Having a team of employees who are knowledgeable about your products and services is an important part of providing quality customer experiences.
THE BENEFITS OF PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE TRAINING
According to a recent study, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for great customer experience. It was also found that the customer experience will overtake price as the key brand differentiator by 2020.
While there are many components of customer experience, few are more important than product knowledge training. In today’s digital world, customers have access to more product information than ever before, making them one of the hardest customers to serve. Their questions are extremely specific and technical because if it wasn’t a hard question to answer, the answer would already be available online. To provide exceptional experience to these customers, whether they are selling or servicing, representatives need to have a deeper understanding of their products than ever before.
To empower your sales and customer service teams to deliver an exceptional customer experience, educate them on your products and services using one of the tried-and-true methods listed below.
1. Experiential Learning
One of the easiest ways for employees to learn about products or services is by using them. This gives them the opportunity to better understand the customers experience and their needs. This hands-on approach gives insight to details that may be harder to grasp from a pamphlet or product guide.
Tools such as AR/VR are becoming more popular as their prices are becoming more affordable. They are especially effective for learning about products that are technical or dangerous like heavy machinery and surgical equipment.
2. Micro Learning
When creating training content, try breaking it down into bite sized pieces. Each topic or idea should have its own short section going over the key points you are trying to teach. It is also helpful to use short clear sentences and visual aids. Micro learning can help to prevent your service staff from getting information overload and make sales training materials more effective.
3. Simulations
Traditionally simulations were done in person in a face to face scenario in the form of role playing. This is where team members act out a sales and customer service scenario to practice answering questions and interacting with customers.
Although this method is still effective, advancements in technology have allowed for simulations to be a part of e-learning training programs. In these simulations, sales reps can click through simulated scenarios and answer questions about the company’s products. They then receive feedback about their response and if needed additional guidance and suggestions. An added benefit to e-learning simulations is that they allow employers to track the progress of each employee.
4. Gamification
Games are not just for fun anymore. One problem that can occur in product training or in any training is that employees can easily become bored or distracted. Gamification is a way to encourage user engagement. Adding elements of game play in your product knowledge training program can help motivate employees by providing Incentives and fun.
Some training programs are set up like a game, but the objectives are educational. Others use aspects of gaming such as leader boards, badges, levels and points. Both are an effective way to create more excitement and motivation around product learning.
5. Just in Time Training
This kind of training is when you provide training materials right when and where your employees need them. This could be in the form of visual aids to remind them of product facts, an app or website they can access on their phone.
For example, a customer has spent time researching cell phones. They already have two in mind but want a professional opinion about which would better meet their needs. The employee could use a comparison list of all the phones the store carries to find the information the customer needs just in time. This would add value to the conversation and help the customer make an informed decision.
Conclusion
Programs that focus on building a deep understanding of products or services have shown to improve sales. Companies who have created training programs around product knowledge have seen a 33% increase in customer satisfaction.
When your sales and customer service teams have a thorough understanding of a product, they can confidently have conversations with customers and can easily provide them with accurate information. This can improve employee confidence, the customer experience and relationships.
To learn more about product knowledge training visit infoprolearning.com
