You’re ready to send your team to customer service training. The big question is whether your team is ready. Chances are, they’re not.

A 2010 McKinsey & Co. survey revealed that approximately 75 percent of training programs failed to measurably improve business performance. A lack of preparation is one of the biggest culprits.

Why employees are uninspired

I frequently volunteer to facilitate an open-enrollment customer service class for nonprofit organizations. Anyone can sign up, and I never know who will be there until the day of the class. As participants arrive, I like to ask them why they signed up for the training. Here are the top three reasons:
1. They were told to be there.
2. The class looked interesting.
3. The class gave them credit toward a certificate program.

That’s a pretty uninspiring list. Unfortunately, most of the employees who come to customer service training aren’t really sure why they’re there. My experience in the corporate world suggests this is pretty much the norm.

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