Web Extras – Skill Sharpener

There’s much that managers can do to alleviate stress in the workplace — Service expert Genella MacIntyre recommends that managers help their teams by monitoring stress levels, providing back up, offering praise, and setting up a quiet room. These resources provide additional insights:

• Tips and techniques for setting up a quiet room

• Five steps to help managers reduce stress, a leadership article from Genella MacIntyre.

Train your reps to handle customers online and via social media — Online service skills are a growing necessity for reps in today’s digital communication age. Managers need to make sure their reps are prepared. Here are some resources:

• A brief excerpt covering online and social media service from Renée Evenson’s Customer Service Training 101, Third Edition.

• An article from the Customer Service Group archives with Evenson’s advice on the proper language to use with customers, whether on the phone or online.

Help your reps understand and appreciate generational differences — This month author Meagan Johnson discussed generational differences in the workplace. Below she shares additional resources.

• A video with Meagan Johnson, and her father, Larry Johnson speaking about generational traits.
• A blog post by Meagan Johnson which discusses generational issues in the workplace.

Adding the human element to customer service — This month author Jeff Toister recommends two resources from his website.

• A “Thank-You” letter exercise that reps can use to create their own personal service vision. Also included are daily email reminders and tips. (Registration is required.)
• A blog post on how to create a service vision for your team.

Support your reps’ efforts to become top achievers — For more advice for both reps and managers from You Can Win author Shiv Khera, please check out the following resources:

• • A checklist from Khera on Six phrases star performers never use.
  • A management-oriented video featuring Shiv Khera offering advice on how to become a “high-impact leader.”

Create a culture of appreciation — A culture of appreciation can boost positive relationships between coworkers and increase engagement and productivity, says Dr. Paul White in this month’s issue of Customer Communicator. Here are additional resources:

• A blog post in which Dr. White discusses how employees want to be SHOWN APPRECIATION.
• An article from the Customer Service Group archives in which Dr. White offers advice on how to cope with a “toxic work environment.”

Are your reps prepared to respond to complaints about coworkers? — Customer complaints about coworkers happen more often than one might think, and it pays to build a service culture that knows how to deal with those issues. This month’s issue of Customer Communicator and these resources will help.

• A blog post by Kate Nasser on how to build a unified service culture in your organization.
• Kate Nasser’s #PeopleSkills Twitter Chat.

Support your reps’ trust-building efforts. — When there’s a high-level of trust in the service center, people communicate well, work well together, and strive to meet common goals. Without trust, guarded communication, speculation, and disengagement can get in the way of productivity and serving customers. These resources can help:

• The introduction to Nan S. Russell’s book — Trust, Inc.
• An article from the Customer Service Group archives on how managers can “build a culture of trust” in their organizations.