Training your team to talk to customers

In the skilled trades and service industries, we often are hiring young people with little work and people experience and expecting them to excel with minimal training. Somehow, we expect them to magically acquire skills that we barely master, including communicating with customers. 
Eric “The Tech Whisperer” Sprague joined us for The DYOJO Podcast and discussed the backwards thinking he had as a manager expecting twenty somethings to be able to explain complex service offering such as property restoration. He had to learn and develop a process for training his team members which he calls Morning Tech Meeting. 

Integrity is key when talking to customers

Remember that communication is more than just talking. If your goal is to develop a thriving culture, then you will want to remind your team members that their integrity is essential. Most organizations have some variance of “do it right” as a core value, but few do much in the way of training to help team members understand how that applies to their work. 

Unfortunately, there are too many examples of people who will speak when without thinking about what they are saying or about things that they don’t fully understand. Perhaps that hits you because you are guilty of doing this. You are not doing yourself or your client a good service if you tell them something just to ease the tension or sound important. Train your team, and show them by example, that it is ok to NOT know the answer to a question.  

Training your team to talk to customers - Rule number one

Whenever we would onboard new technicians, or in peak season when we would bring in temporary labor, I would give some variation of a speech about two great communication anathemas that weren’t to be practiced in our team culture: 

• The first rule of earnest communication for intentional trades people is, don’t speak about things you have no knowledge of. If a customer asks you a question and you don’t know the answer, tell them, “That is a great question, let me get my supervisor to ensure we get you the right information as this is a bit above my paygrade.” You can use a little humor to maintain the confidence of the customer and be a broker in the transmission of truth rather than slipping into slimy sales mode and saying something useless just to fill the void. A thoughtful pause will serve better than a quick tongue as you develop your career. 

Training your team to talk to customers - Rule number two

Customer service, or better said, the customer experience, is essential to long term success. You cannot expect that customer service is common sense or that your existing team will pass down everything that you hold dear. 

• The second rule of earnest communication for intentional trades people is, NEVER utter the words, “I don’t know.” If one extreme is to say something just to say something, the other extreme is deepening the chasm of stupidity by saying those three confidence killing words. Not knowing an answer does not mean you are stupid or unqualified. The same line from above helps in this scenario as the goal is to maintain the confidence of the customer in the abilities of your team. If you want to grow your career, the first time a customer asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to ought to be the last time that you are unprepared to address that issue. 

The habit of training your team to talk to customers

If you are a manager and/or owner, when you train your team members to develop their mindset and habits, you communicate opportunities for growth which will also push you to continue to grow. This quote attributed to Richard Branson, is a strong encouragement to any organization that wants to thrive with their people, "Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to." 

• If you want to attract, develop, and retain good talent for your organization, you have to be intentional in your team’s professional development. 
• If you want to develop your career in the skilled trades, customer service is key. 
• If you want to develop your team into intentional trades people, consistently teach them the skills of communication as key to the customer experience.   ​