Soft skills are almost always the most important to customers – and the hardest training topic to cover in a contact center. These self-training tips can help.
Encourage agents – and supervisors and leaders who spend time talking to customers – to periodically go through these exercises to improve their soft skills:
- Talk face-to-face with someone who has an issue. Comfort a friend or colleague, paying close attention to how he looks and sounds. This helps recognize pain in others’ voices and expressions, the first step in knowing when to show empathy and give comfort.
- Practice seeing others’ side of things. Mentally put yourself in others’ shoes when you don’t see eye to eye. Consider why they see things differently than you. This can help open minds to other solutions.
- Tone down language. The quickest way to build distance in a conversation is to use jargon. Practice using plain, easy-to-understand language, and stick to using it.
