How to Build a Customer Service Training Engine

like Zappos

It’s simple math… Good customer service = Zappos Zappos = Good customer service

How do they do it?

Step One: A pipeline of people.

“Our philosophy at Zappos is different. Rather than focusing on individuals as assets, we instead focus on building as our asset a pipeline of people in every single department with varying levels of skills and experience, ranging from entry level all the way up through senior management and leadership positions…

…Our vision is for almost all of our hires to be entry level, but for the company to provide all the training and mentorship necessary so that any employee has the opportunity to become a senior leader within the company within five to seven years.”

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

go build a pipeline of people over time, so that your hires are mostly entry level, and when someone leaves – you’ve got a backlog of really qualified/trained leaders to fill their shoes.

So…

Step One: A pipeline of people.

Step Two: Take it slow.

“All new hires in Las Vegas go through four weeks of initial training. This is for everyone, no matter what job they will actually do after the four weeks. It incorporates a lot of things, and includes a big focus on helping our customers. We do this because we want everyone to have the experience of talking with our customers…

…and it also helps us during the holidays when we need everyone to put in hours to help our customers. Contact center employees have an additional three weeks of training after the first four weeks, so for them it’s a total of seven weeks before it’s full speed ahead in the call center.”

Jim Edwards, Business Insider

Don’t be afraid to take it slow when training. That’s 7 whole weeks Zappos spends getting a customer service rep up to speed! It’s a long time and a big investment, but getting it right is crucial.

So…

Step One: A pipeline of people.

Step Two: Take it slow.

Step Three: Choose training content wisely.

Here’s an overview of the key concepts Zappos teaches new employees…

Zappos History

Zappos Culture

Science of Happiness 101

1-Week Kentucky Boot Camp (the shipping process)

Public Speaking

Delivering Happiness

Intermediate-Level Microsoft Office

Sit down and brainstorm the content you want each employee to understand and internalize. Choose training content wisely so that all employees are learning what they need to know, and not wasting time with what they don’t need to know.

So…

Step One: A pipeline of people.

Step Two: Take it slow.

Step Three: Choose training content wisely.

To recap...

When done right, work becomes your calling, not your career. And who

doesn’t want that?

There is genius in Zappos’ culture and training process.

Training a customer service team?

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Customer Service Training Manual