Customer service training games are beginning to really catch on as a modification of the gamification training model to help design better customer service experiences.
We all know that customer service as an industry has its share of problems, like any other industry. As a result, there comes a point when inherent flaws require a scapegoat, and in the case of customer service, this scapegoat has been in training. Well, despite nobody really being to blame there, this false accusation has a silver lining. Sorry, training folks, but you have to admit, this resulted in some good, and we thank you for your sacrifice in tolerating the nonsense to get there.
To ensure better service and problem solving in customer service, in the field, better preparation is a good step, even if trainers are doing all they normally can. The drive to revise training from the ground up in this industry finally gave gamification the foot it needed in that door, and now, we can reap the benefits of its team building, and of its ability to simulate realistic experiences via roleplaying, to build good reflexes as it were.
So, let’s talk about three customer service training games that’re easy to implement and work fantastically.
#1 – Never Say No
This is a simple game that teaches your agents to find polite, unassuming ways to back a hostile customer down out of impossible demands. While you can’t truly say “no”, you can avoid outright saying the word, which is the key in customer service.
It’s all about word strategy, you see …
You can divide the group into teams of two or more, wherein the teams will devise scenarios as angry customers, and confront the other team as agents. The key is to avoid the word “no” at all costs while not being dishonest. An interesting debate game converted to a real world skill!
#2 – Ready for Anything
This can be done as a social turn-based game, or in teams like the previous one. This is to prepare agents for confused customers, or customers that are otherwise hard to understand properly.
One person will read a passage quietly, a very confusing one, and then quote it to the second player. This player must creatively try to satisfy the confused customer, and get them to make sense of what they just said, and get an answer.
This one sharpens problem solving and communications to help in first call resolution.
#3 – The Alphabet Game
This is an oldie but a goodie. Sit the group in one large social circle, and have them take turns down the alphabet, around the circle, naming a customer service issue which begins with that letter, such as “service outage” for “s”, and so on.
Keep going around the circle and down the alphabet as far as you can. Added challenge for higher gamification can mean a one-term outage of a player who has to pass on their turn.
This game helps to aid in contingency plans and foresight, by working out many potential common issues, intuitively, that customers may have. I talk a lot about contingencies so … this is a game you should definitely use.
Customer service training games like these help to build skills, creativity and foresight in your agents, so that they may be more intuitive with even difficult customers, and all around relations are positive even in the light of duress.
