Chapter 3: Expect the Unexpected

Increase customer satisfaction by preparing agents for unpredictability

Challenge #3:

The unpredictability of customer service

Like any person-centered field, customer service challenges are notoriously unpredictable.

While many questions or issues come up again and again, others may arise unexpectedly—but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare.

In this chapter, discover ways you can strategically leverage e-learning to prepare your agents for new challenges.

There is a lot of unpredictability in customer service.
Scenario-based activities allow agents to practice new skills in an approachable, low-stakes environment.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard, Director, Articulate 360 Support

Solution #1: Provide practice scenarios

Incorporating practice scenarios into your courses allows agents to practice new skills in an approachable, low-stakes environment.

Without the pressure of interacting live with customers, they can better understand the common challenges customers face and the questions they might ask.

Practice helps agents to empathize with the customer’s perspective so they can solve problems more effectively.

Solution #2: Train agents to talk like the customer

Your customers won’t always use the same language that your company does. Often, customers use words to describe products or issues that differ from employee-facing internal documentation.

Help agents “decode” what customers mean by teaching them how to ask questions that broaden their thinking.

Again, this type of customer-centric approach helps them prepare for the unexpected by thinking empathetically and remaining curious.

Customers may use different terminology for:

Product features
Pain points or concerns
Use cases
Unexpected technical errors

Solution #3: Harness positive feedback

Because customer service agents are trained to solve customer problems, one surprising area that might catch them off guard is positive feedback. Don’t miss the opportunity to maximize the value of customer praise—teach agents how to accept compliments gracefully.

To take it a step further, outline the ways in which agents can express appreciation for praise by nominating customers to share their story with others. Engaging a happy customer can showcase their experience to a larger audience, offer learnings for other agents, and make the customer feel valued for their words.

Ways to showcase positive customer feedback include:

Case studies
Featured quotes
Webinars
Video testimonials
Product research interviews

Case studies are incredibly valuable for both our business and featured customers. By centering the customer’s voice and perspective, we can improve our offerings while shining a light on their insights.

Callie Hawley, Director of Content Marketing, Articulate

Case study: Supergoop!

Prestige skincare company Supergoop! needed a scalable way to train employees and partners around the world about their products. What's more, they needed this training to be easily digestible to help salespeople stay current with product launches, company news, and relevant beauty trends—all while accommodating the diverse training needs of internal and external learners.

Using Articulate, Supergoop! was able to quickly create and distribute training content to both their own employees and retail partners like Sephora. This also helped them train partners in a key new market: the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

Read the case study

With flexible e-learning, Supergoop! achieved:

5-star average rating for outside customer service representatives (up from 2.5 stars)
A user-friendly training system for learners of all abilities
A constant flow of new, flexible, digestible training for salespeople around the world