How would you address staff training needs to enhance customer service skills in your optometry practice?

Customer service is not everyone suit, the most important step is to choose the right personnel, the guiding road map will follow

An area that is a choke point in customer service is when you are with a customer and more walk in. If we don’t create clear expectations on what we want it is hard for employees to hit your standard. Plus they don’t know if they are really doing a great job. Make clear cut goals makes them know they are being successful and it could be something as easy as, excuse your self from your current customer and address the new ones walking in. You might be able to he someone looking at the wall of glasses and answer another’s question and get back to you original customer and everyone feels a warm welcome. Instead of shouting “ I will be right with you.”

An example I have seen is having frequent team meetings as well as one on one performance check ins. Discuss where the staff is excelling as well as areas of opportunity. Let them know you are there to help them be the best they can be in their role and is there anything you are can do to help them. The best employees are created by the best managers. Working together as a team to achieve goals.

Schedule your self Asking the Right Questions Building Rapport’s Establish Credibility Managing the Scope Present Solutions Need Development Quality Commitment

Implement clear expectations for all employees. Have an amazing onboarding experience because that is where it all starts. Make sure all team members are trained on all aspects of the job and not just a select few. This will ensure a great experience for your new members and provide coverage if necessary.

Burnout-ology offers customized programs that include tracking metrics to measure the program's effectiveness and return on investment!

Identifying the needs and customizing content for your staff's needs ensures a meaningful learning journey that resonates in their daily patient interactions. This is imperative in all businesses as individual needs may vary.

Everyone has their own words or terminology and when your in customer service, if you have to know your audience to know if you can use your terminology, the business terminology or simple terminology to help people understand. It’s like using an acronym and the customer knows nothing about it. You lose them and lose repor. It’s so important you customize the training to help each people use their knowledge and combine it with wisdom in training how to bridge that gap from where they are at to where they are most effective

Everyone benefits from ongoing learning . Multi format training covers diverse learning techniques and I have found as a learner and as a trainer that role play you can find weaknesses and stenghts of each person . each learner has a different way they prefer Kinesthetic through a physical approach, as well as visual and auditory . Give your staff an equal opertunity to excell by training to suit each need. You will find happy and more productive staff. Monitor and adjust training as needed.

Scheduling assessments every 90 to 180 days is short enough to keep staff improvement top of mind yet long enough to make significant improvement from the last assessment.

One of the most effective training tools I have taught people is the ability to read people’s faces and what it means. That and the power of silence in sales. It can be difficult to understand when it is important to keep asking questions when the customer doesn’t understand versus when they are just thinking and they are just trying to find a way to say no but they can’t so they are just being silent. Working with my team with these situations strengthens their belief in themselves and the customer view of us and gets the team bought in even more with what the direction of the team is going.

One of the ways to increase feedback on a team is to automate a feedback loop with project management software that a team is plugged into. Prompting members to engage in 2-way or more feedback conversations.

Build a solid foundation for your staff with mutual respect. Give them the tools they need to learn so they can grow, evolve, and be agile. If you create a culture in which your staff feels valued, heard, and respected your practice will ultimately be rewarded by retaining patients, growing the patient base, and maximizing the patient experience, not to mention your bottom line. It comes down to etiquette, treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

Really helpful piece here . Ask the clients that you currently serve what they like about your company and staff. In the case of an optometry , fashion is a heavy factor so conversations with the clients to see what they like wearing etc .

Training never stops. As technology and individual situations are ever-changing so should training. The best teachers are developed by being the best students. Employees should always be evaluated and given constructive criticism, as well as updated training throughout the year to increase office knowledge and productivity.