Customer Service Training Tips RoleplaysCustomer service training tips roleplays can really add learning, enery and fun to your sessions, here's how.
Using Roleplays in Customer Service Training Just about everyone dreads role play. They worry about making a fool of themselves, of getting it wrong, of being judged. But people learn by doing, so good role plays can help people to make sense of the learning, and through repetition start to lay down skill and confidence. Customer Service Training Tip Roleplays #1Set the roleplay up well. Even if you call roleplays practice opportunities people will still feel it's a role play, and worry about being judged. So, make sure you time the first one well. People should have settled down, and have found their feet in the group before you introduce a role play exercise.Humiliating or embarassing people will not help them learn, and may alienate the whole of the group
Customer Service training tip Roleplays #2Work to ensure people trust and feel safe with you. Bear in mind that people may have had terrible experiences with other trainers on other courses. Explain that we learn by doing, not by listening to someone else.
Did David Beckham learn to take amazing deadball free kicks from listening to someone talk? No he put in the practice Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon who had been to a
lecture, or one who had put in the practice?
Customer Service Training Tip Roleplays #3Explain thoroughly what is going to happen. Turning your instructions into a listening exercise can really help, because participants focus on listening rather than the exercise. The more people understand what is going to happen, in what order, with whom, the more they will be able to concentrate on putting their skills into practice.
Roleplay tip #4Start gently, especially if you are using telephone coaching equipment, audio or video recording equipment during the session. Get people used to the equipment, how everything works with an easy scenario. Build the difficulty levels through the session.
Roleplay tip #5
Make the roleplay as realistic as it can be. This will focus people on their learning, and you will have to deal with fewer "this isn't very real" objections.
Roleplay tip #6Give very clear intructions as to the feedback session afterwards. People tend to go straight to what they did wrong. Get them to see what they did right so that they get their performance into balance and perspective.
Roleplay tip #7Make sure the people giving feedback know how to do it well. It is always useful when there has been a practice session, that the person playing the part of the employee speaks first about how they felt the interaction with the customer went. If they know they got something wrong, get them to acknowledge it before other people, so that they do not feel overly criticised and close down for the rest of the training session.
look for other training tips
on
preparing for a session,
opening strongly,
overcoming resistance,
and
creating good customer service experiences.
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