Is Training Employees on Customer Service Really Necessary?

Most organizations are reluctant to spend the time and money training their employees on customer service. Most employees are young and turnover averages 20-30% in most companies. The fear of training an employee and then having them leave in 60 days discourages most companies from investing in the education of their employees.

There are virtually no high schools, colleges, or technical schools that teach the skills of superior customer service. Almost all previous employers have not spent any time or money training employees on customer service. This means almost all the new employees you hire have never been trained in customer service.

With Covid, almost all firms gave up on customer service. I think it is worse today than when I developed Feelings: Quality Service, First Time, Every Time in 1979. I started with a simple concept. When you get great service you buy more, come back more often, and tell your friends. When you get poor customer service, you tend to not spend as much money and do not return. More importantly, you do not recommend the firm to your friends. Word-of-mouth advertising is free and very powerful. Amazon has grown via word of mouth and by offering great service. Rarely will you see any advertising from Amazon, but Comcast spends millions of dollars on advertising. I have never heard anything positive about Comcast.

Customer service skills are easy to learn. Also easy to forget. It’s a little like running to lose weight. If you do it for four months and stop, you will probably gain the weight back. Every four months and at a minimum once a year, you should put all your employees through a new customer service program.

John Tschohl is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant. He is president and founder of Service Quality Institute,with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the foremost authorities on service strategy, success, empowerment, and customer service. His monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge. He also can be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.