Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023 - 45

examples of when you made the right
choices? Think of hiring: You've got to
pick the right candidate, but in the war for
talent you've got to convince them too.
It is in these business and career
examples
that
the
blurring
of
the
consumptive and productive realm
Toffler talked about begins to make a
little more sense.
For businesses today, customer service
is not just an external activity, but an
internal one as well.
THE BENEFITS OF CUSTOMER
SERVICE SKILLS
Mastery of good customer service on
both fronts (internal and external) is why
salespeople often tend to make great
CEOs, according to Forbes. Influencing
people is what they've done all their
lives. Elevator pitch? You got it. But
good salespeople (and good CEOs)
also make good choices because they
know how to put themselves in other
people's shoes. When a good leader
makes choices, they hire the right
people, capture their hearts and minds
and invest wisely by listening to their
customer base.
Not all of us are born CEOs. But all
employees, whether back-office or
customer-facing, could benefit from
grasping the fundamentals of customer
service and how it inflects much of how
we do business today.
This is why all employees, from top to
bottom, would benefit from customer
service training.
BETTER INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS
When we start to think of colleagues as
customers, chances are that we begin to
value our relationship with them a little
more. On the one hand, when we think
of our colleagues more like customers,
we tend to put greater emphasis on the
quality of our communication.
Most of us are more inclined to choose our
words more carefully and consider how
WIN THE WAR FOR TALENT
In an era of remote working, white-collar
workers have more choice than ever.
This is not just about who offers the
best compensation anymore (though
that is still important). Employees today
are increasingly looking for alignment
between an organization's values and
their own.
As a result of this shift, we've seen the
rise of employer branding and the
employer value proposition, with senior
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2023 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
we present ourselves when interacting
with a customer or external audience
than we are with our co-workers.
While almost always unintentional,
poor communication leads to conflict.
If we can learn to value relationships
from the get-go and adjust our
communication style accordingly,
we stand in much greater stead to
cultivate more productive and fruitful
working relationships with co-workers
in the long term.
We all deserve to be valued and
treated well at work, and if more of us
are on our A-game and put emphasis
on quality interactions we will certainly
work better as a team.
leaders and HR functions increasingly
thinking of their employees and potential
employees as their customers.
In short, this means not taking your
employees'
loyalty for
granted and
making a concerted effort to win hearts
and minds over, just like you would with
any winning customer strategy.
To put this into practice, engagement is
key, and leaders need to ensure that they
are listening to their employees.
More broadly, it's about fostering a culture
of excellent internal customer service, in
your psyche and culture, which is only
reinforced by putting greater emphasis
on the quality of our communication and
interpersonal relationships over time.
EMPLOYEES TODAY ARE
INCREASINGLY LOOKING
FOR ALIGNMENT
BETWEEN AN
ORGANIZATION'S VALUES
AND THEIR OWN.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We know that companies that look after
their customers tend to be successful
ones. Therefore, an understanding of how
internal customer service, and by extension
customer service training for all employees,
can have on building a culture based on
excellence is incredibly powerful.
We live in a world of endless choices,
where every interaction is valuable and
meaningful. By taking tips from customer
service pros, innovative businesses can
apply their winning insights internally to
drive positive outcomes in the long term.
Jane Rexworthy is an executive director
of People 1st International. She is a
CIPD-qualified senior strategic business
development professional with 15 years'
experience working within technical
vocational education internationally
and in the UK and over 15 years in blue
chip companies within the private sector.
Email Jane.
45

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/sales/empowering-your-team-with-ai-effective-training-for-customer-service-success/ https://skillsforjustice.org.uk/news-insights/employee-engagement-survey-questions https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2017/05/24/three-reasons-why-sales-people-make-the-best-ceos/?sh=43625df93adc https://www.people1st.co.uk/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/infographic-3-communication-styles-for-todays-workplace/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-your-employer-value-proposition-why-does-matter-eva-baluchova/?trk=public_post https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2023

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