Was doing some research for a friend/client on customer service training materials this week. I decided to use Twitter (my top choice for social media portals) as a tool to do some research on the matter. A simple search on the term "customer service training" is all it took to create a hmmm moment. And though my research was not very scientific, it did reveal some things I knew instinctively.
First, customer service is a very popular discipline for a number of companies/consultants. Must mean that bad customer service is more the norm than the exception. I agree with that on its face.
Second, I don't think the customers (organizations) of the customer service training product are fully aware of what's going on inside their own walls.
Here's what brought me to the above conclusions:
- My typed search "customer service training" revealed that for every two consultants offering training, there were an equal number of employees who were referring to customer service training as a boring event, a cure for insomnia, or a pain in the rear. Again, this wasn't a scientific result, but it seems that many employees are nodding yes, but thinking and feeling no.
- Employees, especially those in larger entities, feel like their targets for cost cutting and lay-offs. Creates a jaded, if not callused view of things. Wonder how these folks treat customers who have legitimate needs/issues?
- Why the disconnect? Leadership. Some managers may think they're leading well, but have yet to look behind them to find no one following.
- Fixing conclusion #3 creates a bridge for change.
- Employers are missing out on the power of social media. See this article for more on that. But I'm speaking of finding out what's REALLY going on with the employee base. Might save them some money and go a long way in reinventing how they serve-employees and customers.