others.
• Say thank you: People are busy and like to feel that their time is valued. Saying thank you to someone for their patience or help in solving an issue is a great way to show your appreciation.
• Don’t just go through the motions: It’s easy to go into autopilot mode and just say everything on repeat. But no one likes to feel that they’re talking to a robot or a broken record. Take the time to properly engage with what the customer is saying and react accordingly.

6. Customer Complaint Management

Being on the front line means being on the receiving end of an irate customer’s frustrations. Without some customer complaint training, the situation can catch any well-meaning customer service representative off guard. It’s easy for reps to panic, get flustered, and lose sight of how they need to respond.

It’s crucial to provide training on how to handle customer complaints calmly and professionally. If done effectively, you can turn negative experiences into opportunities to gain loyal customers.

Here’s how to best handle customer complaints:

• Keep your cool : Sometimes customers need to vent, and reps need to be adept at being neutral and letting customers share their frustrations––even if they’re shouting. Simply acknowledge the customers’ feelings by saying things like “I understand.” Soon the customer will see that the person on the other end of the line is calm and professional. This will encourage them to approach things with a calm mindset too.
• Get a complete picture : Before jumping to a solution, make sure reps have a complete understanding of the issue and all the facts surrounding it. This is the right moment to ask relevant questions to understand what the customer needs.
• Accept there’s a problem : Defensive reps who pin the problem on the customer will only irritate them further. Instead, reps should acknowledge the problem and reassure customers that they understand the issue.
• Don’t be afraid to apologize : Mistakes happen to all businesses, and if your business has made a mistake, own up and apologize. Customers appreciate honesty and will have more respect for the business in the long run if it can accept fault.
• Provide a solution : Once reps understand the full extent of the issue, they should offer solutions to the customer. They need to understand what’s an appropriate solution within company guidelines––offering something the business can’t commit to will generate further problems later on.

Customer Service Training Ideas

Training, for any topic or role, is a continuous process—and for customer service roles, it’s essential for your team to absorb as it impacts your bottom line. Here are some customer service training ideas you can use to make sure that your team learns what they need to.

7. Use a Variety of Training & Development Methods

Everyone learns differently, and most people prefer certain training and development methods over others. Plus, providing information in multiple formats helps learners retain it more successfully. As such, you’ll want to appeal to all learning styles.

Here are a few customer service presentation ideas for making your training methods accessible to different learner types:

• Virtual : Provide reps with online resources outlining support workflows. Share documents outlining the kind of language and solutions they should use to solve common issues.
• Videos : Share video re-enactments of reps successfully resolving issues as well as re-enactments of calls that miss the mark. Explain why some were successful and others were not.
• Recordings : Give reps access to real-life recordings of conversations between reps and customers. Ask them to think about the positives and negatives of each one.
• Group : Dynamic group sessions provide opportunities for role-playing and bouncing ideas off each other.
• One-on-one : Some individuals may find group sessions to be higher pressure. Balance them out with one-on-one (1:1) pairings with more experienced reps who can share their experience.
• On-the-job : There’s no substitute for real-world experience. When agents have a foundation of knowledge, it’s time to help them learn from experience and real-life customer issues.

Using all or a mix of these methods will appeal to different learning styles. Over time, see how your reps react to each training method—you’ll probably notice some work best for certain individuals.

8. Gamify the Training Process

Customer service training might induce some anxiety in your reps. Gamifying your training to make it a little less serious will help them look forward to training sessions.

One area in which gamifying might help is in recalling names. Calling customers by their names builds rapport and personalizes the experience. But when dealing with complaints and trying to find solutions, it can be easy for reps to get flustered and quickly forget a customer’s name or, worse, get it wrong or mispronounce it. A quick five-minute group game to boost reps’ ability to remember names correctly could be a fun warm-up to the day.

Some customer service software, like Freshdesk, uses built-in gamification to motivate agents.

By gamifying training, reps will be more engaged and thus more likely to remember key best practices and solutions to customer problems. You’ll avoid the danger of boring or overloading reps with the same information and training techniques.

9. Integrate Customer Feedback Into Customer Service Training

Customers are the ones interacting with reps on a daily basis. For that reason, their feedback is vital for improving customer service . There are a couple of ways to get the needed feedback from your customers, the most basic of which involve holding a focus group and conducting surveys.

• Hold a Focus Group
• Conduct Surveys

Everyone’s definition of top-quality customer service will be different, so it makes sense to ask customers what excellent customer service means to them. Conduct a focus group with customers who’ve recently contacted your customer service team.

Try to gather a collection of both satisfied and frustrated customers, so you can hear contrasting perspectives and build an accurate picture of how customers see your support team. Then, prepare some questions beforehand and leave some space for customers to share their honest opinions with you.

Some example questions might include:

• Were you satisfied with the solutions offered by your rep? Why?
• How long were you waiting to speak to a rep?
• Would you be happy to call our customer service team again?

Use these questions as a launchpad to dive into customers’ opinions about your service. Make sure to record these focus sessions either with audio or video recordings.

Make it a habit to conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys . Send out questionnaires at regular intervals throughout the year to existing customers to identify how they feel about your customer service.

Any time a customer interacts with a rep, follow up with a quick NPS (net promoter score) survey to measure their overall satisfaction with the service. It’s a good idea to send out a longer, more detailed questionnaire asking more specific questions about their satisfaction with things like wait time, the overall solution, and the helpfulness of the rep.

Once you have some honest customer feedback, create an action plan that directly addresses customer concerns.

10. Involve Management & Other Departments

Exceptional customer service starts at the top and trickles down through all team members. To help create the most effective customer service agents, look to your supervisors and managers. Their position of authority has the potential to inspire, motivate, and engage your reps so they provide the best customer experience possible.

Make hiring and training skilled leaders a priority in your business. Strong leaders know how to create a performance-driven customer experience culture and will help mentor and coach other team members. And, since an average of 33% of frontline service workforces are contractors , It’s important that decision-makers are equipped to handle the challenge.

Customer service isn’t just limited to a single department. Your whole organization needs to understand that customer experience is a priority. For that reason, it’s a good idea to do cross-departmental training and hold regular knowledge-sharing sessions.

For example, your reps could share feedback with the product team that they’re receiving lots of complaints about products being out of stock. The product team could then research product alternatives that ship more easily so that customers who want quick delivery have another option.

Documenting everything keeps everyone on the same page and prevents misinterpretation and protocols and processes ensure reps always know what the appropriate next step is. To start with, create protocols and processes on the following:

• Brand voice
• Company refund and return policy
• Training sessions

By creating documentation on key protocols and processes, reps will always know the appropriate next step. This boosts morale and confidence in your team, too.

11. Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes Through Role-playing

Listening to feedback from real customers will help your business identify recurring issues that require fixing. You can help employees develop empathy and understand the customer’s viewpoint through different role-playing situations. When team members understand issues from the customers’ perspective, they’ll be more likely to proactively find a suitable solution.

• Mock Phone Calls

Every customer call is unique and requires a unique approach. Regularly improvising different customer service scenarios will encourage agents to think on their feet, which is exactly what they’ll need to do in real-world situations.

Choose different customer scenarios so your agents get up to speed on all the different types of issues they may need to handle.

For example, you could try improvising these scenarios:

• An irate customer who has already called three times and hasn’t been offered an appealing solution
• A customer complaint about a lost delivery
• A customer who wants a product that isn’t available
• A customer whose phone line connection keeps dropping
• A customer who doesn’t understand the company’s returns policy or wants to bend the policy
• A customer who’s lost their account password and can’t figure out how to retrieve it

Practicing what to say and which solutions to offer will help agents feel confident that they can handle any scenario when they’re in touch with a customer.

While looking at what was said during the improv session, ask your reps to think about where the communication could have been improved. Could they have listened and understood more? Could they have asked more questions? Could they have spoken more clearly and succinctly?

A phone call may be a customer’s first interaction with your business, so make sure you go the extra mile to create a good impression. Newer reps may get flustered on phone calls or not know the right way to clearly communicate over the phone. Mock phone calls will help your employees feel confident in real-life phone conversations with customers.

Prior to scheduling mock phone calls, give your reps some communication tips and guidelines to help them communicate effectively. These might include:

• Speak with an upbeat tone.
• Use clear and simple language to avoid misunderstandings.
• Give customers space to speak and avoid talking over them.
• Use positive and reassuring language.

Live chat is a popular first point of contact for customer service. The key is to equip team members with the right information about each contact so they can respond efficiently. This is where your CRM and help desk software come into play. Make sure reps can easily access all relevant customer data to help them offer the best service possible.

Provide training around accepted company language and how reps should address customers. You should also provide guidance on knowing the right time to take customer service off the live chat platform and onto email or a phone call so they can provide the right amount of detail.

12. Learn From Companies With Exceptional Customer Service

Identify businesses known for providing exceptional customer service and see if you can arrange for your reps to learn about their customer service techniques. Ask your reps to create a list of questions for the company and report on their findings. They can then share with the rest of the group their learnings and reflections on what worked well and what could be improved.

Trader Joe’s is known for its excellent customer service with a library of resources for submitting a specific form.

Learning from industry leaders encourages reps to reflect on their own techniques and how they could develop them. It’s also worth checking out some of the worst customer service examples to ensure you’re not guilty of any of the same mistakes.

13. Never Stop Training

Continual training and development is key to maintaining success across your customer service department. Encourage reps to strive to be their best selves by taking initiative in their own growth and development.

Provide resources and organize regular training for customer service teams so they’re at the forefront of providing the best possible customer experience. You do this by holding and attending:

• Conferences
• Expert interviews
• Whole-team training days

Talk about how continual learning and development are key for successful growth and sustainable success in customer service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the qualities of good customer service.

Good customer service involves maintaining the basic core competency skills, like empathy, problem-solving, and friendliness. Besides that, having extensive product/service knowledge and translating that into each call with a customer can elevate your customer service handling even further.

What are the 7 C’s of customer relationship management?

Customer service reps live by the 7 C’s of marketing and customer relationship management. These include communication, collaboration, connection, context, customization, customer service, and culture. Each allows for effective management of customer relationships.

How do you handle an angry customer?

The key is to maintain a pleasant attitude while approaching the situation with facts and helpful information. If you are simply unable to diffuse the situation, offer to let the customer speak to a supervisor.

Taking the time to consider and implement customer service training ideas will help your reps create a welcoming type of environment and reach their full potential. Experiment with the customer service training ideas and topics we’ve covered above and see which resonates the most with your agents. Remember to keep things interesting and don’t be afraid to introduce new ideas to the mix.

About the Author

Find Jennifer On LinkedIn

Jennifer Soper

Jennifer Soper has 25+ years of writing and content design experience, working with small businesses and Fortune 100 companies. For over a decade, Jennifer worked as an HR generalist, providing expertise in accounting, payroll, and HR by implementing payroll and benefits best practices and creating onboarding and employee-relations documentation.

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CUSTOMER SERVICE POWERPOINT

ReadySetPresent (Customer Service PowerPoint Presentation Content): 100+ PowerPoint presentation content slides. Knowing what your customer wants and needs is the number one factor to excellent customer service. Only by improving one’s customer service can your business develop. Customer Service PowerPoint Presentation Content slides include topics such as: understanding the basics of effective customer service, knowing customer wants and expectations, the 4 steps to super service, 10+ slides on what to say and addressing excuses, 10+ slides on implementing a program and examining behaviors, 7 practical steps to customer service, 30 slides on performance standards and quality, looking to the future, Q& A’s, 5 slides on increasing customer satisfaction, the top ten customer complaints, the five most common customer requests, 4 steps to super service, how to's and more! Read less

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• 3. Program Objectives (2 of 2) Assess your communication style and use two-way communication skills to level with people, to accept feedback from them, and to discuss problems. Identify specific problems in your customer service program and apply treatment.
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• 6. Do You Know Why They Leave? 1% die . 3% move away. 5% develop other relationships. 9% leave for competitive reasons. 14% are dissatisfied with product or service. 68% leave because of rude or discourteous service.
• 7. Communication. Customer Sensitivity. Decisiveness. Energy. Flexibility. Follow-up. Impact. Initiative. Integrity. Competencies (1 of 2)
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• 9. Excuses Excuses List five to eight excuses you hear customer service representatives give for offering indifferent or poor customer service. Think of one of more ways to counter each excuse.
• 10. Common Excuses (1 of 2) For Service Lapses: I don't have enough time. I don't get paid to be nice. I am measured by my productivity and accuracy. How can we do a good job if the computer is always down? Every customer is totally bonkers today.
• 11. I can't deal with people who do not show me respect. How can we do a good job if the other departments do not provide the back-up we need? I am having a bad day. People are basically stupid. I am always too busy. Common Excuses (2 of 2) For Service Lapses:
• 12. The Customer Wants You To . . . Invite me back. . . . Listen to me. . . . Value me. . . . Greet me. . . . Help me.
• 13. About This Product: To download this entire Customer Service PowerPoint presentation visit ReadySetPresent.com Over 100+ slides on topics such as: understanding the basics of effective customer service, addressing excuses, examining behaviors, 7 steps to customer service, words to use and words to avoid, top ten customer complaints, five common customer requests, implementing a good customer service program, service standards, 4 steps to super service, how to's and more. Royalty Free - Use Them Over and Over Again. Please Visit: www.ReadySetPresent.com

10 topics to include in every customer service training manual

The key to customer satisfaction is a team of well-trained and dedicated customer service representatives. That’s why it’s essential to thoroughly and consistently train your customer service reps. One way you can effectively educate your team is with a customer service training manual . 

As we begin a new year, it’s the perfect time to review the manual and update it to reflect new changes and trends. Read on to learn about how you can refresh your customer service training manual for 2022 and see some helpful customer service training topics that it should include.

1. The importance of customer service

One topic that every customer service training manual should cover is the importance of customer service. The goal is to inform every customer service rep and show them how their role impacts the success of your business. This type of customer service policy is also a great tool to provide motivation as your team members want to feel fulfilled, important, and challenged.

2. Policy for customer service interactions

Your customer service training manual should also touch the standard process for interactions with customers. You’ll want to outline a process that includes the best customer service policies that are applicable to the most situations, in a way that’s easy to understand.

3. Different verticals and industries

If your company spans across multiple industries, it’s worthwhile to feature different sections in the customer service training manual for each one. While there are many questions, complaints, and requests that are applicable to all industries, there are some that only pertain to certain segments and could call for different types of customer service training manuals.

4. Definition of service

Every company defines customer service differently. It’s important that you include a definition of how your company defines customer service to keep your people on the same page. In fact, just about every training manual template includes a definition of service. The definition of service provides a clear direction for every representative to address the customers’ needs as much as possible.

5. How to take a customer-friendly approach

Your customer service training manual template should emphasize a customer-friendly approach for customer service procedures and processes. The two major elements of a customer-friendly approach include communication and relationships. Give applicable and relevant examples of how reps should demonstrate these ideals in your manual. 

6. A clear understanding of your customers

You should also have a section that provides your customer service reps with information about the types of customers they’ll commonly work with. This will give your team the information needed to help customers feel cared for and understood.

7. Soft skills for a top-notch customer service rep to have

Every customer service training manual should include a list of all the soft skills that a top-notch customer representative should embody. Some essential customer service skills include active listening, attentiveness, communication, confidence, decision-making, empathy, flexibility, positivity, problem-solving, and being a team player. By making these soft skills tangible, reps know what they should be aiming for. 

8. How to make a good first impression

There should also be a section about how your customer representatives can make good impressions with customers. For added context, consider showing reps what it looks like to create a positive impression versus a negative one. That way, your customer representatives will know which behaviors and actions to avoid.

9. Non-verbal communication

You should also include a section about non-verbal communication since a significant amount of communication is non-verbal. This section should touch upon how customer reps can take advantage of non-verbal communication to satisfy customers. Some examples of non-verbal communication include smiling, eye contact, and hand gestures, and posture.

10. Telephone etiquette

If you have customer service reps who provide support over the phone, you should definitely have a section about telephone etiquette. Provide your team with information about how to best answer the phone and how to troubleshoot effectively. 

Get started with our Free Customer Service Training Manual

Is it time to revisit your customer service training manual? Our free customer service training customer service training manual is a great tool to help your team deliver consistent customer service training and delight customers.

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How to create an effective customer service presentation (+design tips)

Customer service is one of the most crucial elements of any business. You can have the best product or offer the lowest price, but if your customer service is subpar, it will be challenging to develop and thrive in a competitive landscape. On the other hand, excellent customer service can enhance your brand’s reputation, keep current clients happy, and help attract new ones through referrals.

This is where customer service training becomes a key strategy. And what better way to walk your team members through their responsibilities than with a customer service PowerPoint presentation? Let’s now break down the importance of this type of presentation and how it can help set your business up for success.

What’s a customer service training presentation?

Customer service PPT is a means of educating employees on the principles and best practices of effective customer service. It usually includes slides and visuals that explain how to handle difficult situations or client questions through calls, emails, or face-to-face interactions and explain the importance of good customer service.

Benefits of a customer experience presentation

A thorough understanding of client service expectations and guidelines can set your business up for success in various ways, including:

• More qualified customer support agents

The main purpose of customer service presentations is to train staff members who will be providing service to clients. When properly trained, your employees can complete their responsibilities to company standards and deliver exceptional service to your clients.

• Effective service for your clients

If a customer has a problem and needs someone to listen and help resolve it, but your support team lacks customer service training, it can lead to various issues, including losing them as a customer. On the contrary, when clients receive quality service from your employees across all channels, they feel valued and are more likely to come back or recommend your product or service to someone else.

• Improved brand reputation

Reviews from customers, whether on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Google, or sites like Sitejabber and Trustpilot, can have both a positive and a negative impact on your business. That’s why putting your customers first and providing excellent service to them can help build a strong reputation and establish your company as an industry leader.

What to put in your presentation on customer service

According to top experts at our PowerPoint design company , your slides have to touch upon the following topics:

• Conflict resolution best practices
• Product/service knowledge
• Communication styles
• Most common customer issues
• Reasons for customer complaints
• Understanding who has authority for specific tasks
• Approaches to building relationships with clients
• Ways to measure success

Here are some key components of a well-crafted PPT presentation on customer service:

• Introduction: An explanation of why customer service is important and how it affects the business.
• Company values & mission: How customer service connects with what the company believes in and aims to achieve.
• Customer service standards: Guidelines on how employees should act when interacting with customers.
• Communication skills: Tips and techniques for effective verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Customer experience: Ways to improve customer service quality and go beyond what they expect.
• Problem-solving: Top methods for resolving clients’ issues and dealing with common complaints.
• Role-playing scenarios: Examples and role-playing activities to help employees practice and get better at customer service.
• Performance metrics: Ways to measure customer service performance and why reacting to feedback is essential.
• Q&A session: An opportunity for employees to ask questions and discuss their concerns or uncertainties.

Now that you know the fundamentals, let’s move on to the top tips for creating an effective PowerPoint customer service presentation.

Expert tips to make your client service presentation more engaging

Creating an engaging presentation on customer services is not easy. If you want your employees to be interested and willing to do what you ask them to, you have to prepare your presentation very carefully and learn how to deliver it in the best way possible. The tips below will help you create slides that catch and hold your employees’ interest so they can engage with the material more effectively and retain the key information faster.

1. Start with a strong opening

This can be anything from a relevant story, statistic, question, or captivating anecdote. Remember, your goal is to hook the audience right from the start.

2. Keep your presentation simple and clear

Organize your thoughts logically, with an introduction, key points, and a solid conclusion. Avoid cluttered slides and complex jargon. Each slide should convey one main idea.

3. Select a consistent color palette and design structure

These should complement your message and branding, not compete with it. Ensure readability by harmonizing colors and employing suitable design elements to emphasize important content.

4. Keep your content concise

You can utilize bullet points, bold text, short phrases, or keywords to convey your message. However, avoid long paragraphs or any unnecessary data on slides.

5. Use visuals

Where appropriate, incorporate engaging images and informative charts to visually represent data and concepts. Remember, visual aids can make complex information more digestible and your presentation more interesting.

6. Include real-life examples

These can be case studies, customer stories, or any other examples your employees can relate to. This way, you’ll make your presentation easier to understand.

7. Engage your audience

Incorporate interactive elements like polls into your presentation. This way, you’ll encourage participation and keep your employees engaged.

8. End with a strong conclusion

Summarize the main points and give the audience a clear call to action. You can also add a memorable closing statement or a quote to reinforce your message.

9. Prepare handouts or resources

Provide handouts, cheat sheets, or additional resources for your employees to take away. This will offer reference material and help them further retain the information presented.

10. Polish your presentation

As the presentation day approaches, give your slides a final look. Review your talking points and make any final tweaks.

• Choose a sans-serif font, such as Helvetica or Arial. Fonts like Palatino and Times New Roman can be harder to read at times.
• Never use a font size of less than 24 points.
• All your headlines should have the same font.
• Use bold and different sizes of fonts for subheadings and captions.
• Every screen should have a clear label. For the title, choose a larger font (35–45 points) or a different color.
• Don’t use more than four fonts in your presentation.
• Choose larger fonts to indicate importance.
• Use different sizes, colors, and styles (e.g., bold) for impact.
• Don’t use too many punctuation marks.
• Avoid italicized fonts and long sentences.
• Refrain from using all caps (except for titles).
• Add a maximum of 6-8 words per line.
• Use the 6 x 6 Rule: one thought or 6 words per line and 6 lines per slide max.
• Either use light text on a dark background or dark text on a light background. However, light backgrounds are preferable.
• Put page numbers and other repeating elements in the same location on each slide.
• Don’t put too many colors on one screen.
• Use no more than four different colors on a single chart.
• Check colors on a projection screen before the presentation, as they can project differently than on your monitor.

Design and graphical elements

• Before designing your presentation, look for customer service presentation ideas online.
• Standardize styles, positions, and colors.
• Keep the details to a minimum and only include essential information.
• Use colors that complement and contrast.
• Keep the presentation background consistent.
• Use a single style for bullets throughout the slide.
• Use one or two large images instead of lots of small ones.
• Make all images the same size when appropriate.
• Arrange images horizontally or vertically.
• Use the same border for all slides.
• Keep the design uncluttered. Leave empty space around graphical images and text.
• Use quality clipart that relates to the slide’s topic.
• Use graphical images of the same style throughout the presentation.
• Use image repetition to reinforce the message.

Remember, a great customer service presentation comprises relevant information, product knowledge, and company-specific employee guidelines, so plan carefully.

If you require professional assistance with your customer service slides, the certified design experts at SlidePeak are here to help. Our dedicated team can tailor a fully editable customer service PowerPoint template for your company and employees so you can easily customize and update it as needed. Google Slides design experts are also available!

All initial consultations are free of charge and confidential, with no obligation to continue. Call now or fill out our online form, and we’ll get back to you in under 15 minutes!

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