In our last blog, we talked about how important customer service is, but we didn’t discuss how to assure that your employees will provide such service. Too many companies do a wonderful job of training employees how to produce the product – whether it is a physical product or a service. Once they have been taught this, employees often do not get additional training unless they are promoted to a position for which they need to learn new skills, or there is a change in the method they were taught and now need to learn the new way.

People get tired. They forget what they’ve been told. They start taking customers (and processes) for granted and sometimes focus on the difficulty of working with a particular customer. We all need repetitive reminders of the importance of serving the customer. A combination of regular training and incentives for above-normal service to customers can refresh them and remind them to value customers. This is how you company can develop a reputation for offering superior customer service.

Customer relations training should be a regular, ongoing feature for all companies. Yes, it is expensive to take someone off the production line for training. However, it is even more expensive if you do not train regularly to remind your employees of the importance of customer relations. The higher cost is the loss of a customer – a very expensive transaction. Training, whether on production skills or customer relation skills is an investment, not just a cost. It is the best way to build your brand. It’s not good enough to say you offer great service – you have to show it.