According to a new report by Sitel Group, the customer experience management company, nearly all of U.S. employees think that the employee experience affects customer experience. More particularly, employees who receive regular on-the-job training say they deliver better customer experience, customer service and overall care to clients. How you’re training your employees has more of an impact than you think on how they, in turn, treat your customers.
This survey was taken in March of 2019 with 1,200 U.S. adults 18+ who are employed for wages. The 21-question mobile questionnaire was conducted to understand U.S. employee perceptions of the future of work and uncovering themes related to hiring, recruiting, learning and development, skills gap and more.
Customer loyalty is paramount to retailers and their continued success. According to the report, 75% of consumers say they would stop doing business with a brand if they received poor customer support. It can be hard to keep employee training up-to-date when you don’t have the time or the funds to do so, but it’s needed in order to keep your employees fully trained and able to take care of things around the store.
If You Train Them, They Will Stay
The lack of up-to-date training can lead to turnover as more than one-third of employees (37%) say they would leave their current job/employer if they were not offered training to learn new skills, according to the report. This emphasizes the need to invest in your employees and make sure they get the proper learning and development needed to run your store.
The majority of employees (43%) say they prefer to receive instructor-led, in-person training. Compared to online, simulation, and blended training, it’s much more beneficial to give employees in-person training. They not only get the full experience of what it’s like out on the sales floor, but you can also watch their mistakes and let them know what needs improvement.
Employee Experience Impacts Customer Experience
Nearly all U.S. employees (95%) think the employee experience affects the customer experience, according to the Sitel report. What’s more, 93% of employees think those who receive regular, on-the-job training deliver better customer experience. This not only helps to give them reminders on aspects of the job they may have forgotten from training in the beginning or issues they just haven’t dealt with yet.
It’s no shock that happy employees equals happy customers. Forbes also published an article on the un-ignorable link between employee and customer experience. Your employees are your often your most untapped resource when it comes to building powerful customer experiences.
Employees Think They’ll Be Penalized by Asking for Training
While most employees (67%) say they have not avoided asking their employer for training on a specific topic or activity, three in 10 employees (30%) admit they have avoided asking their employer because they thought he/she may be concerned they didn’t know about the topic or how to complete an activity, according to the Sitel report.
Even though 30% may not be a scary statistic number, the fact that there are employees who are afraid to ask for proper training is scary enough. What if they have to make an important decision involving a customer and they make the wrong one? It’s super important to make your employees feel comfortable about asking you questions.