Which factor contributes the most to customer lifetime value? According to a NICE study, it’s not chatbots, self-service, or AI — it’s a professional customer service agent. You need exceptional customer service training materials to train your team and deliver exceptional customer service.
I know I feel frustrated when a customer service rep doesn’t solve my problem quickly or give me what I need. This likely wasn’t the agent’s fault — it was probably due to a lack of training.
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If you need a starting point to build a training program for your team, you’re in the right place. Below, I break down the types of customer service training materials to consider, with free resources to get started.
Table of Contents
- How to Teach Customer Service
- Types of Customer Service Training Materials
- Free Customer Service Training Materials
- How to Write a Customer Service Training Manual
- Customer Service & Support Training Exercises
Types of Customer Service Training Materials
Human-to-human training isn’t going anywhere yet, whether it’s a new hire shadowing a senior agent on calls or a manager coaching an individual or cohort. But that kind of customer service training is resource-intensive and doesn’t scale well. That’s where customer service training materials come in.
When building a training program, it’s useful to separate your content into two categories:
- Training about the specifics of your products, services, and policies.
- Training about customer service best practices.
Company-specific training materials need to be built in-house or by a vendor and maintained to stay current. To educate your team on general best practices, however, you can tap into a wide network of courses and resources.
It’s time to get creative and look beyond a manual! Here are four types of online training materials that will engage your team and take them from novices to pros.
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1. On-Demand Videos
on demand video
Videos engage our visual and auditory senses much more than text alone. Studies have shown that learners retain more and perform better on assessments when taught with video over in-person teaching.
You can record in-person trainings or webinars as on-demand videos, saving staff time and letting staff watch it on their own time. Short videos are great for retention and can boost retention with microlearning.
Pros
- Scalability
- Saves staff time
- High engagement and comfort with video medium
Cons
- No interactivity
- No knowledge checks or credentials
- Though costs have come down dramatically, video can still be expensive to produce
2. Online Courses
While video has its benefits, teaching through individual videos has limitations. For a structured approach, look for an online course for customer service reps to complete. Courses should outline learning outcomes, integrate multimedia for engaging learning content, and measure participants’ progress.
Employees cited online/self-paced courses as their number-one training format in a SHRM study, preferred by 70% of employees. Some courses integrate video, gamification, and other tactics to engage learners. You can also have confidence in the impact, as many courses integrate knowledge checks to gauge progress.
I’ve come to know the power of online courses. I’ve taken some myself through the years to refresh my skills and love the flexibility of HubSpot Academy (don’t miss their Delivering Exceptional Customer Support course!).
Pros
- Scalability
- Flexibility
- Progress measurement
- Credential
Cons
- Limited interactivity
3. Virtual Reality
One of the best ways of learning is doing, yet most companies don’t want the risk of turning untrained customer service reps loose with customers.
So, how can new agents gain that valuable field experience? Virtual reality and augmented reality. Using a VR headset, trainees can practice conversations with a virtual customer.
Some of the largest corporations, like Verizon, Walmart, and MGM Resorts, are training their customer service workforce with VR. MGM Resorts reported that 92% of learners felt more confident in their skills after VR training. SHRM found that 64% of employees prefer to learn by simulation, higher than video and in-person training.
Pros
- High interactivity
- Reduced training time
- Scalable
- Customizable
- Progress measurement
- Low risk
Cons
- Higher cost
4. AI-Powered Training
According to HubSpot’s research, 77% of service teams already use AI. AI models can imitate customer interactions via simulated video or chat. Customer service trainees can practice chatting with an AI-powered customer chatbot, for instance.
AI can also join live customer calls to help agents improve their performance with tools like Second Nature, TalkDesk, or Gong. A virtual assistant can analyze conversations in real-time and suggest knowledge base articles or resources for the topic. An AI model can also analyze a customer call and coach customer service reps on ways to improve.
Pros
- High interactivity
- Scalable
- Customizable
- Progress measurement
- Low risk
Cons
- Resource-intensive to build
Free Customer Service Training Materials
Free Customer Service Training Videos
Take advantage of these customer service training videos to teach new hires how to provide exceptional customer service.
- 57 Phrases to De-escalate Any Angry Customer by Myra Golden (Format: 1 video, 35 minutes
- The Secret to Outstanding Customer Service by Simon Sinek (Format: 1 video, 3 minutes
- 6 Tips for Improving Your Customer Service Skills by Indeed (Format: 1 video, 8 minutes
- De-escalation Skills Training for Customer Service & Employees by Pollack Peacebuilding Systems (Format: 1 video, 6 minutes)
- Effective Conflict Resolution For Customer Service Agents: Proven Techniques by Pollack Peacebuilding Systems (Format: 1 video, 7 minutes)
- The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality by TED (Format: 1 video, 14 minutes)
- The State Of Customer Service 2024 by HubSpot (Format: 1 video, 2 minutes)
- AI-Powered Customer Service by HubSpot (Format: 1 video, 12 minutes)
- The SERVICE in Customer Service by Simon Sinek (Format: 1 video, 5 minutes)
Want a humorous approach? Discover the funniest customer service training videos in this blog post.
Free Customer Service Courses
- Delivering Exceptional Customer Support by HubSpot Academy (Format: 6 videos, 4 lessons, 3 quizzes, 1 hour)
- Inbound Service Fundamentals by HubSpot Academy (Format: 6 videos, 1 hour)
- Customer Service Essentials by Great Learning (Format: 1.5-hour online module, certification)
- Customer Management by Great Learning (Format: 1-hour online module, certification)
- Customer Service Training | Keys To Satisfy Your Customers by Jack Tran/Udemy (Format: 1-hour online module)
- Technical Support Basic for Everyone by IBM/edX (Format: Self-paced online modules, 9-12 hours per week over 5 weeks)
- Diploma in Customer Service by Alison (Format: Online modules taking 6-10 hours, assessment, CPD accreditation)
- Customer Service Skills by Alison (Format: Online modules taking 1.5-3 hours, assessment, certificate)
- Customer Service (Short Course) by Oxford Home Study (Format: 20 hours of online modules followed by an assessment and certification)
Have a bigger professional development budget? See our roundup of the top customer service certifications.
Free E-Learning Tools
- Kahoot! Kahoot! allows you to create learning games and quizzes to teach anything, anytime.
- Course Hero. Turn your training manual into an interactive study guide with AI-powered answers, explanations, and recommendations for learners.
- Brainscape. Brainscape lets you create your own flashcards for optimized learning through repetition.
- Socrative. Use Socrative to create personalized content, from quizzes to polls, to reinforce your learning content and provide instant feedback for your team.
- Quizlet. With Quizlet, you can make flashcards, games, and quizzes to help your team learn your training materials from the inside out.
How to Teach Customer Service
- Start with teaching the product.
- Educate representatives about your company's industry.
- Review the basics of customer service.
- Introduce representatives to resources and tools.
- Simulate customer situations.
- Walk through an ideal daily workflow.
- Talk about conflict management.
- Discuss escalation protocol.
- Provide work-life balance tips.
- Monitor short- and long-term progress.
Depending on the complexity of your training program and industry, this training can last anywhere between two and six weeks.
1. Start with teaching the product.
Most organizations have their own product training resources and documentation. These typically include a hybrid approach of written content, videos, in-person training, and simulations. Introduce new customer service trainees to your training when they start at the company, then continue with refreshers for existing ones.
Free Customer Support Training Template
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- Training Timeline
- People to Meet
- 100 Day Goals
- And More!
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2. Educate representatives about your company's industry.
This training should be specific to not only your brand, but your industry. Trainees can’t master industry knowledge in just a few weeks. They’ll have to stay up-to-date throughout their career. Give your team access to industry publications and other resources to sharpen their knowledge.
Another thing that's important to keep a tab on the course of industry training is competitor analysis. Understanding the value propositions of switching to a competitor will help customer service professionals to handle objections. Extensive documentation helps to prevent customer churn.
3. Review customer service basics.
Training your team's customer service skills is the most common training for any organization. Even if you have an excellent product and industry knowledge, agents must be trained for the right set of skills.
Below are just a few essential skills that customer support or service representatives should display:
- Customer relationship building and management
- Clear communication
- Teaching customers
- Empathy
- Patience
- Adaptability
- Active listening
- De-escalation
If you're looking for more skills to master, read our full list of customer support skills.
4. Introduce representatives to resources and tools.
For many customer service representatives, this will be their first time working in customer service or support. They might not have experience working with call center software or a ticketing system.
Before they start interacting with customers, your new agents should familiarize themselves with the tools they’ll be using in their day-to-day workflow. Having them practice creating tickets, responding to messages, looking up customer data, or any other everyday task will help with their role as support in alleviating situations.
5. Simulate customer situations.
Situational training mocks a real customer interaction that employees experience on the job. For example, the HubSpot Support Team performs mock calls during training sessions.
An experienced agent will pretend to be a customer and call in with a common question or roadblock. The trainee then attempts to resolve the issue as if it were a normal call.
When the call is completed, the agent pretending to be a customer will review the call. They‘ll discuss the trainee’s strengths and address some points for improvement. This is important because it exposes trainees to typical customer problems and provides them with immediate feedback on their tendencies and approach to customer service.
6. Walk through an ideal daily workflow.
One aspect of customer service representatives that's often overlooked during training is daily workflow. Customer service roles are fast-paced and involve handling multiple tasks at once. Some representatives may possess product knowledge and communication skills but struggle to keep pace with customer demand.
Pro tip: During training, stress the importance of optimizing their workflow to perform consistently to the best of their abilities.
7. Talk about conflict management.
In some situations, your representative’s communication skills are more important than their technical skills.
For example, your agent might have a solution for a customer, but that customer isn’t sure if the answer fits their needs. Instead of agreeing with the representatives, they push back, which creates friction within the customer experience.
The best customer service representatives make this customer feel right even when they’re wrong. They know how to propose solutions that don’t belittle the customer but empower them instead. They make the customers feel like they worked together to solve a problem, creating a more delightful experience.
I’ve learned that mastering these conflict management skills is the key to avoiding escalations and preventing potential customer churn.
8. Discuss escalation protocol.
No matter how skilled a trainee is, every customer service representative will experience confrontation. Some trainees may be uncomfortable with the idea of confronting a frustrated or angry customer.
However, it's important to know how to de-escalate a tense situation. Not only will this training help reduce churn, but it will also give your representatives more confidence to approach difficult or stressful conversations.
9. Provide work-life balance tips.
In many ways, customer service is a mindset, not a function. Your representatives need to constantly think about what they can do to enhance the customer’s experience with your brand. If they’re doing it right, that takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. Eventually, that above-and-beyond work ethic wears them down and causes burnout.
To avoid this crash, pay attention to agent fatigue and educate them on what they can do to prevent it. To help representatives, encourage them to go for walks after tough calls, provide flexibility for using breaks, or give them days off. This measure will help them stay refreshed, allowing them to exceed the standard of service your customers expect.
10. Monitor short- and long-term progress.
Customer service training shouldn’t end after basic training is complete. You should continuously monitor your agents to ensure they’ve mastered the skills they need to be successful in their careers.
In fact, at HubSpot, customer support representatives are closely monitored for a few months after initial training. This onboarding period allows management to assess an employee’s strengths and weaknesses and develop additional training programs that suit their needs. That way, representatives continue to acquire new skills that progress their customer service careers.
Now that you‘re familiar with different training components, let’s break down how to create a training manual for your customer service team.
How to Write a Customer Service Training Manual
As your business grows and develops, you'll need more service representatives to meet the customer demand.
However, hiring more employees means you'll have to train them to the same quality standards as your existing team. A manual creates consistency in your training program and ensures every representative is trained with the same set of skills and product knowledge.
If your team doesn't have that document, below are the steps that you can take to create a customer service training manual for your business.
1. Consider the customer's journey.
Customer service training should start with the customer. After all, this role is all about delighting people and creating a personalized customer experience.
I recommend starting with the customer's journey. Think about where customers will be when they reach out to your service team.
Focus on their needs and goals and how you‘ll relay this information to your trainees. If you look at areas where customers face the most roadblocks, you’ll be able to create training that addresses customer needs.
2. Identify your team's main objectives.
Once you‘ve thought about the customer experience, the next step is to identify your team’s objectives. These are three to five fundamental goals that your customer service representatives will focus on at all times. For example, one objective could be to answer all support calls swiftly and efficiently.
Now that you’ve made your goal clear, you must understand the knowledge or skill needed to achieve it.
In this case, to answer calls faster, you need to teach representatives how to be organized and ready on the phone. This means you need to focus on workflow training and create exercises that improve a representative’s ability to multitask. By breaking down the training into goals, you‘ll provide effective courses relevant to your team’s workflow.
3. Develop or adopt training courses.
At this point, you should have a good feel for the type of training your team will need. Moving forward, you have two options to choose from when selecting training courses. You can either create custom training for your team, or you can adopt a course from an external source.
The benefit of designing your own is that it can be personalized for your business. However, the tradeoff is that it can take time to create and will constantly need some tweaking to remain accurate.
Adopting a training course is more time-efficient and can easily integrate with an existing customer service team. While the course cannot deliberately customize your business needs as if it’s tailored-fit, it can be a cost-effective solution for teams looking for fundamental training. At the end of this post, we'll discuss some online training options you can adopt for your company.
4. Create practice exercises.
Learning from training courses is a great first step, but to truly master customer service, your trainees need to put into practice the concepts they have learned from the course. You can use practice exercises to mimic common problems and put their newfound skills to the test. Like our HubSpot example above, these exercises will expose agents to real-life situations and prepare them for customer interactions.
Pro tip: Check out our list of the top practice exercises for customer service.
5. Break down the importance of daily metrics.
Before new representatives start training, they should understand daily metrics and why they're being measured.
For starters, this lets them know what‘s expected and what they should be working towards each day. More importantly, explaining why you’ve chosen these metrics helps trainees understand their value to the organization. If they can see how their performance contributes to the company‘s success, they’ll be more motivated to reach their daily goals.
These steps should help you create a comprehensive training manual for your customer service team. However, as I covered above, it may be easier to adapt existing courses rather than create your own.
In the next section, I cut out the middleman and gathered some courses and exercises your team can use to build out its training manual.
Customer Service & Support Training Exercises
1. Mock Calls
Mock calls are an excellent way to practice doing the job before actually starting the job. They involve a new and an experienced representative, pretending to be a representative and a customer. They run through common scenarios and situations representatives might encounter when they're on the job.
Pro tip: While doing mock calls, get a more experienced representative to provide feedback at the end of each call. This way, it will let the new representative know what they did well and what they can improve.
2. Personality Testing
Personality testing can be an effective way to identify new employees' communication, leadership, and conflict management styles to better understand and manage personal interactions. This helps customer service reps to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and behavioral styles and cater to customers’ styles.
Pro tip: Let your rep know that the test won’t be used as a performance measurement, but rather a tool to better understand their strengths, so they feel confident giving honest answers.
3. No “NOs” Allowed
This is another mutual training exercise where team members role-play the customer and the customer service representative. They have to practice addressing issues without being allowed to say “no.”
For instance, if there is a request from the customer that the software cannot authorize, the new employee will have to practice addressing complaints in a way that does shut down the conversation with a “no.”
Pro tip: Record these conversations and perform the feedback session after you complete the role play. By doing this, you allow your rep to engage in a more realistic scenario, where they can identify how they naturally respond.
4. Employee Shadowing
Some organizations focus more on team collaboration and emphasize shadowing and training team members. As Eric Vandenberg from G2 Crowd explains, “What I find most valuable about training is listening to how my peers handle objections and navigate conversations.”
New representatives should shadow more experienced ones. That way, they’ll pick up advanced insights that the course may not cover during training sessions.
Pro tip: Allow your rep to shadow seasoned employees cross-functionally so they can gather customer-facing best practices across the organization.
5. Product Testing
Whenever a new product is launched, customers will have questions about what it is and how to use it. They're going to expect your service team to have mastered all of its features and answer any questions that they might have.
In reality, sometimes new products are just as new for the service team as they are for the customer. That‘s why it’s important to expose your team to new features and services by having the representatives test beta products.
Customer service representatives work closely with customers so they can provide valuable feedback to product development about what the customer will like or dislike.
Pro tip: Have your representatives test the products and list at least three things they like, three things they wish to improve, and three things that confuse them regarding the entire process. This will help the representatives understand the product and come up with solutions to potential problems.
Build Excellence in Customer Service with Better Training
Exceptional customer service is the cornerstone of lasting customer relationships and a key driver of customer lifetime value. While the tools and technologies supporting customer service are changing, nothing can replace the value of a knowledgeable and empathetic human agent.
I’ve learned that while your training should be adapted to your company, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Leverage the free resources and training materials highlighted in this post to equip your team with the skills they need to deliver outstanding service.
Whether through on-demand videos, courses, or cutting-edge virtual reality and AI-powered training, it will pay dividends in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Free Customer Support Training Template
Train and onboard your new customer support hires with this downloadable template.
- Training Timeline
- People to Meet
- 100 Day Goals
- And More!
Download Free
All fields are required.
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