Cartoon illustration of a small boutique scene showing customer service hiring and training in action, with a young clerk offering thoughtful feedback to a customer trying on a striped polo and camo cargo pants near a fitting room.

Small Biz Basics: Customer Service Essentials, III — Hiring and Training

Strong customer service hiring and training practices are what separate businesses that struggle from those that build loyal customers. From restaurants to retail shops to recreational destinations, I see the same pattern day in and day out. Customer-facing staff offer wildly disparate levels of professionalism, knowledge, and warmth. I want to focus on employees on the younger side — the under-30 set.

And their managers.

Read Part I, Read Part II

Customer Service Hiring and Training Fatigue

First of all, let’s talk about hiring. Look, I know you may be tired — even exhausted — from filling in for some employee who bailed on her shift again. Or having to mop up all day after a counter person who doesn’t seem to understand that he’s not just being paid to stand there, checking his phone, while he waits for a customer to directly ask him a question.

A big part of you just wants a warm body to pitch into the void, hoping against hope that you’ll get lucky with your hire and they’ll provide more value than they consume in your time.

You need to avoid this trap.

Staff-Gathered Applicant Intel

You want to know if they’re going to be friendly and engaged with the job. So? Make finding out ahead of time a priority.

If possible, run applicants through a customer service hiring and training funnel of your trusted staff. Have these employees interact with the potential recruit in a casual, comfortable way. Make sure that, as the person is waiting for you to call them in for an interview, they are offered coffee, tea, or water. Have your staff offer them a chance to freshen up in the restroom before the interview.

This does a few things:

  • Helps put the applicant at ease. You WANT them as relaxed as possible so that they can show you the best version of themselves;
  • Gives you a chance to ask your trusted employees what they thought of the applicant — were they amiable? Were they polite and appreciative of the steps your staff took to make them comfortable? Did they seem interested in the goings-on in the business or ask your staff any thoughtful questions?

Not only does this get you some intel about the candidate, but it also impresses upon your staff that you value their input as to their next co-worker.

Non-Negotiable Criteria for Culling

Do you have a menu online? A website that lists your products, “About Us,” and company values?

Send them a link a few days before the scheduled interview. At the interview, after initial pleasantries, ask them what they found interesting or informative.

  • “What do you think of our new Autumn line of jackets?”
  • “What’s the first entrée you’d like to sample?”
  • “What about our core values resonated with you?”

Spoiler alert: it will become rapidly obvious that about 80% of candidates will not have taken the time to avail themselves of what are essentially the answers to a simple pop quiz.

Have an interview-concluding dialogue prepared. You don’t have to aggressively call out their lack of due diligence, but make it clear there isn’t much point in continuing a conversation with someone who didn’t take the time to prepare. In this scenario, the interview should take about ten minutes, and you can move on to the next applicant.

Your Customer Service Diamond in the Rough

After completing what feels like the 13th Labor of Hercules — wading through applications up to your waist and reciting the same interview lines for three weeks — you’ve finally identified a candidate who is upbeat and friendly.

She even ate at your restaurant a couple of times before submitting her application. Or he has been a regular shopper at your store for a couple of years because he already liked the service and appreciates the quality of the merchandise.

Give ’em a name tag and turn ’em loose, right?

Aw, hell no.

Customer Service Training ≠ Trial by Fire

Remember, this is the under-thirty crowd. Even the most naturally upbeat, bright, and eager new hire is counting on YOU to show them how to succeed in the space you created.

And they’re probably already a little damaged from managers who rode them like a borrowed mule as teenagers.

Having them shadow a successful long-time staff member helps. But the tone has to be set from the top down.

YOU need to give them the opening schtick. YOU need to communicate the values you expect to see reinforced by every employee, customer-facing or not.

  • Do you require an appetizer and dessert suggestion at every table, every meal?
  • Do you encourage staff to work out disputes between themselves, or do you want to be involved?
  • Do you want your floor team to be delicate, but honest, about a blouse that just… doesn’t go?
  • Do you empower your staff to comp goods or services — like a free hour of beginner ski lessons for a couple up from Mississippi for the first time?

Obviously, if you’ve been in business for a while, you’ve likely put together some sort of training manual.

Maybe it explains the register. Maybe there are scripts that help a new server learn to pitch tonight’s specials. Maybe it even goes into ways to get easy upsells:

“We just got in some printed tights last week that would seriously elevate that skirt. They’re on sale as of today — $14.99. Want to see them together and get a sense of how they look?”

Customer Service How-tos vs. Why-tos

The thing is, this manual likely spends more ink on the mechanics of the job, and that’s understandable. You’re paying staff to get things done.

The how of doing — the spirit behind it — is harder to define.

Do not assume that the new employee will “just get it” after a while.

Some future rock-star employees may start off a little shy; some a little too assertive.

Sometimes, you may wish you could wait on each customer personally, like you did in the beginning. But now you have too many other details to attend to.

You can, however, do the next best thing: transmit your values and ideals to new employees through brief, consistent check-ins.

Check-ins: Flag Concerns Before They Become Issues

That could be in team meetings. It could be — and probably should be — occasional one-on-ones during a new hire’s first six months.

The Goal of New Employee Check-ins

Don’t wait until there’s been an incident. Don’t wait until their sales have plateaued or declined.

In all of these meetings, start by letting your employee talk and share their perceptions of how the job is going.

That will tell you whether you’re dealing with someone who really enjoys the job but can’t quite make the pieces click yet — versus someone for whom extra time and effort in training isn’t likely to bear much fruit.

Having worked in customer-facing roles in restaurants, retail, phone work, motorcycle sales, and farmers markets, I’ve learned to appreciate the kind of service I’ve always tried to provide.

I’m not as mentally forgiving as I probably should be when that level of service doesn’t materialize — but I rarely fault the staff member as much as I do management.

I could (but won’t) name a dozen or more local establishments I simply won’t patronize anymore. Lousy service that was clearly the result of (physically or mentally) absentee leadership. I’ll drive 40 miles out of my way to get what I need elsewhere if I have to.

If you suspect your team’s customer service could use a little polish, I can help. Reach out with some details, and we’ll come up with a minimally intrusive plan to level up your brand’s reputation for excellence. Explore our services for an idea of where to start.