Why Customer Service Certifications Matter

There is good reason our society values a licensing/certification system. When one is licensed or certified, whether it is for operating heavy machinery or professionally to offer services, there’s a sense of assurance that the licensee has undergone extensive training and testing to be qualified for whatever operation or service is being performed. Of course, a license or certificate doesn’t guarantee that there aren’t occasional hiccups or errors in judgment, but for the most part, it imparts a level of competency and skill.  

For businesses whose success depends on excellent customer service skills, there are a number of certification options to ensure that customer facing employees are properly trained and knowledgeable regarding customer service delivery. If you’re rolling your eyes thinking that customer service certifications are just another money-grabbing scheme, think again. Certification should be an extension of your training. It adds another level of accountability and validation to the investment you’ve already made in training. Let’s explore why you should consider making the investment in certification programs.

Customer service certifications—what and why

When your company invests in training, you want some sort of assurance that your training dollars were well spent. Training isn’t effective if it isn’t retained. Certification is one way to ensure that what is taught in training is learned and implemented, in addition to standardizing best practices. Taking training to the next level through certification is more than putting a nice certificate on the wall. Certifying what is learned through training is another way for managers to hold employees accountable. Managers can focus on bigger-picture issues when they trust that their direct-reports can put into practice what has been learned through training. In addition to providing a tangible way for managers to hold employees to higher standards, certification also empowers employees. When employees feel invested in, they are more likely to take pride in their work and stay with a company longer. Engaged employ­ees are often more cus­tomer focused, which often leads to higher sat­is­fac­tion, loy­alty and reten­tion. Certification helps promote a shared culture of customer service excellence and gives employees a goal to aspire to. Employees who have completed the certification process can demonstrate to others that they’ve reached a certain level of training and are invested in their own professional growth by keeping their certification current.

Certifications related to the more technical aspects of our industry are also important indicators to customers and colleagues. Similar to customer service certifications, when technical representatives achieve their certification, whether for diagnostics or other technical proficiencies, they demonstrate to others that they are skilled and capable.  As service delivery options become more technical in nature, and response time to service customers shortens, having competent, well-trained employees are critical if a company is to remain competitive.

For certifications to have any teeth, they should be related to training courses that the participants have completed. There are a number of companies that offer customer service certificates, but you want to ensure that the certificate means something to your organization and provide your management with tools to take your customer service to the next level.  

Take your training investment to the next level

Certification is more than training completion.  To achieve certification in either customer service or technical expertise, the participant has demonstrated that s/he has gone beyond the fundamentals of training and has reached a level of competency or excellence that is more rigorous and demanding.

Having well-trained sup­port staff who have achieved proficiency and are proven competent, allows you to reduce call times and attain higher first con­tact res­o­lu­tion rates. With these per­for­mance gains, your organization will be able to mea­sur­ably reduce costs while increasing efficiency. Consider taking your training investment to the next level by encouraging certification.

View the original article here