THE IMPORTANCE OF UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING

According to a recent World Economic Forum report, more than half of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling in just three years. Given the changing and ever-evolving nature of customer service, it should come as no surprise that customer support agents need to find ways to reinvent their style of work and continue to grow. 

Allow your support agents to upgrade their skills

This is a time of transition, and your customer support team must be finding it challenging to come to terms with all the new process changes. They need to adapt to working from home, they must get comfortable with remote support tools, and at the same time, they must also work on bettering their existing skills to deliver customer service. To help them navigate through this new normal, we've consolidated a host of resources that they can use to upskill and draw inspiration from. Our content library includes articles, videos, and courses to help support agents deliver moments of wow, and stay unfazed in these challenging times. 

Resources to perfect the customer support fundamentals

The ultimate customer support glossary

A customer support job can be quite overwhelming when you're in the early stages of your career. There are a bunch of support-specific terms and nuances to be mindful of before you can settle in and feel comfortable. This glossary takes a look at all these terms and their significance in real-world scenarios:

  • Definitions of customer service terms like agent, admin, SLA, ticket, and more
  • Real-life examples to understand their importance
  • A discussion on helpdesk-specific terms to help new users understand how to work with support solutions
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Customer support glossary Customer support glossary

Course: The most essential customer service skills

Customer service representatives need to have a diverse range of skills to excel at their jobs. This course will tell you about the most important customer service skills your agents will need every day such as:

  • Communicating effectively over emails and social media
  • Handling difficult conversations with customers
  • Overcoming demotivation and cultivating empathy
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CS skills course CS skills course

Tips to write exceptional support emails

Writing a good email depends a lot on getting the basics right. This article looks at the most important things you need to keep in mind before you hit 'send' on a support email. It also has a nifty video that summarises the main points. Here's what the guide and video cover:

  • Getting the basic customer-facing etiquette right
  • Understanding and empathizing with the customer's problem
  • Email templates to help you communicate with clarity and precision
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Writing exceptional emails Writing exceptional emails

Resources to identify areas of improvement and help you scale

Personalizing your customer conversations

Customer conversations can get monotonous and repetitive quickly. Therefore, in order to establish a good rapport with your customers and have their attention, you need to add a touch of personalization. This article discusses best practices to help you add an informal/personalized flow to your conversation such as:

  • Benefits of s conversational tone and writing in the first person
  • Acknowledging and appreciating the customer's efforts
  • Listening to the customer at all times, and being proactive
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Personalized customer support Personalized customer support

How to apologize effectively

A lot of times in customer service, you come across angry or frustrated customers who are facing a hard time with your product or service. To appease them and ensure their grievances are taken care of, you need to craft the perfect apology. This article discusses the essentials that you should cover in your apology emails such as:

  • Acknowledging your company's mistakes and their impact on the customer
  • Empathizing and putting yourself in the customer's shoes
  • Offering quick workarounds, and avoiding the use of template responses
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TED talks every customer service rep should listen to

TED talks are a great medium to draw motivation from. When customer service experts discuss their tried and tested approaches to success, it can act as a good morale booster for your support team to find out where their ambitions and interests truly lie. The TED talks mentioned in this article cover a wide range of topics such as:

  • Building trust between teammates
  • Setting the right goals for yourself
  • How good tech and the right tools can help you excel
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TED talks blog TED talks blog

13 most important books on customer support

Books on customer support can provide deep insights into the day-to-day work life of a support agent. They also discuss interesting ideas and experiences which your support agents can incorporate in their daily routines. Here's an overview of the books that are covered in this article:

  • Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business
  • Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers
  • The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service, and more
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Customer service books Customer service books