Customer Service Training Courses: Fill & Download for Free

At LiveChat we have some free customer service training materials (for both managers and customer service reps) that you might find useful:Customer Support Hiring Guide - this e-book is a must-read for customer service managers. It is a step-by-step guide of finding and hiring not only a customer service team but true Support Heroes.Customer Service E-Mail Course - this customer service training aims to improve soft skills, like communication, empathy, emotional intelligence, but also technical skills, including typing speed and software knowledge.Customer Service Quiz - it’s a short quiz which helps you check your knowledge and customer service skills.

As an American living in Australia, the difference in customer service is striking I have often recognized there is a cultural difference but for the life of me. could not figure it out. In the US we are taught that good customer service is friendly, efficient and attentive. But recently I found out that, in Australia, it seems there is something even more important than brown nosing a customer into a sale.I have been a member of a food co-op in a NSW town for three months and found that I am rarely greeted when entering the store, always asked if I am a member at the checkout, (even thought the same people check me out all of the time) and rarely will someone ask if I need any help. I would often come home discouraged and baffled at what I viewed as poor customer service. However, when I went in for a volunteer service training I was asked by my trainer what was the top priority for volunteers or employees.I was about to say friendliness when she interjected with gusto, exclaiming “of course, it’s safety!”I was dumbfounded but it was in that moment that everything started to make sense. Of course, it was safety! That core value would set the tone for the rest of the training that followed. In fact, the more I learned about safety the more I realized this was the Aussie way of caring for the customer.So now, instead of getting my panties in a knot when people do not say hi, or can I help you, I just smile, knowing that their attention to my physical well-being is their way of saying we care about you as a customer.

Once I was training a new cashier. It was her second or third day, but she was plugging right along. I was confident in her ability, so when I got pulled away for a moment to help another customer, I thought nothing of it.When I came back, the training cashier looked like she was going to cry, and a very stout, angry man was standing red-faced in front of her.“This checker overcharged me, and I want her fired right now!” he bellowed.“I'm sorry, sir,” I answered, “may I see your receipt?’He stuck his outstretched hand out and I took his receipt, looking over it. I saw that she did indeed scan something twice, but then voided the second scan immediately. At that time voids were listed on the receipt, whereas later the original scan and voided item would not show up.I put on my best customer service face. “I see the problem, sir. She did accidentally get it twice, but she took it off so you were only charged once.”“I don't care! She's incompetent, and I want her fired!”I lost the customer service face. With the confidence of job security of working close to a decade at this store I raised my eyebrow. “Let me get this straight, sir. You want this girl fired because she made a mistake that she corrected before you even noticed what happened? How many employees do you think we would have if everyone that made an honest mistake that they corrected got canned?”Of course, that didn't go over well with him either, but at least he wasn't yelling at my trainee any more. I called the shift manager before he even asked and continued scanning items until he got there.When my manager arrived, the man started yelling at him too, and pointing to his receipt. The manager looked over the receipt and looked back at the man puzzled. “I don't understand sir, you weren't overcharged, what seems to be the problem?” The guy threw his hands in the air and walked out the door with his groceries.I mean, if there is a problem I'll fix it, but simple human error is not a problem. Oh, and that cashier is still working there to date.