The Real Reason Your Customer Service Training Isn’t Working: A Hard Assessment
Throw out everything you’ve been told about customer service training. Over fifteen years in this industry, I can tell you that most of what passes for staff training in this space is complete rubbish.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your team already know they should be polite to customers. They understand they should smile, say please and thank you, and handle complaints promptly. What’s missing is how to manage the mental strain that comes with working with problem clients day after day.
Back in 2019, I was consulting with a major phone company here in Sydney. Their client happiness scores were awful, and management kept throwing money at standard training programs. You know the type – role playing about saying hello, learning company procedures, and countless sessions about “putting yourself in the customer’s shoes.”
Total rubbish.
The real issue wasn’t that staff didn’t know how to be professional. The problem was that they were burned out from dealing with everyone else’s negativity without any tools to protect their own wellbeing. Here’s the thing: when someone calls to complain about their internet being down for the third time this month, they’re not just frustrated about the service problem. They’re livid because they feel powerless, and your team member becomes the target of all that built-up emotion.
Most training programs totally overlook this psychological reality. Instead, they focus on surface-level skills that sound good in concept but fall apart the moment someone starts shouting at your team.
Here’s what actually works: teaching your people stress management methods before you even mention customer interaction approaches. I’m talking about relaxation techniques, psychological protection, and most importantly, authorisation to take breaks when things get overwhelming.
In that situation, we started what I call “Psychological Protection” training. Instead of focusing on scripts, we taught employees how to recognise when they were absorbing a customer’s emotional state and how to emotionally detach without appearing cold.
The outcomes were incredible. Customer satisfaction scores improved by 35% in three months, but more importantly, staff turnover decreased by nearly half. Turns out when your people feel supported to deal with difficult situations, they really enjoy helping customers resolve their problems.
Something else that drives me mad: the obsession with forced cheerfulness. You know what I’m talking about – those training sessions where they tell employees to “constantly display a cheerful demeanor” regardless of the circumstances.
Total garbage.
Clients can sense forced positivity from a kilometre away. What they really want is genuine concern for their issue. Sometimes that means admitting that yes, their situation actually is awful, and you’re going to do your absolute best to assist them resolve it.
I think back to working with a major retail chain in Melbourne where executives had mandated that every service calls had to begin with “Hi, thank you for selecting [Company Name], how can I make your day amazing?”
Seriously.
Think about it: you call because your expensive device broke down three days after the coverage ran out, and some unfortunate staff member has to fake they can make your day “wonderful.” That’s offensive.
We scrapped that approach and replaced it with straightforward genuineness training. Show your people to really pay attention to what the client is saying, acknowledge their frustration, and then work on practical solutions.
Customer satisfaction went up right away.
After all these years of consulting in this space, I’m convinced that the biggest problem with support training isn’t the education itself – it’s the unattainable standards we place on customer-facing people and the total shortage of systemic support to handle the fundamental problems of terrible customer service.
Address those issues first, and your support training will really have a chance to be effective.
In the event you loved this article and you would want to receive more info regarding Coworker Etiquette Training assure visit our web-page.
