customer service evaluation assignment

On Your Side: Beware of the secret shopper scam

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - It’s an offer to make some quick cash. All you have to do is shop. Not so fast. It’s an On Your Side scam alert.

Kimberly Lentz got a letter in the mail. Along with a $1,400 check. She could use the money.

“I do work more than one job most of the time and I go to college,” she said.

Here’s where it gets fishy. The top of the letter says it’s a Whole Foods Market Customer Service Evaluation Assignment. The bottom lists the instructions: Cash that check. Buy $1,100 in Nike gift cards. Keep the rest as a paycheck. Email photos of the numbers on the back along with answers to a survey.

Lentz called the bank. It’s a bad check. If cashed, she could have lost all that money.

“Even if this check goes through to your bank, and it bounces their bank later, you still have to pay that back,” she said.

If you get money in the mail you were not expecting, chances are it’s a scam.

There are real secret shopper programs. Make sure the company is a member of the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association. You have to seek them out and apply. They don’t send out random checks in the mail.

To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]

Copyright 2021 KY3. All rights reserved.

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40 Customer Service Self Evaluation Examples

By Status.net Editorial Team on May 30, 2023 — 8 minutes to read

Self-evaluation is a process of reflecting on your performance, identifying areas for improvement, and setting goals to enhance your skills and knowledge. Self-evaluation allows you to take ownership of your professional development and progress towards your career goals. By identifying your strengths and weaknesses, you can focus on developing the skills and knowledge you need to excel in your role. This investment in yourself can lead to career growth and advancement opportunities.

As a customer service representative, it is important to regularly evaluate your performance to ensure that you are meeting the needs of your customers. Here are some examples of areas to evaluate yourself on:

Communication Skills

Effective communication is key to providing great customer service.

Evaluate yourself on your ability to:

• Listen actively to customer concerns and questions
• Speak clearly and concisely
• Use appropriate language and tone
• Adapt communication style to different customers

Attitude and Patience

A positive attitude and patience can go a long way in providing great customer service.

• Remain calm and professional in difficult situations
• Display empathy and understanding towards customers
• Maintain a positive attitude even when dealing with challenging customers

Efficiency and Productivity

Customers appreciate quick and efficient service.

• Resolve customer issues in a timely manner
• Meet or exceed performance metrics
• Use time management techniques to maximize productivity

Teamwork and Collaboration

Working well with others can help provide a seamless customer experience.

• Collaborate effectively with team members
• Share knowledge and resources with others
• Build positive relationships with colleagues

Problem-Solving and Creativity

Being able to think creatively and solve problems can help provide unique solutions for customers.

• Identify root causes of customer issues
• Develop creative solutions for unique customer situations
• Think critically and logically when solving problems

Customer Focus and Management

Putting the customer first is essential for providing great customer service.

• Anticipate customer needs and provide proactive solutions
• Manage customer expectations effectively
• Handle customer complaints and feedback in a professional manner

Leadership and Management Skills (If Applicable)

As a customer service representative, you may also have leadership or management responsibilities.

• Lead or manage a team effectively
• Delegate tasks and responsibilities appropriately
• Provide feedback and coaching to team members

How to Conduct a Self-Evaluation for Customer Service

Gather feedback and data.

To conduct a thorough self-evaluation, it’s important to gather feedback and data from various sources. This can include customer feedback, performance metrics, and feedback from colleagues or supervisors. By gathering this information, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of your strengths and weaknesses as a customer service representative.

Assess Your Performance

Once you have gathered feedback and data, it’s time to assess your performance by evaluating your performance against your goals and expectations. For example, if your goal was to improve response time to customer inquiries, you would evaluate how well you met that goal based on the data you collected.

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

After assessing your performance, it’s important to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a customer service representative. This can help you determine areas where you excel and areas where you need to improve. For example, you may excel at responding to customer inquiries quickly but struggle with handling difficult customers.

Create an Action Plan

Finally, it’s important to create an action plan based on your self-evaluation, by identifying specific steps you can take to improve your customer service skills and achieve your goals. For example, if you struggle with handling difficult customers, you may create an action plan that includes attending a customer service training program or seeking feedback and guidance from colleagues who excel in this area.

Customer Service Self Evaluation Examples

Examples of positive comments.

• I consistently strive to provide excellent customer service by actively listening to customer needs and addressing any concerns promptly.
• I make a conscious effort to maintain a positive attitude when interacting with customers, even in challenging situations.
• I am adept at resolving customer complaints and finding creative solutions to meet their needs.
• I take ownership of customer issues and follow through until they are fully resolved.
• I am skilled at identifying opportunities to upsell or cross-sell products and services to customers.
• I am consistently punctual and reliable when it comes to responding to customer inquiries or requests.
• I am able to effectively communicate complex information to customers in a clear and concise manner.
• I am proficient in using customer service software and tools to manage customer interactions and track progress.
• I am always looking for ways to improve the customer experience and provide even better service.
• I am comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and can handle multiple customer inquiries at once.
• I am able to remain calm and composed when dealing with upset or angry customers.
• I am skilled at building rapport with customers and establishing long-term relationships.
• I am able to adapt my communication style to meet the needs of different types of customers.
• I am proactive in seeking out feedback from customers to identify areas for improvement.
• I am able to work collaboratively with other departments to resolve customer issues.
• I am able to maintain a high level of accuracy and attention to detail when handling customer requests or data.
• I am able to effectively manage my time and prioritize customer inquiries based on urgency and importance.
• I am able to maintain a professional demeanor even in difficult or stressful situations.
• I am able to effectively handle customer inquiries via phone, email, and chat.
• I am able to handle confidential customer information with discretion and professionalism.
• I am able to quickly learn and adapt to new technologies and systems used in customer service.
• I am able to effectively handle customer escalations and involve management when necessary.
• I am able to provide customers with accurate and up-to-date information about products and services.
• I am able to effectively communicate with customers who speak different languages or come from different cultural backgrounds.
• I am able to work independently and take ownership of my customer service responsibilities.
• I am able to effectively manage my workload and prioritize tasks to ensure timely resolution of customer issues.
• I am able to identify and anticipate customer needs and proactively offer solutions.
• I am able to remain patient and empathetic when dealing with customers who may be experiencing frustration or difficulty.
• I am able to maintain a positive and professional image of the company when interacting with customers.
• I am committed to ongoing learning and development to continually improve my customer service skills and knowledge.

Examples of comments that indicate a need for improvement

• I need to work on my active listening skills to better understand customer needs and concerns.
• I sometimes struggle to maintain a positive attitude when dealing with difficult customers.
• I need to improve my ability to effectively handle customer complaints and find satisfactory solutions.
• I sometimes forget to follow up with customers to ensure their issues have been fully resolved.
• I could improve my ability to identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell products and services.
• I need to work on responding to customer inquiries more promptly and efficiently.
• I sometimes struggle to communicate complex information in a clear and concise manner.
• I need to become more proficient in using customer service software and tools to manage customer interactions.
• I could benefit from additional training to improve my customer service skills and knowledge.
• I need to work on maintaining a more professional demeanor when dealing with challenging or stressful situations.

Example Paragraph

“Over the past year, I have worked hard to provide excellent customer service to our clients. I have consistently strived to actively listen to their needs and concerns, and have made a conscious effort to maintain a positive attitude even in challenging situations. I am proud of my ability to resolve customer complaints and find creative solutions to meet their needs. However, I recognize that there is always room for improvement. In particular, I need to work on my active listening skills to better understand customer needs and concerns. Additionally, I could benefit from additional training to improve my proficiency in using customer service software and tools to manage customer interactions. Moving forward, I am committed to ongoing learning and development to continually improve my customer service skills and knowledge.”

Tips for Writing a Self-Evaluation for Customer Service

Be honest and objective.

When writing a self-evaluation for customer service, it is important to be honest and objective. This means acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses in your performance. It is easy to focus only on the positive aspects of your work, but it is essential to also identify areas where you could improve. By being honest and objective, you can create a more accurate self-assessment that will help you grow and develop as a customer service professional.

Use Specific Examples

To make your self-evaluation more effective, use specific examples to illustrate your points. Rather than making general statements about your performance, provide specific instances where you demonstrated excellent customer service skills or where you struggled. This will help you identify patterns in your work and pinpoint areas where you need to focus your efforts.

Focus on Achievements and Improvements

When writing a self-evaluation, it is important to focus on both your achievements and areas where you need to improve. Highlighting your achievements will help you feel confident in your abilities, while identifying areas for improvement will help you grow and develop as a professional. Be sure to provide specific examples of both your achievements and areas for improvement.

Include Professional Development Goals

In addition to highlighting achievements and areas for improvement, it is important to include professional development goals in your self-evaluation. This could include attending training sessions, taking courses, or seeking out mentorship opportunities. By setting professional development goals, you can demonstrate your commitment to improving your skills and growing as a customer service professional.

Highlight Customer Satisfaction

Finally, when writing a self-evaluation for customer service, be sure to highlight customer satisfaction. This could include positive feedback you received from customers, or metrics that demonstrate your effectiveness in meeting customer needs. By highlighting customer satisfaction, you can demonstrate the impact of your work and your commitment to providing excellent customer service.

Writing a self-evaluation for customer service requires honesty, objectivity, and specificity. By highlighting both your achievements and areas for improvement, setting professional development goals, and focusing on customer satisfaction, you can create an effective self-assessment that will help you grow and develop as a customer service professional.

• Self Evaluation Examples [Complete Guide]
• Self Evaluation Sample Answers: Strengths and Weaknesses
• 30 Examples of Teamwork Self Evaluation Comments
• Innovation and Creativity Self Evaluation Comments (30 Examples)
• Attention to Detail Self-Evaluation Comments Examples
• 20 Self-Evaluation Weaknesses Examples

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• Performance

What is Customer Service Evaluation? [with examples]

Even though the customer service you are currently offering may already hit the mark, there are always areas for improvement. If you are not evaluating your service reps’ performance then you’re missing vital opportunities for growth, and also doing your employees a disservice. 

August 25, 2022

7 mins read

Delivering high quality customer service is essential for businesses who want to differentiate themselves and win over loyal, satisfied customers. You have the opportunity to positively impact customer retention and increase profits. The quality of customer service your business offers is strongly dependent on the skills and knowledge of the staff you employ to serve customers. 

Customer service is important because: 

• 68% of customers will pay more for products and services from a brand that offers great customer service experiences
• 86% of customers who receive good customer service go from one-time purchases to long-term brand advocates
• 89% of customers are likely to buy again after a positive customer service experience

So, now we are convinced of the value of customer service within your business, it’s time to turn our attention to how that service can be improved with customer service evaluation.

You need to know that your staff can offer these great customer service experiences to generate more sales and increase revenue. That’s why performance evaluations for customer service staff are essential for high-performing teams who want to retain customers in the long-term. 

What is a customer service evaluation?

A customer service evaluation is an assessment of your customer service representative’s performance when it comes to delivering customer service during a specific period. It takes into account the representative’s customer service skills and knowledge, ability to solve problems, and manner with the customer. It evaluates how the employee has contributed to the business and highlights strengths and weaknesses in their performance.

Taking the time to evaluate customer service is an objective and constructive method of identifying where your service reps have done well and how their service could be improved. 

A customer service evaluation can be conducted on a monthly, quarterly or yearly business, tracking the service rep’s progress against key business goals. It can help them identify areas for professional development and how they can grow within the business.  

6 ways to do a customer service performance evaluation

1. conduct surveys with customers.

One of the fastest and easiest ways to find out how an agent is performing is to conduct surveys with customers after their customer service experience. The advantage of this method is you get direct and qualitative feedback about the agent almost as soon as they have completed the interaction. 

You can use surveys such as Customer Satisfaction Score to gauge how satisfied the customer was with the service they received. Asking customers how they feel about the business can also identify areas for improvement in the entire customer service experience.

Customer service surveys are best conducted immediately after the service interaction, while the details are still fresh in the customer’s mind. 

2. Review customer service correspondence

Emails and chat messages are a rich source of data to help you find out how your customer service agents are performing during customer requests. Make it a point to review correspondence with customers, and highlight areas of excellent customer service as well as things that could have gone better. 

Correspondence between agents and customers is useful because the evidence is right there on the screen. You can go through messages line by line. 

Customer service representatives should be made aware that their communications will be monitored to motivate them to deliver only the best standard of customer service. You will be able to analyze whether agents are sticking to the company script and whether the tone they are using with customers is on-brand. 

3. Use mystery shoppers

Mystery shoppers or secret shoppers can be a great way for companies to evaluate the overall quality of customer experience being offered. Customer service representatives won’t be told who the mystery shoppers entering the store or calling in the phone line will be, so the mystery shopper is likely to gain an accurate picture of a typical customer service experience. 

A mystery shopper is someone who is unknown to the service rep, but has a professional understanding of customer service. 

Mystery shoppers are well-trained in assessing the level of service that they have received, and can provide highly useful and actionable feedback on what areas could be improved. When the interaction is finished, they can complete a questionnaire that includes specific and measurable feedback. 

4. Track and measure KPIs

No performance evaluation is complete without bringing KPIs into the picture. KPIs are measurable goals for your customer service team and every service rep should be made aware of them. KPIs can include Time to First Response (how long it takes service reps to first get back to customers), Average Handle Time (how long it takes for service reps to solve an issue) and First Contact Resolution Rate (how often a customer’s issue is solved in a single service interaction). 

KPIs are a good way to bring your customer service department together and measure performance against a shared standard. 

KPIs give you concrete data against which your service rep’s performance can be assessed. Progress can be tracked over time so you can see how the individual might be improving. KPIs are an objective way to gain insight and should be aligned with company goals. 

5. Monitor phone calls

Telephone calls are still a vital way for customers to get in touch with the business, and a service rep’s phone manner should be scrutinized as part of their customer service evaluation. Telephone calls should be recorded and the service rep asked to look back at their own calls to identify what went well and what could be improved. 

Listening back to customer service telephone calls can be uncomfortable but they are an important way to assess performance and ensure you are meeting customer expectations. 

Recording customer phone calls is valuable because it makes service reps more conscious of the service they are offering. Evaluating their telephone service gives reps actionable insight into how they are performing and how they might do better in the future. 

6. Engage with the employee

Engaging directly with the customer service representative about how they feel they are performing is a critical way to conduct a customer service performance evaluation. Agents should feel fully involved in the whole review process, as they are often best placed to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. 

No customer service evaluation is complete without input from the agent. Every evaluation should be conducted as a dialogue. 

This can be part of customer service self-evaluation, which we’ll go into in a later section. 

10 useful customer service evaluation phrases to use

Positive customer service evaluation phrases.

• Jeremy demonstrates high levels of empathy when dealing with customers, allowing them to form a relationship while he deals with their issue. 
• Jane always goes the extra mile for customers to ensure they are satisfied, and provide a permanent resolution to their problem. 
• Katie has very strong verbal communication skills and is always able to convey to the customer the best way to solve their issue. 
• Agnes always has a positive attitude when it comes to dealing with customers, and never shows her frustration even in the most difficult calls. 
• Deborah is particularly good at dealing with upset customers, bringing them to a point where they feel satisfied with the business. 

Constructive customer service evaluation phrases

• James needs to be aware of his tone with customers because he sometimes comes across as overly critical and argumentative. 
• Denise needs to work on treating customers as individuals rather than a number to get through. 
• Boris could work on being more professional with customers, as his manner might be considered disrespectful by some. 
• Leslie needs to improve her knowledge of the company’s products and services in order to deliver a better standard of service to customers. 
• Vera asks for help on every customer service ticket and doesn’t know how to solve problems on her own. 

What is customer service self-evaluation?

A customer service self-evaluation is when the customer service representative intentionally reviews his or her performance in relation to helping customers. The individual might also receive an evaluation from their manager, but a self-evaluation uses their own perception and insight to identify strengths and weaknesses. 

Your self-evaluation is a chance to practice self-reflection and share what you think your wins are as well as your unique challenges. Agents can communicate to their managers what their professional aspirations are and how they think they can contribute to the business. 

A customer service self-evaluation because it opens up the channels of communication between managers and their teams. Agents can discuss what they are dissatisfied with, and get help if needed. 

9 customer service self-evaluation examples

Actionable behaviors.

• Now we have invested in a new help desk, I will take time to learn the system so I can better assist our customers. 
• When I run into problems in the future, I will make sure to ask my colleagues for help. 
• I will improve my attitude towards customers by ensuring that I come across in a friendly and helpful manner. 

Identifying weaknesses

• I tend to crumble when dealing with a difficult customer as I don’t feel confident in my ability to resolve the situation. 
• One of my weaknesses is being too proud to ask for help and the quality of my work suffers because of it. 
• My technical knowledge of the product is an area that could benefit from improvement. 

Job performance with evidence

• I closed 25% more tickets than I closed last quarter, which represents a significant improvement. 
• My customer satisfaction score is at 95%, which is exactly on target for the business. 
• I managed to sell 25 cross-sells in the last quarter which is 50% higher than the company average. 

Customer service evaluation checklist

• Put in place goals that relate to the customer service evaluation
• Make sure the agent is aware of expectations for performance
• Identify critical KPIs to help analyze performance
• Review correspondence between agents and customers
• Monitor customer phone calls and reflect on achievements
• Survey customers for qualitative feedback
• Engage mystery shoppers to evaluate the level of service
• Involve employees in their evaluations
• Ask employees for a customer self-service evaluation
• Identify areas for professional and personal development
• Catalog strengths and weaknesses on the part of the individual agent
• Discuss performance with the agent and get their input
• Set targets for improvement

Wrapping up

Employees are more highly engaged when they feel like their work matters, and the company is invested in their development. 

Offering feedback to your service reps means they can continue to develop both personally and professionally, and allows you to raise the standard of customer service across the board. Service reps who understand their own strengths and weaknesses are able to objectively raise their performance and engage more effectively with customers. 

Catherine is a content writer and community builder for creative and ethical companies. She often writes case studies, help documentation and articles about customer support. Her writing has helped businesses to attract curious audiences and transform them into loyal advocates. You can find more of her work at https://awaywithwords.co.

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How To Conduct An Effective Customer Service Performance Review

Conducting an impactful customer service performance review sets the stage not just for the evaluation and growth of your team members but can also identify larger trends within your support strategy .

However, many pieces make up an individual’s customer support career development, and it can get difficult to track them regularly. You’ve got performance metrics to pay attention to, career growth, and paths of interest for your customer service representatives . You’ve also got to check how your agents influence individual customer relationships.

That’s why you need periodic performance reviews that fairly evaluate a customer service agent’s contributions to the team and help them stay engaged at their jobs. 

In this post, we’ve covered the five essential steps to conduct an effective customer service performance evaluation, what you can write in a performance review for your agents, and helpful review phrases that you can use in an evaluation comment. Use the below links to navigate to the section of your choice.

What is a customer service performance review?

Why is customer service performance review important, how to evaluate a customer service employee, what should you write in a customer service performance review.

• Empathetic performance review phrases to use in an agent review comment

Before we jump in , let’s first talk about what a performance review in customer service is and why it’s important to have performance management in support.

A customer service performance review, also known as performance evaluation, is a structured employee feedback process to assess how a customer service representative has contributed to the business during a specific period, identifying their strengths and challenges for future opportunities and growth in their career.

A performance review is the perfect time to,

• Track progress on predetermined goals
• Acknowledge an agent’s achievements
• Identify gaps and setbacks in employee performance
• Realign your team to changing business objectives
• Suggest training and development plans as needed

The evaluation process isn’t necessarily only an annual event but can be done on a monthly or quarterly basis to have more impactful discussions and course-correct along the way. As an efficient customer service manager, having regular check-ins and reviews with your team of support agents is an absolute win-win for both your team and your organization. Read on to know why.

Though assessing and scheduling review discussions regularly with your agents would take a big chunk of your time, the rewards of the process are manifold.

– Boosts agent retention: When you give your team opportunities for growth, you support them in their career path, and when you have regular customer support performance reviews, you get to keep them on your support team longer. Expressing interest to know your agents’ day-to-day challenges, opportunities to improve, and suggesting training as needed, indicate that you care for your team. When you talk regularly about performance and coach your employees, they see that there is a real-time investment in support, and it makes them encouraged for their own career to be moving forward, rather than constantly looking for ways to jump ship.

– Engaged agents make happy customers: A HBR survey reveals that 54% of respondents point to better employee engagement for happier customers. Employees who get regular feedback from their managers are three times more likely to be engaged in their work than those who have only annual reviews. Agents who have these ongoing conversations about their performance are more aligned to the company goals and know exactly what they need to work on for achieving greater customer satisfaction.

– Raises the game of your whole team: According to HBR, everyone plays a “functional role, based on their formal position and technical skill, and a psychological role, based on the kind of person they are.” By managing the customer support agents on your team, you can help move forward both in their functional roles and their psychological ones, subsequently leveling up your team in two different ways. Keeping a balance between the two will give you the most highly functioning team possible.

– Helps maintain a consistent and superior CX: Going through the process of  customer support performance review, you can ensure consistency and quality across your support responses and documentation, which in turn improves the overall customer experience you deliver . In your conversations with direct reports, ensure that you talk about their ticket history and what they would potentially do to improve internal processes, leading to good customer service.

– Map the right talent to the right support role: As you go through customer service employee evaluation more regularly and talk with more of your employees, you will begin to get a sense of who is performing above par and who could perform better. That means that, ideally, the more frequently and regularly you conduct these customer support career development conversations, the more often the right person would be matched with the right job.

Now that you know why you should perform customer service reviews, let’s talk about what performance management actually looks like for a customer service team. Here are five steps to help you in the evaluation process of a customer service rep.

1. Set clear goals for agent success and growth

An impactful employee performance evaluation doesn’t happen just over those one-on-one conversations that you have with your direct reports but begins much earlier when you set goals for your agents. Establishing measurable and realistic customer service goals keeps the expectations clear for a service rep and sets them up for success in their role. You’ll then have a yardstick to measure an agent’s performance while conducting the review. 

An example of an agent goal would be to ‘ lower the average first response time by 20% ’.

Make sure to communicate these expectations and targets well in advance and frequently so that your agents know what to prioritize and execute. 

Related resource: A beginner’s guide to defining customer service goals

2. Align agent objectives with company goals

Performance management in customer support should always focus on objectives that align with your company goals. Your business might have a distinct customer service philosophy or principles that your agents should be well-aware of. Aligning employees with these principles and goals makes them feel like an integral part of the business and reinforces the belief in support agents that they have an impact on what happens with the company. So, when thinking about making your support team’s goals, align them with the company’s overarching ones to create a deeper alignment and a sense of purpose for your team.

3. List business-appropriate customer service performance metrics 

Also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), defining team-level performance metrics for your customer support function makes your goals and targets more specific, measurable, and time-bound. While some types of businesses may emphasize faster responses, other companies might concentrate on efficient resolutions. Depending on the nature of your business, it is vital to determine the exact KPIs that you’ll be measuring your team against. Note that the benchmarks for these metrics would differ according to the channel type (email, phone, chat, or social media) and issue complexity.

Here are a few customer service performance metrics you can use for your support team.

• Average Resolution Time : Average resolution time is the total time taken to resolve a ticket, divided by the number of tickets resolved in the selected time period. This tells you how quickly an agent is resolving their issues in their entirety.
• Average Response Time : This is the total time taken to respond during the selected time period divided by the number of responses in the selected time period. This is important because it shows how long your agent, on average, is taking to respond to their customers.
• First Contact Resolution : This metric shows how frequently your agent is able to resolve their interaction in a single reply, thus offering the best experience for the customer.
• Resolution SLA : The total number of tickets resolved within SLA indicates the efficiency of your agents. When you see this metric dropping or not picking up for your agents, maybe it’s time to revisit their training or help them upskill, or provide them with better resources to close tickets.
• Number of tickets resolved per month : This count directly measures your customer service agent’s productivity. Consider the ticket assignment rules before you assess your agents based on this metric. Complex customer requests take longer to resolve, and hence the number of tickets wouldn’t give you a fair picture to assess.
• Number of interactions per ticket : The ratio of customer responses to agent replies denotes how efficiently an agent can close a support ticket. An ideal agent response rate highlights your agents’ strong communication and problem-solving skills.

Related resource : 11 crucial customer service KPIs you need to track

4. Encourage agents to write a self-evaluation

While managers provide their review of customer service representatives, self-evaluation gives an agent the chance to look back at their performance, analyze, and gather data to support their contributions towards business growth. Customer service self-evaluation is the agent’s assessment of their individual performance—achievements, learnings, and challenges—over a specific period.

Self-assessment helps you and your reports stay in sync regarding the expectations and the contributions towards their individual roles in the team. These evaluations also enable you to move more meaningful and effective performance review conversations with your team members.

5.  Map future career paths and plans

As a mentor and leader in support, you can spend some time talking about the possible career paths that an agent can take in the future during the performance reviews . This is of more significance in the field of customer service, where employees tend to switch to other functions like sales or marketing after trying their hands at customer support. In support, there are three paths that an agent can take: technical leadership, people leadership, or operational leadership. 

• Technical growth usually means moving from a support specialist to a support engineer or taking other technical roles such as building or evaluating tools, requiring more hard skills and techniques. 
• An operational role would be suitable for someone excited about a support team’s daily operations, including managing all documentation or being in charge of creating and enforcing new internal processes. 
• People leadership in customer support involves taking up roles like team leads and managers who facilitate better productivity and work engagement among agents in their team.

Bringing up future career plans in your review conversations helps you coach and mentor your team in the right direction.

Related resource : Building a career in customer service

Giving helpful and constructive feedback during a performance evaluation is an art by itself. Your agents should leave the evaluation discussion with actionable information that they can continue or start working on in the coming days. 

Don’t offer general feedback; be specific on behaviors you want your employee to stop, start, and continue. – Harvard Business Review

Here are some tips to help you write an impactful customer service performance review.

• Avoid vague and generic feedback. Be extremely specific while talking about the agent’s strengths and weaknesses. You can do this by quoting examples from the agent’s past performance and using numbers to back your statements.
• Call out distinct customer service skills , including problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills that exhibit an agent’s behavior.
• Provide honest(not sugarcoated ) feedback on areas an agent should improve.
• Suggest tactical tips for the service rep to overcome certain challenges.
• End the review on a positive note, speaking about the agent’s future career growth and opportunities.

Take a look at an example of a performance review comment that provides comprehensive feedback for support agents.

16 Empathetic performance review phrases to use in a support agent review

 Your choice of words in a performance review comment can either build up your team or leave them demotivated, disengaged, or even confused! Here are some customer service performance review phrases to get you started.

Meets or exceeds expectations:

• Exhibited genuine customer care by deliberately using empathy statements in all customer interactions. 
• Effectively handled tough customer service interactions for <task name>.
• Maintains a warm rapport with coworkers and doesn’t hesitate to ask for help to resolve customer issues collaboratively.
• Expert in cross-functional collaboration to drive resolutions.
• Actively listens and provides the necessary support in a minimal number of interactions, achieving an FCR rate of <n%>.
• Quickly acknowledges customer concerns with an average first response time of <n%>.
• Provides valuable suggestions for internal process improvements.
• Stays calm and sensible even with difficult customers, achieving a happiness rating of <n> in <n%> of the tickets resolved.
• Negotiated efficiently with <customer A> to arrive at a win-win solution for the customer and the business.
• Provides polite and knowledgeable help, achieving high customer satisfaction scores of <n%> .

Needs improvement:

• Must learn to be more calm and patient with angry customers.
• Hesitant in extending help to coworkers for issue resolution.
• Doesn’t ask follow-up questions to gain more clarity in understanding customer problems.
• Doesn’t speak up in team meetings to share recommendations and opinions.
• Should learn to say no politely yet firmly to certain customer demands.
• Requires more domain knowledge to understand customer needs accurately.

Final thoughts

Customer support is an industry that suffers the most from a lack of alignment in terms of performance expectations and career growth. By aligning upwards and setting your team’s expectations properly with measurable standards, you can set up a robust customer service performance evaluation process that enhances your work environment and shows a clear growth plan for your team. 

To further boost agent performance and set them up for long-term success, you can empower them with robust, easy-to-use customer service software like Freshdesk. Agent-friendly features such as canned responses and in-ticket team huddles help provide speedy resolutions. You’ll soon have a high-performing, incredible team of support agents focused on delighting customers and crushing it at their jobs.

TRY FRESHDESK FOR FREE

Updated on April 5, 2022

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New scam ‘hires’ you to be a secret shopper, aims to steal money from you

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Better Business Bureau is warning people of a new scam that will mail fake checks after “hiring” you to be a secret shopper in an attempt to steal money from you.

They are calling it the “Secret Shopper Scam."

The BBB has received calls from consumers stating they received a check in amounts of $1,200 to $3,500 or more. Along with the check, which is delivered by “priority mail," there are instructions for the “Customer Service Evaluation Assignment.” BBB is warning consumers to be cautious when contacted by an unknown individual or company offering a way to make easy money.

How the scam works:

Victims may receive a message through LikedIn, Facebook, or by text suggesting they applied for a secret shopping job. Once “hired,” they are sent a check to deposit in their banking account and told to deduct their commission. They are then instructed to purchase Walmart gift cards of varying amounts, so they may “evaluate” the store’s customer service. To prove they performed the task they must provide the code on the back of the gift cards to the company. This allows the scammers to drain the accounts on the gift cards. Soon, the victim discovers the check deposited in their account for payment is bogus and has bounced, leaving the victim to cover any monies spent from the check.

Avoid falling for this type of scam with these tips:

Don’t cash the check. Look for discrepancies, such as misspelled words, different addresses, etc. If you receive a check and are asked to make purchases before the check clears, you will most likely have to refund the financial institution that deposited the check.

Be skeptical if you are recruited. Is secret shopping legit? There are companies that hire secret shoppers; however, they will never reach out to you and send a check. Scammers will often disguise themselves as recruiters or create fake profiles pretending to be someone you know.

Don’t pay for a job. Legitimate companies don’t charge people to work for them - they pay people to work for them.

When in doubt, check it out! If you receive an unsolicited check or money order, contact your BBB to investigate before getting involved.

If you feel you have been a victim of a scam, report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov and BBB Scam tracker at www.bbb.org/scamtracker

Copyright 2019 WAFB. All rights reserved.

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Man killed in early saturday morning shooting.

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What is a customer service survey?

Why are customer surveys important for business roi, examples of customer service survey questions, types of customer survey questions, when and how to send customer surveys, get customer feedback that drives revenue, see how xm for customer frontlines works, customer service surveys: what questions to ask and why.

22 min read Use the right types of questions in your customer service survey to ensure you achieve excellent customer service and high customer satisfaction. Start now by checking our list of recommended questions and following our top tips for success.

TECHmarc Labs’ founder Lisa Masiello said “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team”.

Good customer service goes hand-in-hand with sales and profits: 70% of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies that provide excellent customer service, but 25% percent of customers will defect after just one bad experience .

So, it’s no wonder that businesses are turning to customer service surveys to make sure their customers are happy.

A customer service survey is more than a questionnaire . It’s a useful method for listening to your customers, to understand if they’re happy or not with your brand, product or service.

When you analyze the results, you can use this customer data to drive better business decisions that ultimately impact the overall customer experience .

These surveys are usually made up of a selection of open-ended questions that encourage detail, and can be created as online surveys to ensure responses from a geographically wide net of customers across the world.

From customer satisfaction surveys to developing a customer effort score, we outline how to use surveys and their results to measure the success of your customer experience.

Learn about Qualtrics Customer Survey Software

They help you to protect your revenue

Your customer service and overall customer experience can significantly impact your brand’s success. Our research has found that 80% of customers said they have switched brands because of poor customer experience, with 43% of respondents saying that they were at least somewhat likely to switch brands after only a single negative customer service interaction. Poor customer service was the most cited reason for switching, meaning that gathering data on experiences through customer surveys is a vital part of ensuring your revenue is protected.

They help you build your revenue

In our research into global consumer trends, we found that customers who rate a customer experience 5/5 stars are more than twice as likely to buy again, with 80% of satisfied consumers likely to spend more. Understanding what makes a great customer service experience and what doesn’t from a customer’s own mouth allows you to make improvements that deliver better experiences, helping you to encourage greater spending.

They help you to continuously learn

H earing directly from customers about how your product or service can be improved is gold-dust. You get several ways to gain more sales from the people you want to target. Or they may point out improvement areas, which can help overcome wider customer challenges to purchasing. Either way, you gain valuable information that can help you continuously learn, and improve.

They help you to prove that a reciprocal relationship is important to you

Loyal customers are looking for signs that brands are willing to improve, and customer feedback surveys are one way of proving this. In our research, we found that 5 8% of respondents felt it was very or extremely important that a company follow up for more info or to fix their issue. Closing the loop means not only fixing an issue, but asking about the experience and taking action to improve.

They help you keep an eye on trends

Customer surveys can be used in a flexible way to keep an eye on the market and your current customers’ views. They’re a simple way to gather valuable feedback that is relevant to your specific customer base.  You could use one to carry out market research at times when you need to know what your customers are experiencing, or what challenges they face. Alternatively customer surveys can be used periodically to check in for customer feedback and improvement ideas. By keeping on top of trends, you can better meet and exceed customer expectations .

They help you to build your brand image

When you ask about what a customer thinks, you are perceived as caring about your customer’s experience, and the continued improvement in your product or service quality. Both perceptions help your brand image and lead to customers experiencing positive feelings towards you. It helps to create a relationship with the consumer, and humanizes the brand . With 60% of consumers willing to buy more if they felt cared for by a brand, it’s worthwhile to reach out.

Get started with our free customer service survey templates

There are many types of surveys and customer feedback questions you can ask to get a pulse on your customer service , so it’s important to define your goals before creating your survey.

5 of the best types of customer service survey questions are:

1. Agent-specific survey questions

The internal employees, or agents, that your customer interacts with across their customer journey can create a positive or negative experience. Asking agent-specific questions is important to see where internal agents are meeting your company’s customer commitment. If you uncover specific improvement points, train and reward your employees to take action on this feedback and boost morale.

Examples of agent-specific survey questions

• Based on your recent interaction regarding (insert incident), how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with our customer support team member?
• How courteous or uncourteous would you say our customer service team member was?
• How knowledgeable or unknowledgeable would you say our service team member was?
• How effective or ineffective would you say the service team member’s communication was?
• Did you feel confident in your agent’s ability to help you?
• How much did you feel our service member wanted to assist you?
• What can our employees do to get a 10/10 service score?
• Did the agent handling your issue show empathy toward your situation?

2. Channel-specific survey questions

Include channel-specific questions on a customer survey to assess which customer support channels are the most effective, and which channels need to be revised.

Your goal might be to have customers’ questions answered on the first attempt for a positive experience. The questions you ask will help you identify positive patterns or gaps in knowledge.

Examples of channel specific survey questions:

• Was this your first interaction with the [name of channel]?
• Would you use this channel again, based on your experience today?
• Were you able to locate what you were looking for on the channel?
• What other channels have you used in the past?
• Which specific channels do you like to use? (Customers can choose from options like live chat, call center, mobile app, etc).
• How could we improve [name of channel], in your opinion?

3. Customer Effort Score (CES) survey questions

Customer effort score ( CES ) survey questions understand how much effort the customer exerted to get their questions answered. The idea is that customers are more loyal to a product or service that is easier to use. CES surveys can be used immediately after interactions or specific touchpoints , like a product purchase or an interaction with customer service.

With the quantitative and qualitative data you gather, you can set goals, measure your performance over time, and see where you need to improve. The answers can tell you if a customer situation has been resolved, or if you need to take action to close the feedback loop fast . They can also help you understand where you stand among the competition.

Examples of questions on customer effort

• On a scale of ‘very easy’ to ‘very difficult’, how easy was it to interact with [company name]? What made your experience like that?
• Were you able to accomplish your goal today?
• If you needed to interact with an agent to accomplish your goal, did the agent fulfill your expectations?
• Did the service agent contact you to let you know your issue had been resolved?
• Is there anything else you’d like to share that could make your experience better?

4. Customer satisfaction survey (CSAT) questions

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys are used to understand your customer’s satisfaction levels with your organization’s products, services, or experiences.

The questions can help understand your customer needs and understand problems with your products and/or services. A customer satisfaction score is a key metric when evaluating your performance with your customers. Continually collecting customer satisfaction score data can be helpful in understanding what you’re doing right for satisfied customers.

Rating scales are used to measure changes over time, and gain a deeper understanding of whether your business is meeting the customer’s expectations . Segmenting your satisfied customers and unhappy customers by creating customer satisfaction surveys helps you to spot trends and reasons behind a particular customer satisfaction score.

Examples of questions used in customer satisfaction surveys

• Overall, how satisfied were you with [company name or brand]?
• How often do you typically use our products or services? (A ‘Daily’ to ‘Do not use’ scale works best here)
• Based on your recent purchases, please rate your satisfaction with [a service or product attribute, like its value, purchase options, onboarding experience, etc]
• How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the [product/service] you received? (A Likert scale question between 1-5, with 5 being ‘highly satisfied’ and 1 being ‘highly unsatisfied’, works best here).
• How does the product or service help you achieve your goal?

5. Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey questions

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey question measures customer perception based on one simple question (below). It then provides customers with a chance to respond using a Likert scale from 0-10.

The beauty of a Net Promoter Score is that it requires only a simple question, and it’s simple to calculate your final NPS score from the results; by subtracting the percentage of detractors (people who responded with score between 0-6) from the percentage of promoters (people who responded with scores of 9 or 10). You want the final score to be as close to 100 as possible.

Long-term, this question can help you monitor positive change by measuring when detractors become promoters, which indicates that more of your customers have a higher appreciation for your brand.

Example of a recommendation-based question

• How likely is it that you would recommend [Organisation X/Product Y] to a friend or colleague?
• How likely is it that you would recommend our customer service to a friend or colleague?

We’ve given some examples of customer service survey questions with a particular aim – but how you ask the question can also be important.

You might use:

Likert scale questions

This method of asking a query gives customers the option to show their agreement or disagreement with a set of statements. It demonstrates intensity of feeling, which can be helpful – and it’s a quick way for customers to feed back. However, it doesn’t give you much nuance when it comes to the “why” of a customer’s response.

Examples of Likert scale questions

• Overall, how satisfied were you with your buying experience today? [Very satisfied/Moderately satisfied/Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied/Moderately dissatisfied/Very dissatisfied]
• Our online purchase process was simple and straightforward. [Strongly agree/Agree/Disagree/Strongly disagree]
• Is having 24/7 customer service support important to you? [Very important/Important/Low importance/Not important]

Multiple choice questions

Survey respondents can pick their best choice from a provided list of answers. This can offer your customers a quick way to respond, making your survey easier to answer and lower effort. These can be particularly useful for demographic questions.

Examples of multiple choice questions

• Which of our products do you use in your daily life? Select as many answers as are relevant. [Beauty/Household/Clothing/Outdoor]
• Which of our customer support channels have you used in the past month? [Call center/Live chat/Social media/SMS]
• How long have you been a customer with [Brand]? [0-2 years/2-5 years/5-10 years]

Questions with open text fields

Open text fields allow your customers to speak to you in their own voice with honest feedback, rather than selecting responses. This allows you to get responses you might not have considered, and better judge customer sentiment than a stock answer. This does require text analytics software to analyze at scale – however, this qualitative data is key to getting to the heart of customers’ opinions.

Examples of open text field questions

• What convinced you to sign up to our service?
• How could we have improved our service today?
• Why did you choose our product over our competitors?
• What is your main reason for using [Product/Service]?

It can be easy to think that you should create customer surveys and send them off indiscriminately, but a targeted approach will help you to gather the right information for more valuable insights.

Read on to understand how to create your customer surveys, when to send them and how to follow up with action.

When to send customer experience surveys

When you send your customer surveys is an important part of the process. When you time your surveys at the right moment, it won’t feel like an intrusion – it will feel like you’re asking for their opinion and care about their thoughts. A well-timed survey will also improve the quality of the results you gather.

Often, the timing of the survey coincides with the questions you want to ask. For example:

• A customer satisfaction survey can be sent a few days after the purchase has been made, or if it’s a digital product, an in-app survey could be served during use. After a customer service interaction, a survey can be delivered in the communication channel used, such as live chat or email.
• A transactional NPS survey can be sent after an interaction in the customer journey (such as a purchase or a customer service call) on email on in-app
• A CES survey could be sent after a service sign up or product purchase as a web intercept (a pop-up) on the post-sign up or purchase screen

You might also send a customer survey at these regular intervals:

• After each customer interaction with a customer service representative
• After a service renewal
• After a service update

Ideally, you are continually sending customer feedback surveys to your paying customers.

The most comprehensive way to understand and improve the customer experience for your target audience is to capture feedback across all touchpoints where customer service is happening. This might be through interactive voice response (IVR) on customer calls, live chat, SMS, email and more, but every interaction is vital to capture and analyze for the most informative result.

How to send customer experience surveys

Delivering your customer feedback survey for the best result usually depends on what you’re asking, and which communication channels your customers prefer.

Your method of delivery might be:

• Email: Businesses often gather email data as part of the purchase process, making an email delivery system for a customer feedback survey quite simple. However, response rates can depend on day and time.
• SMS: Getting hold of customer telephone details can be harder than finding an email address or social media handle, but SMS is also a valid way of delivering a customer survey. Character count restrictions can be difficult to navigate, but this method delivers surveys more directly to the customer.
• Web intercept: Web intercepts (or pop ups that appear on web pages) are an effective way of delivering surveys, and are particularly useful when polling customers “in the moment” or directly after actions are taken.
• URL link: A URL link to a survey can be shared on all communication channels, making it easy to send on customers’ preferred channels.

You can also deliver surveys in-app, on chatbot and messaging apps, via messaging platforms and more. However, choosing which method to use can really depend on which channels customers use to interact with your brand and what you’re asking.

If you’re asking how hard a purchase was to make through a CES survey, it might not make sense to send a URL link to a social media handle, for example – but a URL link to a CSAT survey would be perfect to send this way if the customer had reached out to a customer service on social media.

Essentially, it’s important to think about the context of the survey delivery, and make a decision accordingly.

Best practice tips for collecting customer feedback

Keep your survey short – Just like you, customers don’t enjoy taking surveys or answering complicated questions. And the average person’s attention span is only 8 seconds long. You can respect your customer’s time and patience by keeping your survey short. Research has found that shorter is better as long as you’re getting the pertinent information, so it’s better to send out 2 shorter surveys than one long survey. Remember that you’ll be sending surveys throughout the customer lifecycle, so plan ahead for a larger number of shorter surveys.

Avoid asking unnecessary questions – Also, it’s best to avoid adding in questions you already know the answer to (like the agent’s name, the date the customer contacted you, what type of issue they had, what product they own, etc). Not only does this add time to a survey, it can make customers feel frustrated, and highlights that your company does not use their existing customer data in a managed and optimized way for communications. Focus only on the data that you need, not everything that you could possibly gather. It’s also important to only ask one question at a time – add in too many variables, and you can get a confusing answer or no answer at all.

Don’t ask leading questions – Leading questions can obscure the truth of a customer’s view on your brand, product or service, so avoiding them helps you to get a clear answer. An example of a leading question might be, “How great was your experience with [Brand] today?”, which might be better positioned as “How was your experience with [Brand] today?” for a more neutral approach to getting the same answer.  

Make rating scales simple and consistent  – If your Likert scale starts off as “1 = Really satisfied, 5 = Really dissatisfied” but then changes to “1 = Really dissatisfied, 5 = Really satisfied” midway through your customer service survey, you’re going to run into data issues later and muddle your results. How will you know which way your customers have answered the questions? Be clear across your rating scales and avoid losing customer interest during the survey – you also don’t want to have to repeat a survey when customer time has already been wasted.

Consider a pre-built solution to act faster – If you want the benefit of a smart customer experience management platform will be able to automatically keep track of this information, learn about Qualtrics Customer Survey Software . This allows you to focus on simply asking questions about your customer experience, and waiting for the results to be interpreted and delivered for you.

Act on your information in a structured, customer-centric way – When you have the customer data analyzed, turn this information into actionable customer intelligence . This combines multi-channel information with a 360° view of the customer’s context and behavior patterns, to help you understand why your target audience behaves in the way they do. This creates opportunities for better business decisions so you can act on what you learn. Without taking action, issues are left unaddressed and customer experiences can suffer – don’t let your data go to waste.

With Qualtrics Customer XM, you can gather customer feedback from every channel with well-timed customer feedback surveys that add to the customer experience. No matter where your customers are, gather data through targeted customer surveys and apply powerful analytics to the data you gather for better insights.

Create detailed profiles on your customers to help predict customer churn, and take action to improve key customer service metrics.

Discover How Qualtrics Customer Survey Software Can Improve Your Bottom Line

Related resources

Customer service experience 13 min read, customer service kpis 14 min read, artificial intelligence in customer service 10 min read, ai for customer support 15 min read, omnichannel customer service 12 min read, frontline customer service 11 min read, customer service automation 13 min read, request demo.

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Self-Assessment • 20 min read

How Good Is Your Customer Service?

Add some magic to the customer service mix.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

What makes your customers happy? And, are you giving it to them? Finding out the answers to these questions should be top of any organization's list of priorities.

After all, if your customers trust and like your organization, your sales will be stronger, your reputation will grow, and your customer service team will spend less time fielding complaints.

But keeping your customers happy isn't always easy. Perhaps you know that your service isn't great, but you're not sure how to improve it. Or maybe you're already streets ahead of the competition, and you want to make sure it stays that way!

In this quiz, we explore the five key areas of excellent service, so you'll never miss an opportunity to delight your customers.

Test Your Customer Service

For each statement below, click the button in the column that best describes your team's approach to customer service. Answer the questions in a way that reflects the situation as it is now , rather than how you think it should be. And don't worry if some of the questions seem to score in the "wrong" direction.

When you're done, click the "Calculate My Total" button at the bottom of the test, and then keep reading for advice and tips based on your score.

This assessment has not been validated and is intended for illustrative purposes only. We based our quiz questions on five areas that are critical to good customer service. These are summarized in The RATER Model as Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness. Work through each area with your team and watch your customer satisfaction levels soar!

Reliability

(Questions 6, 7, 12, 13, 14)

Every organization has to deliver on its promise to customers. If you don't "come up with the goods," you let your customers down at the most basic level. They won't feel able to trust your team or your business, and they certainly won't be happy.

Sometimes, the underlying problem might be out of your control. Perhaps the logistics department is struggling to keep up with orders, your website has some bugs that need to be fixed, or a supplier has delivered poor-quality parts. But don't give up: identify the areas where your team does have influence, and act on those.

For example, if your team members are responsible for handling queries or complaints, encourage them to be fast and accurate. Organize briefings for them so that they can give customers consistent and up-to-date information. If it's appropriate, post updates online when a problem occurs, and notify your customers when it's fixed. And share customer feedback with other departments, so they can improve their own reliability, too.

Whatever your particular business and processes, you'll always be more reliable if your team has a Customer Service Mindset . In his book, "Win the Customer: 70 Simple Rules for Sensational Service," Flavio Martins says, "Service should be part of the behavior, thoughts and actions of everyone in the organization. It should inspire people, encourage their development, and transform their work, as well as the customer's experience."

(Questions 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17)

How clear is it to your customers that your service is reliable? For example, they need to know that their credit card details are secure, so your systems must be up to the job, and you must be able to demonstrate that you have the necessary safeguards in place.

Customers also want to be sure that they're buying the right product for their needs. If your business is online, they must be able to find the relevant information quickly and easily. And they may want to contact your team to find out more, so it's vital that your representatives are polite and well-informed.

Regular communication with your operational or product development teams, for example, can break down silos and help to ensure that your team has a broad understanding of the products or services that your organization offers.

You can also carry out a training needs assessment to address any gaps in your team members' technical abilities, or in their  "soft" skills . This will enable them to deliver customer service with confidence and credibility .

Throughout, be sure to support your people practically and emotionally, and to encourage them to do the same for one another . This will likely increase their resilience, despite the emotional labor of dealing with problems or complaints. Team members who feel valued and engaged will feel more loyalty to your organization, and their enthusiasm will shine through in their customer service.

To learn more about building customer loyalty, read our article on  Georges and Guenzi's Customer Trust Model .

(Questions 4, 7, 8, 9, 17)

Do all of your communications with your customers deliver a message that's consistent with your brand , and with their needs? To build strong customer relationships, your social media and website, your printed material and packaging, and your team's knowledge and skills should all align to form a recognizable and trustworthy identity.

To achieve this, your systems and infrastructure also need to be robust enough to support your people effectively. You may not be able to make such resourcing decisions yourself, so develop your powers of persuasion and negotiation to ensure that your team has what it needs to do the best job possible.

Staff turnover can be a good indicator of how your people feel about their work. If they find their jobs too tough, they'll be tempted to leave, or they may even be at risk of burnout . But, if they feel supported and empowered , they'll be proud and happy to stay, and will likely be an asset to your business.

(Questions 2, 3, 11, 14, 16)

It's essential that you and your team see things from the customers' point of view . If you do, you'll gain a better understanding of their thoughts, actions and needs, care about their experience, and communicate with them more effectively.

You can gain this perspective by working on your  empathy and listening skills, and by learning how to  build rapport . And you can develop an even deeper knowledge of your customers with surveys, business ethnography , skilled use of  social media , and Customer Experience Mapping .

If you manage complaints and feedback continuously, rather than just responding to crises as they arise, you'll be able to preempt future problems. And, when things do go wrong, you can draw on the positivity that you've built up with your customers, and manage their expectations . If unhappy customers know that you'll do everything you can to make amends , they'll be less likely to "jump ship" to a competitor or share damaging comments online.

Aspire to the highest level of Miller and Heiman's Buy-Sell Hierarchy . At level one, you are simply providing a product or service. But, at level five, you're helping your customers to solve their own problems – you become indispensable!

Responsiveness

(Questions 1, 4, 5, 7, 13)

Every interaction that your organization has with a customer is a chance to build a relationship, to increase goodwill, and to learn. And, if your people are listening carefully and feel empowered to take action, they can drive change and innovation.

For example, online clothes retailer Zappos® sets no time limits on its employees' calls with customers, has no targets for the number of calls they should complete in a shift, and doesn't script conversations. Instead, the priority is to be personal and thorough, and to build customer loyalty.

Zappos is a world leader in adding what it calls "wow." Customers can speak to the same person each time they call, and they receive personalized cards, gifts and services in response to complaints.

If you use a chatbot on your website, ensure that your customers know that they are talking to a chatbot, and that they can speak to a human if they need to. Chatbots are a great way to automate routine customer service tasks, but they are likely unable to handle more complex inquiries. This can quickly become frustrating for the user.

Good customer service is essential to the success of your organization. You can develop your customer service by using The RATER Model to assess your team's Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness.

A team that adopts a customer-focused mindset will more likely develop a culture of creativity, positivity and continuous learning.

This enables your organization to become more competitive. It can also improve your reputation, and mean that you'll spend less time responding to complaints or handling crises.

This self-test is just one of many that help you to evaluate your abilities in a wide range of important career skills.

Zeithaml, V.A, Parasuraman, A., and Berry, L.L (1990). ' Delivering Quality Service; Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations ,' New York: Free Press.

Guenzi, P. and Georges, L. (2008). 'Interpersonal Trust in Commercial Relationships: Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Trust in the Salesperson,'  European Journal of Marketing , 44(1-2). Available here .

Martins, F. (2015). ' Win the Customer: 70 Simple Rules for Sensational Service ,' AMACOM.

Solomon, M. (2018).  How Zappos Delivers Wow Customer Service On Each And Every Call [online]. Available here . [Accessed December 31, 2018.]

TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Zappos is a registered trademark of Zappos IP, Inc. (see zappos.com ).

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The Ultimate Guide to Training for Customer Service & Support

Turn your customer service team into a competitive advantage and engine for growth with these training ideas and tools.

FREE DOWNLOAD: CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING MANUAL TEMPLATE

Train and onboard your new customer support hires with this customizable template.

Updated: 04/17/24

Published: 05/18/23

Customer service training is essential if you want to retain customers for the long term, reduce employee churn, and create a successful customer-centric company. But how do you begin training your reps to provide remarkable support?

We've compiled this guide to answer that question. After all, 90% of Americans say customer service plays a significant role in choosing a company.

Exceptional customer service is an absolute must if you want your company to succeed and thrive in years to come.

In this post, you'll learn how customer service training benefits your business, when different types of training come in handy, and what materials you'll need to execute a training program.

By the end, you'll walk away with a comprehensive understanding of customer service training.

What is Customer Service Training?

Why is Customer Service Training Important?

Types of Customer Service Training

Customer Service Basics and Soft Skills

Free Customer Service Training Materials

What is customer service training.

Customer service training is the coaching that employees receive to improve support and satisfaction among customers. A strong customer service training program includes exercises for improving interpersonal communication, product knowledge, conflict resolution, crisis management, and more.

There are lots of types of customer service training . However, this training is typically an iterative process that involves teaching skills, competencies, and tools needed to better serve customers.

Any employee interacting and dealing with customers is a good fit for customer service training, regardless of their seniority or experience level.

Because your customers are your best growth opportunity, every employee should work hard to keep them happy — as marketers, executive assistants, management, or customer service representatives.

Nowadays, customer-facing teams are labeled many different things: customer support, customer success , or customer service . For this article, we'll refer to customer service when discussing service and support training.

Free Customer Support Training Template

Train and onboard your new customer support hires with this downloadable template.

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Who should be part of your customer service training.

Everyone in a customer-role should be a part of your customer service training. While not everyone in such a position is in the customer service department, they should all have familiarity with your core customer service philosophy and participate in training programs that reinforce those principles.

Why is customer service training important?

What experiences stood out to you more as a shopper: marketing tactics or customer service? Most likely, the latter.

Customer service is a company's opportunity to connect with customers, solve problems, and show they care.

And when customer service is executed well, it can resonate with customers for years. Afterall, people are more likely to return after a positive customer service experience.

That's why training your customer support team is just as important (if not more) as training your marketing or sales teams. Service experiences are what stick with your customers and inspire reviews and word-of-mouth advertising.

Here are a few of the reasons you should invest in a customer service training program.

1. Happy customers become brand advocates.

It's not uncommon for businesses to view their customer service teams as an afterthought. Once a consumer becomes a customer and pays for your product or service, the hard work is done, right? Wrong…

Happy, delighted customers come from excellent service and are your best advocates — even better than your most talented marketers.

Here's why it matters: 94% of people recommend a company with "very good" service, and buyers are 92% more likely to buy after reading reviews.

With this in mind, you can see how your current and past customers are your top bet for bringing in new business.

Customer service can be one of your strongest marketing strategies. Meeting and exceeding customer expectations isn't optional. It should be a top priority.

2. Remarkable customer service is a competitive advantage.

One of the easiest ways to stand out among your competition may surprise you. It's delivering excellent customer service that makes it easy to choose your company over others in your market.

If you normally have great service, 75% of people are more likely to forgive you for a bad experience. And conversely, if they think your service is poor, only 15% of people are likely to stick around.

That's why providing top-notch customer service — and training your reps to provide that service — is essential for gaining an edge over your competition.

Ultimately, a great customer service training program can help you create a strong reputation so your company becomes the obvious choice when people are looking for options in your niche.

3. Great customer service increases retention.

Customer service is a key player in the game of customer retention .

Think about it. If a customer has a pressing question about your product, what would make them happy and willing to stick around? A generic email response or a personalized, well-researched answer from a service representative dedicated to their success?

The latter will win more brownie points.

More importantly, three-quarters of consumers expect personalized experiences.

So when your customer service training program ensures that your frontline team members understand why it's important to personalize every engagement, your company wins big.

Better yet, this customer might 1) be satisfied with their interaction with your company and customer service team and 2) go on to recommend your business, products, and services to their friends and colleagues.

That's why customer service training is so important. You're training your employees to deal with some of the most influential people in your life: your customers. (Sorry, family.)

4. Service reps can feel more empowered to handle difficult situations.

35%  of customers have experienced feelings of anger or frustration during their interactions with customer service representatives. Through training, reps learn how to manage customer expectations, de-escalate conflicts, and turn negative experiences into positive outcomes.

Not everyone has had experience dealing with conflict, or if they have, they know that not every conflict can be solved with the same solution. Proper service training demonstrates specifc scenarios and context that they can benefit from knowing before they have to think on their feet.

This not only improves customer relationships but also equips reps with the tools to navigate challenging interactions and reduce stress among employees.

5. Service training demonstrates commitment to professional development of reps .

33% of U.S. hiring managers anticipate employee turnover at their company to increase in the next year, costing an average of  $36,295  (e.g., cost to rehire, lost productivity) annually. Creating a culture and system that prevents turnover and encourages retention could make all of the difference.

When reps receive ongoing service training and support, they are more likely to feel valued and motivated in their roles, leading to higher job satisfaction and loyalty to the company. This focus on employee development and retention ultimately contributes to a more stable and productive customer service team.

Fostering a supportive and engaging work environment looks like a company that encourages personal growth.

Hiring vs. Training Customer Service Candidates

At this point, you might be asking, Why can't I just hire the right people from the get-go and leave it at that?

Well, you should always hire the best fit for each role, customer service included. But hiring skilled people and thinking the job is done is doing a disservice to both your team and your customers.

Regardless of how talented your new employees are, teaching customer service skills is essential if you want your reps to effectively represent your company.

It's also critical to help them understand your methodology so they know why you take a specific approach and can confidently serve your customers with that reasoning as their North Star.

And even the most experienced team members can use a refresher from time to time. In addition to people's expectations and the world itself changing rapidly, it's good to revisit skills and techniques with fresh eyes.

Take HubSpot's content team, for example. We were hired because we know how to write, but when we started, we weren't simply handed a laptop and told, "Now, go type a bunch of stuff." Instead, we received training on HubSpot's style guide, how to represent the company and brand online, and how to ensure every piece of content meets all of the quality standards.

The same goes for your customer support and service folks. Of course, you're going to hire highly-skilled people.

However, that doesn't negate the importance of onboarding new hires and training them to be part of a team with a bigger goal — serving and delighting your customers.

Hiring for Customer Service

While training for customer service is the main topic here, let's take a slight detour and discuss hiring for customer service, too.

The right hires help you build a strong foundation for your customer service team. And your hiring process is how you can ultimately ensure that your team is receptive to your training.

While some skills and strengths can be taught or fine-tuned through the different types of customer service training, there are some attributes your team members must have upon hiring.

No software, training exercises, or tools can compensate for gaps in these areas.

Skills To Look for When Hiring for Customer Service

Here are some skills to look for — even if just a hint — while interviewing and screening customer service candidates .

1. Emotional Intelligence

Your customer service team deals with a variety of customer problems, some that you can forecast, and some that no one can predict.

The true heart of customer service beats with the ability to patiently listen, decipher someone else's problem, and empathize with them .

Unfortunately, this skill doesn't come naturally to everyone, nor is it something everyone can master in training.

Emotional intelligence is all about how you relate to other people. And, since this is central to excellent customer service, you want to ensure your hires have this skill before bringing them onto your team.

One way you can gauge emotional intelligence is by asking: "Can you tell me about a time you tried to do something and failed?"

2. Good Communication

If your candidates can't answer an interview question, how would they communicate with your customers (who most likely have much higher expectations than you)?

Customer service training can teach new and improved communication techniques. However, new hires should be able to showcase the ability to simplify complex topics and teach others new skills.

To gauge good communication skills, ask questions like: "How would you explain a complicated technical problem to a colleague with less technical understanding?"

3. Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is the difference between responding to a problem with "I don't know" and "I will find out." Problem-solving skills, initiative, and creativity are just a few competencies that align with resourcefulness.

While these skills can be cultivated through customer service training, your candidates should display some resourcefulness — or at least a willingness to try to figure things out on their own.

To gauge resourcefulness, ask questions like: "Describe a time when you faced a significant obstacle to succeeding with an important work project or activity. What did you do to solve it?"

While passion isn't quite a skill, it's fundamental to going above and beyond in the customer service field.

Delighting your customers and turning them into superfans of your company means that your support team should have a sense of excitement and passion for the success of both the company and the customer.

Your candidates might not have a strong passion for your company just yet. Truthfully, it may never be their top passion in life.

However, they should be passionate about working with people — specifically, your customers — and helping others solve their problems.

To gauge passion, ask: "When have you been most satisfied in your work at your previous company?"

If hiring the right candidates is like planting seeds in the right soil, training your customer service team is like cultivating and growing your garden to its maximum potential.

To continue the analogy, satisfied customers are the bountiful harvest at the end of the season.

With that in mind, let's dive into training for customer support and service.

Customer service training ensures that your team can adapt to all kinds of different situations.

After all, when your team understands the key principles that guide your customer service philosophy, they're better able to apply that knowledge to every customer encounter.

While the concept of customer service training is to train your team to serve and delight, specific training methods and practices vary based on your company, your employees, and a variety of other factors.

Let's break down a few instances where you might conduct customer service training and what you can expect as a hiring manager or owner.

1. New Hire Customer Service Training

As with any new role, the first month or two of training can dictate an employee's long-term success with your company. Customer service training for new hires isn't any different and should be an essential part of onboarding.

This specific type of training will help new employees acclimate to a new job, company, and culture and ensure they're ready to communicate with your valuable customers.

The steps of new hire customer service training involve:

Acquainting the Team

Your customer service team should be, well, a team. They need to work together to serve customers and handle problems. This means you must establish and maintain agility by introducing and involving new hires from the get-go.

Some examples of doing this include:

• Scheduling a team lunch on your new hire's first day.
• Ask experienced team members to provide an office tour.
• Make the first day or two all about team building.

The bottom line is that when your team has time to connect, they can form a bond that makes it easier to work together. And it helps new employees acclimate and feel more comfortable in their roles.

Establishing Expectations

New hires should know what's expected of them during training and in their first month of work.

Setting clear expectations upfront minimizes confusion and allows new employees to understand their responsibilities. It doesn't serve anyone to be loosey-goosey on expectations.

Some examples of this include creating:

• A new-hire training guide including activities to expect during training and what responsibilities they'll have during their first few months.
• At-a-glance checklists and scripts for core activities they might encounter or perform daily.
• A weekly schedule of meetings.
• A manual that outlines how to perform key aspects of their job step-by-step and a list of internal resources for more information — whether colleagues, reading materials, or even file locations.

Equipping your new customer service hires to do their jobs sets them up for success. Think of this as giving them a set of training wheels they can return to at any time.

Rome wasn't built in a day. If you don't have all of this yet, you don't have to create it immediately. Instead, you may start with one or two of these things and build as you go.

Setting Up Tools

Could we even do our jobs without various tools, software, and digital subscriptions?

Probably not, and neither can your new employees. Before training, set up your employees with the apps, tools, and memberships they need to communicate and collaborate with the team .

Looking for an example of how to do this?

Consider creating a checklist of all the apps and logins they need, so you can be sure to set them up for success. As you check off each item, add the username for each to the list so they have a quick reference guide for tools.

Introducing the Company and Product (or Service)

To best serve your customers, your customer service team needs to know your company and product or service offering better than anyone.

• Providing your hires with a one-page overview of the company, including the brand story, core values, guiding philosophies, and a list of key leadership and colleagues.
• Creating a "say this, not that" brand voice guide to make sure new hires build a consistent customer experience.
• Setting aside time for dedicated product training so that your new hires can learn your product(s) so well they could teach others.
• If bringing on multiple new hires, having them take turns "teaching" each other.

2. Regular Customer Service Training

Whether your customer service team has been around for six months or six years, they should still undergo regular training. Consider revisiting this every quarter, half-year, or year, depending on what works best for your company.

What this training looks like depends on your company. However, here are a few regular customer service training examples.

Skills or Competence Check-In

Just as you'd conduct a routine performance review, a quarterly or half-year training is good practice for your customer service team.

Skill-based training is ever-evolving based on trends in the outside world, customer expectations, and new developments in your offerings.

What's more, certain skills can erode if not maintained over time. Conducting routine training keeps everyone on the team aligned, fresh, and doing their best work.

Best Practices Workshops

Some teams find that a monthly customer service workshop is a great way to keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening while ensuring your team stays fresh.

Going into these meetings with an agenda is a great way to ensure they are productive and stay on track. Sending a request for topics a few days before is also a good idea.

Your agenda might include:

• Identifying trends in problems as well as customer feedback.
• Discussing how to handle these problems successfully.
• Role-playing solutions to these problems.
• Asking for additional input.

Ultimately, this gives you regular check-ins with your team and ensures they know how to handle relevant common themes.

Team-Building Exercises

While working in customer service can be rewarding, it can also be tough. Those difficult days can take a toll on employees and their team relationships.

Routine team-building activities and training can help maintain strong relationships.

This gives your employees a chance to have fun, while simultaneously resolving challenging distractions so your employees can focus on their jobs.

Some examples of team-building exercises can include:

• A compliment circle, where every customer service employee compliments another on something, whether how they handle specific situations or a general approach.
• A brainstorming session where everyone brings a few ideas for improving things. These can range from adding a new Slack channel to streamlining customer service.
• A scavenger hunt. Whether online, in person, or hybrid, these are great ways to build relationships with small groups.
• Lunch-and-learns about new topics, whether personal or professional development.
• Cooking classes, whether virtual or in person.

3. Emergency or Time-Sensitive Customer Service Training

Sometimes, customer service training can't be planned. Perhaps there's a product recall, a major rebranding, or a national advertising campaign.

This type of customer service training can also result from news breaking in your industry that may have your audience taking notice, even if it doesn't directly involve your company .

Because 90% of customers rate an "immediate" response as important, you must prepare your front-line employees (your customer service team) to take calls, answer questions, and resolve conflicts.

Emergency customer service training is all about equipping your team with everything they need to know to do their job and help your audience.

Here are examples of how you can deliver urgent customer service training.

In Times of Crisis

During a recall, crisis, or company emergency, your customer service team should be updated on all events and trained on how to respond.

Because your audience will be concerned, full transparency is strongly encouraged. Your team needs to be aware of the problem and your solution, or how you are approaching the solution .

Share how you'll send out updates. These trainings should be a top priority on everyone's calendar. You can better ensure complete organizational alignment when you can train your team.

To give you a real-world example, when news breaks of an online data breach, even if it's not your company, your customers may worry about the security of their data and may reach out in a panic.

If your team can speak to the problem, how you're being proactive, and where customers can go for updates or more information, you can ensure more positive experiences with your company.

Product or Company Updates

This type of customer service training is less of an emergency but is just as time-sensitive.

Whether you release a product update, run a major marketing campaign, or alter your website, your customer service team should complete training on these updates and be equipped to handle any customer questions or concerns.

For example, our customer service teams receive new training materials in the months leading up to HubSpot's annual INBOUND event.

These resources give employees the most up-to-date information on any new products that'll be announced at INBOUND — which can be upwards of four or five major product releases!

Your customer service teams should be looped in on company updates or changes so customers aren't blindsided when they have questions.

4. Customer Service Phone Training

Today, 48% of customers want to communicate with companies via phone call for customer service. Based on this, training reps knowing how to provide a delightful experience via phone call is critical to your success.

Here's what you should focus on in terms of phone training:

• Maintaining a positive tone and attitude throughout the call.
• Remaining calm and professional, even on difficult calls.
• Speaking slowly and clearly.
• Asking customers clear and direct questions that help reps come to an effective solution efficiently.
• Presenting solutions in a way that will make sense for each individual customer.
• Using verbiage that's representative of your brand.
• Being an active listener.
• Always showing empathy and authenticity.
• Staying in control of the conversation and leading the customer towards an effective resolution.
• Making sure customers don't have any other questions or concerns before hanging up.
• Thanking the customer at the end of the call.

An example of customer service phone training includes setting up a series of role-play scenarios where one person is a customer with a problem, and the other is a customer service rep deciphering the problem, empathizing, and offering resolution.

In addition to role-play, scripts are helpful when it comes to solving specific problems.

Alternatively, because word-for-word scripts can sound impersonal, you might also consider offering bullet points your team members can use in their responses.

5. Live Chat Customer Service Training

Live chat is one of the up-and-coming customer service channels because it delivers the immediacy customers require. More than half of millennials prefer live chat, as it allows you to offer a personal touch with speed and convenience.

As the largest generation in U.S. history, millennials represent a huge percentage of your buyers, so live chat customer service training is necessary in today's world.

Fortunately, live chat training can resemble phone call training with scripts and bullet points your team members can use.

Being a customer service representative is challenging.

There are some basic ways to teach customer service to your reps to ensure they have the skills they need. Remember, their goal and yours should be the same — effectively serving and delighting customers.

You can separate these skills into different categories — which we'll review momentarily — so you can easily focus on teaching and building them with your reps.

Let's take a look.

Customer Service Basics

• Interpersonal Skills: Customer service reps should be positive and empathetic when communicating with customers.
• Clear Communication: Customer service reps should be able to succinctly explain complex concepts to customers.
• Assertiveness and Directness: Customer service reps should be confident when interacting with customers.
• Product Feature and Application Knowledge: Customer service reps should know the product inside and out.
• Crisis Management Skills: Customer service reps should know how to effectively handle negative situations.
• Team-Building and Camaraderie Skills: Customer service teams should have a strong sense of community to increase employee retention.
• Customer Advocacy and Success Skills: Customer service reps should be able to champion their customers.
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Customer service reps should know how to de-escalate negative situations with customers.

Ensuring your reps learn the following customer service basics and soft skills will make all the difference in your company's growth.

Your employees face customers every day. Customers will judge your business based on interactions with your people and your reps' behavior.

Only with thorough training in critical areas can your customer service representatives confidently deal with customer issues and turn angry customers into satisfied ones.

Let's dive into each of the customer service basics and soft skills your reps need to succeed in their roles.

1. Interpersonal Skills

For effective customer service, reps should look inward and focus on interpersonal skills critical to fostering positive and trustworthy customer relationships.

Positivity isn't just about smiling. It's also about keeping your language upbeat and promising so customers remain positive.

The last thing you want to do is introduce a new negative idea that leaves your customers more concerned than when they first called.

Whether your team serves customers via social media, email, chat, or the phone, train them to replace negative words with positive ones.

For example, instead of saying, "I'm afraid that…", teach your customer service team to start sentences with, "I'd love to help…". This keeps the response in a positive light while remaining honest with customers.

Positivity Training Exercise

• Jot down five to 10 negative customer service responses and ask your team to rewrite them as positive statements. They can work alone or in small groups or pairs.
• Divide your team into pairs and give each pair two problems to role play, so each person can play the role of customer and rep. Have the customer for each problem pay attention to negative words and phrases and then let the other person know what they heard.
• Bring a transcript of an actual conversation to a meeting, and anonymize the customer and the rep. Then walk through the conversation as a group and identify opportunities to make the entire exchange more positive.

Empathy is critical for serving customers. When your team members genuinely want customers to be happy and successful, they can be your biggest assets.

One of the ways to help people develop empathy is to help them walk in a customer's shoes so they become just as invested in finding a solution to a problem.

In addition to helping your customer service team reach that resolution much quicker, you can make a customer for life.

But empathy doesn't come easily to everyone, especially more technical, logical people. While they care, they're often not as well-equipped to express those feelings.

To develop empathy in your customer service team, encourage them to spend time with people who are different from them.

Whether with someone at a community event, an Uber driver, someone in line at a grocery store, or a stranger at a conference, having conversations outside their comfort zones can help diversify their thinking.

Empathy Training Exercise

Tell your team to think about a time they were a customer and might've had a frustrating transaction or unsatisfactory experience. Have them share their stories and recall how they felt and were treated.

2. Clear Communication

Although this is technically an interpersonal skill, it's vital for effective customer service and support that it deserves a separate section.

Clarity in communication can improve customer service interactions tenfold. It's the difference between sending 10 emails or one when explaining a product.

While easy to decipher during interviews and onboarding, speaking with clarity remains a skill that customer service representatives should hone throughout their careers, especially as new products or updates are introduced.

Reddit's Explain Like I'm Five is a great example of clarity in action. On this thread, people take pretty complex topics, from biology to engineering to technology, and explain concepts as if they were teaching a child.

Now, "dumbing" answers down to this extent isn't necessary for your very adult audience, but it's a good example of explaining something clearly and concisely.

And keep in mind, there's a difference between breaking things down and being condescending, so if you share this example with your team, ensure they know where the line is.

Clear Communication Training Exercise

Have your team present product demonstrations as if you were a brand-new customer. Challenge them to explain the product (or a portion of your product) in five minutes or less.

3. Assertiveness and Directness

Customer service reps need to be both assertive and direct.

Doing so helps reps establish authority as someone who can solve customer problems, while simultaneously maintaining clear communication and boundaries.

The ability to face problems head-on without dancing around uncomfortable topics also gives them the tools to help customers find and share the best solutions for their challenges more efficiently.

Think about it this way — customers want quick and effective solutions to their challenges. They don't want to wait around for some wishy-washy answer that may or may not work.

By being assertive and direct, reps make customers feel confident that the information they're receiving is accurate.

Assertiveness and Directness Training Exercise

Encourage reps to try role-play exercises with each other where one person pretends to be an unhappy and vocal customer with many questions.

The other person should practice regaining control of the conversation and respectfully but directly navigating the discussion to the solution the rep can offer.

4. Product Feature and Application Skills

Companies are always growing and evolving — from product updates to new branding. And this is exactly how it should be because the world is also continually changing.

Customers have new expectations, competitors have new offers, and new technologies mean that companies that don't evolve and adapt won't thrive in the future.

With that in mind, you cannot afford for your customer service team to stagnate in their skills or training. Customer service training in your company should be ongoing across the board, but especially for the people on the front lines.

Considering you're essentially teaching them to teach, they should know your product inside and out.

Product Feature and Application Training Exercises

Here are a few examples of customer service training on your product and company:

Assign a mentor.

Organize a mentorship program for every employee, especially your new hires.

The mentor should be someone in another department to expose the employee to different business segments and allow them to stay up-to-date on company-wide happenings.

Additionally, when this mentor isn't in the direct chain of command, they can remain neutral when giving feedback.

Coordinate job shadowing.

This exercise is highly encouraged for new hires but can also benefit customer service veterans.

Shadowing introduces your team to new approaches, responses, and applications of customer service and your product that they'd otherwise not be exposed to.

Hold demonstration sessions.

This is similar to the training idea mentioned above, but it involves having your team present to their teammates. This will challenge them on their communication and understanding of the product.

Encourage attendees to provide constructive feedback to help one another grow. And consider recording these sessions for the person giving the training so they can hear how they present themselves.

Create a knowledge base.

Teaching others is the best way to learn, and it's especially true for customer service. Have your team create a knowledge base of your product or service offering in the form of a guide or directory.

This will challenge your team on their knowledge and clarity and ultimately help customers by creating a lasting company resource.

And, if you make someone responsible for updating it each quarter, you'll have a fantastic record to cross-train new departments.

Learn how to set up your knowledge base of articles in HubSpot's Service Hub.

5. Crisis Management Skills

Research shows that 70% of unhappy customers whose problems are resolved are willing to shop with a business again.

Just because a customer comes to you unhappy, angry, or rude doesn't mean they have to walk away with the same sentiment.

Appropriately managing each customer's crisis and actively working to change their attitude is how you serve and retain customers in the long run.

Discover how to manage, plan for, and communicate during crises with these management plan templates.

Crisis Management Training Exercises

Even those with thick skin can get worn down and discouraged after dealing with many angry customers. So, here are a couple of training exercises to teach your customer service team how to deal with — and delight — difficult customers.

Conduct role-play activities.

This training exercise is highly recommended for all customer service representatives and can be especially helpful for pacifying angry customers.

Conducting mock calls that resemble a real customer service issue (and involve a seemingly angry caller) can help acclimate your team to the realities of upset customers.

Have your team work together. By encouraging veterans on your team to use real situations they've dealt with in the past, you can ensure that your new hires get relevant training.

Teach the LAST method.

Despite intensive training on skills like empathy and patience, some difficult customers will simply be impossible to relate to.

That's where methods like reflective listening and LAST come into play.

LAST stands for L isten, A cknowledge, S olve, and T hank.

Teach your team to pause, listen to, and acknowledge upset customers. These steps can make the difference between solving an angry customer's problem and turning an angry customer into a satisfied one.

6. Team-Building and Camaraderie Skills

Camaraderie and community among professional teams in any industry can help with overall performance, but it's especially important in customer service.

I included this section in my list of customer service training ideas because that's essentially what it is — training your team to take care of themselves so they can take care of your customers.

Team-Building and Camaraderie Training Exercises

Here are a few ways to train your team to cultivate community and take care of themselves:

Encourage meditation.

Dealing with customers all day, every day, can be incredibly draining and stressful. Meditation can be a helpful tool to regain mental balance and relaxation amid customer service chaos.

Dedicate time to learning meditation and relaxation methods, so your team feels comfortable taking a break. Apps like Headspace and Calm can help your team, especially if they meditate together.

Inspire healthy competition.

Customer service training isn't just about teaching your team how to do their job; it's also about encouraging them to reach their full potential.

Inspiring healthy competition through a leaderboard or monthly awards will challenge your customer service team to go above and beyond, helping more customers, creating camaraderie, and contributing to their overall success and future career.

Fun fact: HubSpot's own customer support teams use a leaderboard and have found it motivates and inspires performance.

Take team outings (in-person or digitally).

Traditional product and skill training can bring your team together at work, but out-of-office activities can also inspire community and friendship that further encourage camaraderie in the office.

Treat your team to an event or activity unrelated to work, such as a museum trip or a remote team-building game. These activities are fun, casual, and lead to lasting connections that can mitigate otherwise tough days at work.

In other words, they can lead to strong employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.

Since it takes people up to two years to get fully up to speed, making sure your customer service team is satisfied is a good business practice.

7. Customer Advocacy and Success Skills

To create an atmosphere of customer advocacy and success, your training has to go above and beyond teaching soft and technical skills.

You can win big when you can turn happy customers into customers who actively promote your company.

However, it's not just about delivering a quality product or service. These customers don't simply exist once they purchase from you.

Instead, they're created when your customer service team treats them well and fights to solve their problems.

Customer Advocacy and Success Training Exercises

Here are examples of customer service training to build a world-class customer-focused culture:

Teach new language.

I referenced positive language in a previous section, but this is a little different.

The key to customer advocacy is aligning your goals and needs with the customer and essentially "joining their team" as you work towards a solution. This can be done with a simple switch in verbiage.

Consider creating a "say this, not that" document your team can refer to in conversations. Doing so helps them enhance how customers perceive your company and improve their experience.

For example, how does "I'm not sure we can do that for you" sound compared to "let's see what we can do to solve that"?

How about: "Let's get you set up with the right person to help" versus "I can't help with that"?

Changing responses to align with a customers' frustrations and needs tells a customer, "We're on your side, too."

Encourage exceeding expectations.

Let's say your team must solve a minimum of 10 tickets per day. You could train your employees to get that done and leave them alone. I mean, they are doing their work, right?

Sure, but this hardly creates an environment of going above and beyond for the customer (not to mention each employee's potential). Instead of settling with "good enough," challenge your team to do the best they can do every day.

This motivation will change how much work is done and influence how they work with and satisfy customers.

Not sure how to do this? An example could be creating a leaderboard or gamifying your team output, which we mentioned earlier.

Collect (and use) feedback.

Feedback is the lifeblood of any team or company that wants to improve. Invest in infrastructure that collects customer feedback through surveys, social media, or direct messages.

It's not enough to get customer feedback. You must also use that feedback to measure the team's success and identify improvement opportunities.

It helps individuals improve their skills and shows your customers that you care about what they have to say.

Of note: If you act on a specific piece of feedback, send a note to the customer thanking them for the input and letting them know how you've acted on it so they feel heard and appreciated.

For example, if a customer mentions that they wish you included a resources section on your website for quick self-service, and you decide to create one, let them know.

8. Conflict Resolution Skills

Conflict resolution skills are necessary for any service and support calls reps have with customers. After all, customers reaching out to your service and support reps are doing so because they're trying to find a solution to a challenge or roadblock.

Not to mention, reps are bound to encounter angry, frustrated customers from time to time, too — this requires an even deeper level of conflict resolution on the part of reps.

Conflict Resolution Training Exercises

You can teach reps to resolve different types of conflict in a wide variety of ways. Here are some examples of tips you can encourage your customer service team to use:

• Draw on past experiences to set expectations.
• Communicate clearly.
• Show empathy.
• Use active listening.
• Acknowledge the people's specific needs.
• Don't point fingers or place the blame on anyone.
• Use "I" statements.
• Say you're sorry.
• Stay calm and professional.
• Help people how they want to be helped.
• Don't interrupt.
• Remember the importance of maintaining the relationship.

A lot goes into customer service training, and it can be a daunting process to manage alone. Thankfully, there are plenty of customer service training materials available online. We've gathered some of our favorites below.

Learn everything you need to know to get started with the HubSpot Service Hub.

1. Customer Service Training Manual [ Download for Free ]

Aligning your team with universal training documentation is an assured way to inform new hires of their roles, goals, and expectations.

You can use this free customer support training manual template to build a customizable business manual.

New Hire Guide

This part of the template allows you to welcome your new customer service reps and give them an overview of the team. It also lets you warmly greet them and get them excited about their new role.

Customer service reps are one of the roles with the highest turnover , so you want to get them started on the right foot.

This short, flexible section allows you to give ballpark dates for when certain parts of the training will start and end.

Later in the manual, you can provide a more detailed 100-day plan with specific milestones, but this section will help you set the stage and establish expectations.

Tech and Software Setup

Your reps will need to leverage many tools to get their job done efficiently, but you don't want them to feel overwhelmed. Feelings of overwhelm can quickly lead to burnout.

Use this section to outline where they can get a monitor and headset, which customer service software and CRM they'll use, and how to access and set up each tool.

Remember that camaraderie we were talking about earlier? You should strive to foster that starting from the training period.

Giving your reps a list of people to schedule "coffee chats" with can help them get acquainted with the team more quickly. This is especially important if your customer service team is remote.

A strong 100-day or 30-60-90-day plan can get your rep started on the right foot and give them guidelines for how they should perform by a certain date. No rep wants to be hired and feel like they have to perform perfectly on the first day.

Reassure your reps that they'll be "ramped up" to full performance standards by outlining what will be expected of them as time goes on.

Feedback and Reviews

Providing feedback as you train your customer service rep is essential for ensuring their success. This section lets you set dates for checking in with your new rep to let them know how they're doing.

These meetings don't have to be formal, but you should know how to conduct a performance appraisal before starting one.

Interacting with Customers

In this section of the manual template, you can provide concrete guidelines for handling customer inquiries and complaints.

Here, you can provide a few guidelines for fostering a positive customer service tone during the call. You might also link to your customer service scripts and/or role-play scenarios.

Escalation Framework

A top-performing customer service rep knows when to escalate a problem to someone who can deal with it more effectively. This part of the manual gives your new reps guidance on when to do just that.

Consider including a chart and scenarios when escalation is necessary to keep the customer (and your rep) happy. Remember, if your service rep feels forced to deal with a situation that is out of their hands, everyone suffers.

Product FAQ

While you should hold a dedicated product training during your new hire onboarding process , you should still include an easy-to-reference section with FAQs about your product.

This part will address any product questions that may come up as the rep gets acquainted with the product they'll provide support for. It should also provide quick answers to frequent support questions.

Resources for Success

Leave the customer service rep with a list of tools that will help them more effectively ramp up and get acquainted with the ins and outs of their role.

You can include logistical information here — such as a link to your documents about PTO — and also inspirational materials, such as a video from the CEO.

2. Customer Service Training Courses

Online customer service training courses teaching vital skills can be a great addition to your training program.

As self-led seminars, employees take ownership of their training and are exposed to skills and competencies outside the organization.

Below is a short list of some free customer service training courses for your team.

1. Delivering Exceptional Customer Support by HubSpot

This short course from HubSpot will acquaint your reps with key competencies and tactics for delivering support your customers will praise you for.

It's a quick course — less than an hour long — making it an ideal and convenient addition to your training schedule. You could even get your entire customer service team in one room and play it for them at once.

The course is split into three sections:

• Understanding customer support competencies. Your reps will learn the basic skills they need to deliver excellent support and how to improve those skills continuously.
• Support case framework. Your reps will learn how to structure their approach to each case to resolve customer issues more effectively.
• Managing your time as a customer support rep. Time management is the lifeblood of a strong workflow. In this short lesson, reps will learn how to increase their productivity.

2. Customer Service Training by Alison

Alison is a digital education hub that offers free courses and paid certifications on various skills. Its customer service training course is geared towards beginners in the field, so it's a perfect place to start.

This course will give your employees an understanding of essential customer service factors and help them understand how to deliver a customer-friendly approach that's best for your business needs.

They'll also learn the benefits of providing excellent service and cover a few do's and don'ts when dealing with customers.

3. Culture of Services: New Perspective on Customer Relations by edX

Like Alison, edX is another digital learning platform offering free courses.

They partner with universities worldwide, such as Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Kyoto — the school to which the Culture of Services: New Perspective on Customer Relations course is presented.

This course focuses on customer service's social and cultural aspects and takes 9 to 11 weeks to complete. Throughout the course, your employees will be exposed to various services — such as sushi bars, restaurants, hotels, and apparel.

They'll study customer service's "nuanced and paradoxical nature" and learn how to approach it from a cultural and social perspective.

4.  Customer Service Training  by GoSkills

GoSkills, an innovative online learning platform, is dedicated to helping organizations and individuals worldwide acquire essential business skills.

Their customer service training, led by the dynamic David Brownlee, goes beyond generic courses. It offers engaging lessons such as "Psychology of Your Company," "Verbal and Nonverbal Cues," and "Anticipate Customer Needs," among others. These lessons are designed to be concise, with durations of 3-6 minutes, allowing learners to complete the video content within an hour and a half. Additionally, each lesson is accompanied by supplementary exercises to reinforce learning.

Your team can access this invaluable course through a free trial or via your organization's GoSkills Courses or GoSkills Platinum plan. It's also important to note that all GoSkills courses are CPD-accredited, ensuring the highest standard of professional development.

5. Innovative Customer Service Techniques by LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an award-winning online education platform run by the most popular professional social media platform. It primarily teaches digital and business-related skills.

The Innovative Customer Service Techniques course is created and presented by customer service expert Jeff Toister and consists of a short 45-minute video.

Your employees can access the course through a seven-day free trial or join LinkedIn Learning's paid membership.

6. Bonus: Business Courses by Treehouse

Treehouse is another online course library, but the program requires a paid membership.

HubSpot uses Treehouse for our own customer support and service training. Treehouse offers courses on soft skills and others that may contribute to overall customer service education.

3. Customer Service Training Games

Using games and activities can make customer service training much more fun.

Whether they require materials like a whiteboard or simply involve your team, games are a way to teach valuable skills while encouraging teamwork and collaboration between your employees.

Check out these free, quick-and-easy games to play during customer support and service training:

• Fun and Powerful Training Games for Customer Service Teams by UserLike
• Free Customer Service Training Games by BusinessTrainingWorks

4. Customer Service Training Videos

Sometimes it's valuable to incorporate outside insight or perspective during customer service training.

Best of all, it's not something you have to do on your own. Videos from thought leaders and industry experts are powerful additions to your customer service training programs.

Here's an example of a well-made, valuable customer service training video. Also, check out this post for more videos .

Customer Service Training Video Example

In this 12-minute video, business coach and consultant David Brownlee explains the essentials of customer service in friendly, easy-to-understand language. With over 4,000 likes, the value of this video speaks for itself.

Brownlee is an expert in the customer service field and advocates for creating relationships of trust and loyalty with customers, promoting customer care versus simple service.

Grow Better With Customer Service & Support Training

Consumers view customer service as the test of how much a company truly values them.

Roughly three out of every four customers view their interactions with customer service as more important than marketing or sales — and it's why customer service is such an important engine for growth.

With your customer service team on the front lines of customer service and retention, they need to be properly trained and equipped to handle any challenge that comes their way.

Execute these customer service and support training ideas, and your customers and employees will be more satisfied overall.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

Customer Service Scripts: 20 Easy-To-Use Templates For Your Support Team

The Top 5 Most Important Customer Service Standards, According to Consumers

10 Customer Service Principles Every Great Support Rep Should Follow

Customer Service & Support Training: 45 Free Resources

13 Body Language Tips That Can Make or Break Your Customer Service

30 Employee Engagement Ideas & Activities Your Team Will Actually Enjoy

Customer Service Culture: 7 Effective Ways to Build It [+ Examples]

How to Provide White-Glove Customer Service

What Is a Customer Service Self-Evaluation? [+Examples]

How DISC Personality Tests Can Help New Service Reps

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Scam Warning

Scam overview.

There is no legitimate reason someone you do not know would send you an unsolicited check to purchase goods.

There is no legitimate reason someone you do not know would send you an unsolicited check as payment before a service is completed.

There is no legitimate reason someone you do not know would send you a check as payment for more than they owe you, and then ask you to send back the difference.

These scenarios are 100% a scam, every single time.

Scam Awareness

We are aware that scammers periodically impersonate our company (as they do many similar companies).

We always appreciate when someone brings it to our attention, and has the forethought to contact us about any offer that might seem suspicious.

If you identify received materials as fraudulent, we recommend destroying them and ceasing all contact with the person(s) who provided them.

Please review the scam warning information and materials below to know how to identify potential scams.

For additional scam information from the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA), please click here .

Contact Methods

Official email from Customer Impact will only come from the “ @customerimpactinfo.com ” email domain.

We do not use Gmail or any other email service providers to communicate with our field representatives.

We will never send you unsolicited mail, and we will never mail you a check prior to conducting a project. If you apply for and are accepted for a project requiring materials, then you will receive communication from a CI employee that includes tracking information for the materials being shipped.

We will never send you unsolicited messages through the LinkedIn platform. This contact method is usually from someone you may know or are connected with on LinkedIn. Someone gains unauthorized access to their account and sends you unwanted solicitations.

Text Message

We never conduct any initial contact through text messaging. We encourage you to report any unsolicited text message contact to your telecommunications provider and block the number from further unwanted communication.

Imposter Websites

Fraudsters have also created false representations of our website, claiming to be us. The URL will be slightly modified, as in the example below. These websites contain fake applications in an effort to source personal information and potentially scam applicants. We encourage you to report any impersonation websites.

Fake Applications

Our application process is conducted through SASSIE systems, which is a trusted and secure database. We do not conduct registration by any other means (Microsoft Forms, etc.) We encourage you to report any unsolicited registration forms. Please see an example below.

Retail Application Thank you once more for your interest and willingness to work with us {Customer Impact Consumer Research Group}. We are a result-oriented Development and Management Consulting firm involved in helping 169 Companies world wide to achieve market leadership and Improve connections between professional service firms and their client organization. Our company is currently in search of “RETAIL EVALUATOR’S SERVICE” in your area. The job entails store evaluate and comment on customer service impact in your local communities by helping stores, restaurants, and banks become better places for consumers like you to visit. A mystery shopping assignment involves independent contractors posing as “shoppers”. You will be paid to visit their local brands as a regular customer would, and report back on various aspects of their experience. . If your performance is satisfied with the organization means your point will be graded and salary increases to 15 percent. RESPONSIBILITIES: 1, Assignments are to be completed quickly as possible, but flexible. 2, You need to be friendly, reliable, have a good attitude, Effective time management skills, a self-starter and pro-active. 3, You will be able to multitask and be able to work as a team. COMPENSATION/SALARY BASE: As a ‘RETAIL EVALUATOR’S SERVICE’, you’ll get paid to eat and shop for free at your favorite brands. Each survey takes a maximum of 30-45 Minutes to complete and you’ll be paid $350/400 for every survey completed, No Sales Involved and No Experienced required, I promise you, this will not inconvenience your present job. The company will furnish you with all expenses needed for the assignment and any other expense incurred during the course of executing your assignment. If you are not seeking additional opportunities at this time we understand. We are also open to any referrals that you may have. To ensure proper consideration, please fill in the information below as completely and accurately as possible. Come join our team. You’re going to like it here!

Customer Impact never pays in advance, and we never pay with checks — only through Direct Deposit & PayPal .

If you receive an unsolicited check in the mail, we suggests that you shred the check and ignore the project.

If you have already deposited an unsolicited check, contact your financial institution IMMEDIATELY and alert them to the situation.

See our Shopper FAQ

Registration

When you register to be a shopper or field representative with Customer Impact, your account profile and shopper history is maintained via a secure platform. You can access this system at any time to view your shop log and account information. Email correspondence from us will never include this information.

Learn more about becoming a Shopper or Retail Merchandising Representative.

Notes About Scam Examples

In the scam examples below, please note the following:

• They are not sent from a “ @customerimpactinfo.com ” domain (notice they use gmail and others).
• We will never mail a check. Customer Impact only pays via PayPal or Direct Deposit .
• We will never submit payment before the work is completed.
• Note the spelling and general sentence structure in the communications.

Customer Impact is a reputable mystery shopping and retail service provider. We would love to have you as a member of our field team.

Click here to sign up.

Once registered, you will be able to view our job board and apply for any jobs in your area.

Scam Examples

Email scam example #1.

Subject: YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT PAYMENT/INSTRUCTION UPDATE Dear _______, You will receive a payment today for your first secret shopper assignment via  FedEx postal service. The tracking number for the package is ************  you can track it at www.fedex.com.. You are kindly advise to deposit the payment once you receive it.it will clear immediately or probably take 24hrs to clear in your back**You are advice to run a survey on two prominent Companies in your area, which is Wal-Mart & CVS,7ELEVEN,RITE AID,WALGREEN OR any STORE. 1. you are to deduct $400 for your commission from the total payment received, after completion of first assignment… Attached is the Final update & instructions on how to complete your first assignment. Regards, Scott Hiller Customer Impact

Text Messages:

Materials Received:

Text Message Scam Example:

Link to Scam Form from Text:

Email Scam Example #2

From: [email protected] Subject: Congratulations Read & Kindly Reply Back. Dear _________, I received your information in good time and i like to congratulate you as a member of our working team. As a mystery shopper you are responsible for gathering information, giving ideas, and improving brand standards of products and services. You have been selected to conduct an all expenses paid survey and evaluation in your area. As our mystery shopper posing as a normal customer, you are expected to perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product or using a service. While there, you will secretly evaluate things like customer service, store cleanliness  and quality of service rendered. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out. Some of the simple questions in your shopper’s report will be: Were the employees friendly and courteous? Did you receive prompt service? Was the merchandise displayed neatly? Would you return to this store / restaurant? Was it easy to use the service? That’s all to it! The answers to these kinds of questions are extremely valuable to any business – and they are willing to pay top dollar to find out what consumers really think. You will be providing important information that will be used to improve the quality of businesses everywhere. Where will I be mystery shopping? The companies we deal with mostly represent large chain stores and popular franchises with hundreds and thousands of locations across the United States. They are stores, and service like: CVS FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WALMART MONEY GRAM RITE AID WALGREEN 7 ELEVEN No commitment, membership fee, special skills are not required for this assignment. Your survey packet which includes funds for the shopping will be mailed to you soon. Confirm in writing your readiness to complete your first assignment and let your opinion count. Regards, Todd Ian

Email Scam Example #3

From: customerimpact.recruiting.com Dear ________,         I received your information in good time and i like to congratulate you as a member of our working team. As a mystery shopper you are responsible for gathering information, giving ideas, and improving brand standards of products and services. You have been selected to conduct an all expenses paid survey and evaluation in your area. As our mystery shopper posing as a normal customer, you are expected to perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product or using a service. While there, you will secretly evaluate things like customer service, store cleanliness  and quality of service rendered. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out. Some of the simple questions in your shopper’s report will be: Were the employees friendly and courteous? Did you receive prompt service? Was the merchandise displayed neatly? Would you return to this store / restaurant? Was it easy to use the service? That’s all to it! The answers to these kinds of questions are extremely valuable to any business – and they are willing to pay top dollar to find out what consumers really think. You will be providing important information that will be used to improve the quality of businesses everywhere. Where will I be mystery shopping? The companies we deal with mostly represent large chain stores and popular franchises with hundreds and thousands of locations across the United States. They are stores, and service like: CVS FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WALMART MONEY GRAM RITE AID WALGREEN 7 ELEVEN No commitment, membership fee, special skills are not required for this assignment. Your survey packet which includes funds for the shopping will be mailed to you soon. Confirm in writing your readiness to complete your first assignment and let your opinion count.

Email Scam Example #4

Subject: Welcome, You’ve Been Hired! Congratulations, Our review is complete, We verified your provided information and you’ve been approved by the management and shortlisted to participate in our forth coming survey evaluation this week. Send – OFFER ACCEPTED to (415) 684-8456 to acknowledge receipt of this message.Your commission will be $300 for this week survey assignment. It is my hope, that your addition to the fold will bring another edge and an heightened perspective to our surveys in your city. Welcome to the team! Please acknowledge receipt of this message as soon as you read it. Regards, George Taylor, Evaluation Consultant, CUSTOMER IMPACT MARKETING

Email Scam Example #5

From: [email protected] Subject: Welcome to the team! Dear Representative, Once again, congratulations on making the team. It’s my hope that our partnership will bring a better shopping experience to your local area. I will be your survey coordinator. You will receive a package containing full work details, also a trial evaluation package which will contain the first-week salary in the amount of $300 and the details of the secret shopping. The way this is handled is a determinant of your final confirmation and pay increment. You are expected to reply stating if you are willing, able and capable to handle this job position. Our first survey assignment has been authorized and scheduled for the end of the week. Your survey packet has been mailed out and will be delivered by USPS Postal service this week. About Us: Mystery shopping services measure allow you to “inspect what you expect,” evaluating whether brand standards are met throughout all your locations. We manage a base of 300,000 independent contractors delivering over 100,000 shops every month. We take great pride in delivering the highest quality programs in the industry. We design our questionnaires to align with brand standards. What gets measured gets done. there’s no better way to measure whether training had an impact than by using mystery shopping. We can measure the simple things, like cleanliness, and complex things, like sales effectiveness. Our clients use mystery shopping to coach their teams and help every location improve their delivery on the brand promise. We offer a competitive wage for completed surveys and also include bonuses for surveys completed, within the first 48 hours of packet delivery. For example, if your survey parcel is delivered on a Wednesday. Surveys completed by the Friday will attract a survey bonus of $50 – $200 depending on the store or business visited/surveyed. Our fixed price per survey is $150 (One hundred and fifty dollars only). An assignment may include 2 or even 3 surveys at a time. Your fixed rate is multiplied by the number of surveys done per assignment. For example, if you were to visit an Apple store and Best Buy as part of an assignment. You get $150 for the Apple store survey and $150 for the Best Buy survey to equal $300 for your assignment. You are also paid for gas expenses. When you visit a store for a survey, a few things are important to note about the business being visited: 1. The address of the particular store visited. 2. What was your reception like at the entrance of the store? 3. Your time of arrival. 4. Name of teller/cashier or anyone that has or volunteered to attend to you. 5. How long did your transaction take? 6. How would you rate the customer service experience? (On a scale of 1-10) 7. Sanitation Level. (Aisles, Floor, Shelves, Toilets) 8. How tedious was checkout? 9. How friendly is the staff, do you feel they know/enjoy their job. 10. Would you return to or recommend this store to a friend? A survey questionnaire is used to report our surveys. You will receive one either with your survey packet or sent to you via email. You will need a smartphone, printer, scanner or fax machine. Your survey is returned to me via email. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD YOU TAKE YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE STORE OR FILL IN STORE, THIS MIGHT ALERT STAFF AND RESULT IN A BIASED SURVEY. YOUR SURVEY SHOULD BE FILLED OUT IN THE CAR OR AT HOME. PLEASE SEND MESSAGE RECEIVED to acknowledge the receipt of this message. Regards, George Desir, Evaluation Consultant. CUSTOMER IMPACT MARKETING

Email Scam Example #6

The present package contains your first Secret Survey assignment, So have fun, make money and help us improve customer service on a Global level. Take note included in this package is the checklist with further required steps and the payment sent out for your highly appreciated service. The check $1,542.79 that covers the assignment bills, evaluation costs and your survey service commission payment of $200 YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT Walmart2Walmart Transfer ASSIGNMENT (Steps to Take) You are to evaluate 2 Walmart store by using there ria money transfer in sending money to the other agent information below: Name: Alexander ______ Address: Irving, TX 750** Phone: 713-732-**** Amount: $600 First Store Name: Alexander ______ Address: Irving, TX 750** Phone: 713-732-**** Amount: $700 Second Store Here are the details we will need from the SURVEY – Store Name, Address, Date and Time of visit – Name of the cashier/Attendant {if visible on Tag} – Did the store clerk thank you upon completion of your Transfer? – What was your overall experience with the staff in the store? – How long it took you to get check out – Captured image Receipt Reminder: Under no circumstances should you Acknowledge that you are evaluating their services as that will deter the purpose of the whole program, so if Asked if you are a secret surveyor please answer NO as stated Above. As soon as the evaluation is completed, kindly have all the details above emailed in your report. — Regards, HR Manager, Michael John Customer Impact

Email Scam Example #7

Subject: Earn While Shopping Job Offer!! Customer Impact ® is accepting applications for qualified individuals (18+) to become shoppers and merchandisers. I don’t want you to miss out because I have been working with them part-time for almost six months now and it has been awesome. I give you 100% guarantee of their legitimacy. PAYMENT TERMS : You will receive a flat sum of $200 per assignment and could earn up to $2000 Per month The company will furnish you with all expense needed for the assignment and any other expense incurred during the course of executing your assignment, With no sign up fee. Kindly click here (*there is an attached link*) to apply and learn more about this offer to earn while shopping.

Email Scam Example #8

Subject: Opportunity to Earn CUSTOMER IMPACT MARKETING is looking for brand assessor. As a brand assessor, your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurants and services in your area. All you have to do is spend a little time at the establishment, you give your feedback on the goods and service, and you will be well paid for your input and the time spent shopping. If interested kindly register via their website below to apply and read more about the job. you can make up to $300 weekly, I tried it and made cool cash. www.***********************.us feel free to share with as many friends as you think might be interested Refer a friend and receive $10 referral fee! Regards.

Email Scam Example #9

Dear Representative, We are very happy to welcome you to the survey team here at CUSTOMER IMPACT MARKETING… You are joining us at an exciting time of year, as we are moving into our busiest season. My name is George Desir, hiring & evaluation consultant for (CIM). We received your application in response to our email campaign for mystery shoppers in your local area and you have been selected as our newest shopper. You have been shortlisted to participate in our survey evaluation this week. It is my hope, that your addition to the fold will bring another edge and a heightened perspective to our surveys in your local city. Welcome to the team! Please acknowledge receipt of this email as soon as you read it and confirm your cell number as it’s important for SMS and Voice support. Regards, George Desir, Evaluation Consultant CUSTOMER IMPACT MARKETING.

Email Scam Example #10

ASSIGNMENT LOCATION: ANY WALMART/ AMAZON STORE TOTAL SUM RECEIVED: $1,980  2. SALARY FOR TASK: $150  3. MONEY FOR TASK: $1,830 (This is money that you will be spending at the store for your task which is separate from your salary) STEP 1: Upon receipt of this package, you are to send a text message to 951-582-4369 using the term “ EXERCISE RECEIVED ” and identifying yourself with your full name at the end of the message. This is the only package you will be receiving from us as every other correspondence regarding your task will be communicated to you via text message from the number provided to you. STEP 2: Deposit the check received in person into your bank account after which you are to notify the company via TEXT MESSAGE on 951-582-4369 using the term “ FUNDS LODGED ” and identifying yourself with your full name at the end of the message. STEP 3: Check your available balance after 24 hours for the availability of funds which is usually the time frame funds are processed and made available in your account which we also require that you notify the company via TEXT on 951-582-4369 using the term “ TOTAL SUM OF $1,980 READY ” identifying yourself with your full name at the end of the message. STEP 4: After the notification of availability of funds have been received from you, information on what to do will be provided to you by text from the number you have been corresponding with. All expenses for the evaluation exercise should be deducted from the company funds of $1,980 and after your task has been completed, you can deduct $150 from the balance which is the agreed sum to be paid to you as your salary for the task. Step 5: It is MANDATORY you include your FULL NAME at the end of every message for record purposes. INFORMATION ON WHAT TO BUY, HOW MUCH TO SPEND, AND WHERE THE ITEM PURCHASED WILL BE SHIPPED WILL BE PROVIDED ON THE DAY THE FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR TASK AND EVERY INSTRUCTION ON YOUR TASK WILL BE SENT VIA TEXT MESSAGE. It is mandatory that your assignment is completed within 24 hours upon receipt of the assignment package so as for us to meet up with the delivery time of reports to our clients. Kindly follow instructions as stated to guide you carry to out your assignment smoothly and if there are any questions that you might want to ask or if something is not clear, you can call 951-582-4369 OR send a text with your questions. WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER, FOLLOW STEP 1 INSTRUCTION AND A RESPONSE ON WHAT TO DO NEXT WILL BE SENT TO YOU.  Taylor Lees Task Supervisor 951-582-4369 [email protected]

Additional Text Message Examples:

Email Scam Example #11

From: [email protected] Subject: Congratulations Read & Kindly Reply Back. Dear __________,  We received your information in good time and will like to congratulate you as a member of Customer Impact working team. As a mystery shopper you are responsible to gather information, giving ideas, and improving brand standards of products and services. You have been selected to conduct an all expenses paid survey and evaluation in your area. As our mystery shopper posing as a normal customer, you are expected to perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product or using a service. While there, you will secretly evaluate things like customer service, store cleanliness  and quality of service rendered. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out. Some of the simple questions in your shopper’s report will be: Were the employees friendly and courteous? Did you receive prompt service? Was the merchandise displayed neatly? Would you return to this store / restaurant? Was it easy to use the service? That’s all there is to it! The answers to these kinds of questions are extremely valuable to any business – and they are willing to pay top dollar to find out what consumers really think. You will be providing important information that will be used to improve the quality of businesses everywhere. Where will I be mystery shopping? The companies we deal with mostly represent large chain stores and popular franchises with hundreds and thousands of locations across the United States. They are stores, services and restaurants like: USPS WAL-MART RITE AID WALGREEN CVS 7ELEVEN APPLE No commitment, membership fee, special skills are not required for this assignment. Your survey packet $3450 which includes funds for the shopping has been mailed to you . Confirm in writing your readiness to complete your first assignment and let your opinion count. Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this email and send a text to this contact: ‪(786) 373-8405 , that you received the approval notification and please note, that your prompt response to every email sent to you, shows the ability of good agents. Yours Sincerely, Scott Hiller Customer Impact ‪(786) 373-8405

Assignment Instructions: You will Purchase Postal Money Orders worth $3000, in $500 denominations (6 pieces of $500) from the Post office. You can make purchase with Credit Card AND Cash so you have to withdraw the money from the bank before your task OR GO WITH YOUR CARD. All should be purchased from the same Post office and at the same time. … The purchased money order will be mailed to the corresponding evaluator through FEDEX EXPRESS NEXT DAY (To be delivered 10 AM the next day). Ensure to leave the Receiver/Payee column on the money order blank. Mail the money orders and the receipt to the below address.

NOTE – The full letter copy can be read in the image below. This scam approach is asking the person to be an in-between or middleman. The request is to mail the money orders to other people who will then conduct the false evaluations.

LinkedIn Scam

Message From Lisa ______ 7:21 PM Hello, I don’t want you to miss out because I and six of my co- workers have been working with them part-time for almost six months now and it has been awesome. I give you 100% guarantee of their legitimacy. Customer Impact Inc® is currently accepting applications Via LINKEDIN for qualified individuals (18+) to become shoppers and merchandisers. you would be paid $300 per assignment, With no sign up fee. Follow https://rebrand.ly/custo6b193 or click below to Learn more about this offer. Regards, Lisa

NOTE – The link included in the above message goes to a page which says in part: About Us (Kindly Read & Understand Carefully Before Applying) :

Customer Impact is a national customer research company which provides retail stores, financial institutions, grocery stores, convenience stores, and restaurants a direct insight into their customer experiences. The senior partners in Customer Impact have been coordinating customer research and mystery shopping projects since 1988 for regional and national clients. Customer Impact has utilized a plan of action based upon experience for accurate and efficient design, development, and implementation of each and every research program. Programs are designed to measure, address, and resolve all of the critical factors that directly impact the customer service experience.

Similar LinkedIn Scam Examples:

Customer Service: 40 Useful Performance Feedback Phrases

Customer Service: Use these sample phrases to craft meaningful performance evaluations, drive change and motivate your workforce.

Customer Service is the ability to cater for the needs of the client by providing excellent customer service without compromise.

Customer Service: Exceeds Expectations Phrases

• Possesses a loyal customer base and is viewed as the person to go to by returning customers
• Excels at following up with customers to ensure they are fully satisfied
• Shows an extraordinary ability to understand what customers are experiencing and is able to meet all their needs fully
• Handles the most difficult customers with ease and manages to give them feedback in the most constructive manner
• Takes pride in serving all clients equally in a warm and friendly way
• Always has the right answers to the most difficult questions
• Clearly outlines the steps needed to resolve a problem in the simplest way possible
• Excels at offering special and unique solutions to customers with special needs
• Excels in redefining customer service processes to meet the ever-changing needs of customers
• Provides feedback as soon as a customer makes an inquiry

Customer Service: Meets Expectations Phrases

• Seeks assistance from colleagues when faced with a challenging question and avoids giving wrong answers
• Receives positive feedback consistently and has made gains in retaining customers
• Makes efforts to provide feedback in a timely manner and avoids becoming emotional when faced with objections
• Seeks assistance when handling customers with special needs and works well with most customers
• Takes part in redefining customer service process to meet the ever-changing needs of customers
• Puts more effort in providing feedback on time after a customer makes an inquiry
• Makes efforts to follow up with most customers to ensure they are satisfied
• Attempts to outline the steps needed to resolve a problem in a simpler way
• Understands what most customers are experiencing and is able to meet most of their needs
• Explains reasons for delays if it takes more time to find a solution

Customer Service: Needs Improvement Phrases

• Receives multiple customer complaints about failing to follow up on their inquiries as promised
• Does not manage the expectations of customers by failing to give reasons for delays
• Receives substandard feedback from most customers and is viewed as the not to go to person
• Uses inflammatory language towards difficult customers and argues with objecting customers
• Shows frustration when a customer asks too many questions and lacks patience with customers who ask irrelevant questions
• Alienates customers with special needs and does not bother to attend to customers on a first come first served basis
• Gives inaccurate solutions when faced with difficult questions and does not bother to ask for assistance
• Demonstrates insufficient knowledge of company products and does not bother to stay updated with changes to products
• Ignores customers with unrealistic demands and makes little attempts to negotiate with them to reach a middle ground
• Makes little efforts to redefine customer service processes to meet the ever-changing needs of customers

Customer Service: Self Evaluation Questions

• Can you recall of any situations where customers made objections? How did you react?
• Were there any times you came across customers with special needs? How did you assist them?
• How do you respond to customers who make unrealistic demands?
• Are there any instances where customers asked irrelevant questions? How did you handle such customers?
• Is there a time when you were asked a question and you were unable to answer? Did you seek assistance?
• Are there any instances where some customers declined following a queue? How did you correct such situations?
• What efforts are you making to gain more understanding about company products?
• Can you think of a time where you felt you had not responded well? How did you correct the situation?
• What efforts are you making to redefine customer service processes to meet the ever-changing needs of customers?
• Are there any instances where you delayed responding to a customer and did you give any explanations for the delay?

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• troubleshooter

Troubleshooters: Be alert for secret shopper scam

Many companies hire more people for the holidays. But before you sign up to make some spending money, keep reading.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Many people look to make extra money, especially this time of year. With that in mind, experts have issued a warning.

Action News spoke with a viewer who recently was targeted by a secret shopper scam.

"Out of the blue, I get this package, and it looks very official," said Paul K. of Bear, Delaware.

It was sent via U.S. Postal Service by priority mail.

"The minute they delivered it, I got a notification on my text immediately saying, 'Hey, glad to see you got the email package. You got the priority package,'" he said.

But Paul does believe six months ago he responded 'yes' to an email inquiry asking if he wanted to be a secret shopper.

Inside the package were directions to do it and a check for $1,900.

"The check looked very official," he added.

It was supposedly money for his first "Secret Survey assignment," which was supposedly a customer service evaluation tool from Whole Foods.

But then Paul saw that the instructions were a red flag.

The instructions prompted Paul to deposit the check, deduct his payment of $450, then immediately buy a visa gift card with the rest and email the account info along with his report.

"Trying to get you to draw money on your account," he said.

Fortunately, Paul didn't cash the check or fall for the scam, but others have. The Federal Trade Commission has put out an alert about warning checks like this are fake, and once the bank realizes it, it will want the money back, which means you will be out that money and the funds you spent to buy the gift card.

So do not respond to offers like this. Just report it to the FTC .

And if you've already cashed a fake check and sent money to a scammer, contact the card issuer right away and ask if it can refund your money.

Meantime, Whole Foods said it "does use mystery shoppers but will never ask that person to buy prepaid gift cards, provide a check, or wire money as part of the job or for survey participation."

Related Topics

• PHILADELPHIA
• TROUBLESHOOTER
• ACTION NEWS TROUBLESHOOTERS

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Fake offers for secret shopper jobs

Did you get an offer to be a secret shopper for a well-known company? It might come as text, email, or letter inviting you to work on a ‘research project starting soon in your area.’ Several people who got offers to be secret shoppers for grocery stores, like Whole Foods, thought they were scams, and wrote to the FTC to warn others. They were right — the offers are scams — and now we’re extending the warning.

People spotted signs of a fake check scam in the bogus Whole Foods secret shopper offer (which was from a scammer, not really Whole Foods). That’s when someone sends you a check and convinces you to deposit it and quickly send them money. In this scam, the recruiter would send shoppers a check for more than $2,000 and they would:

• Cash or deposit the check immediately
• Buy gift cards with most of the money
• Keep about $450 as their pay
• Scratch the coating off the gift cards to show the PIN codes
• Send pictures of the cards’ front and back (with the codes) to the recruiter

If anyone ever tells you to deposit a check, withdraw money, and send it to someone, that’s a scam. When the check later turns out to be fake, the bank will want the money back. And if anyone tells you to go buy gift cards and share the PIN numbers, that’s a scam, too. Once the scammer has the PIN, they also have all the money from the cards.

So, if you get an offer like this, don’t respond. Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov . If you already cashed a fake check and sent money to a scammer, find out how to report to gift card, wire transfer and money order businesses. Read more in How to Spot, Avoid and Report Fake Check Scams .

Read Our Privacy Act Statement

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s  computer user records  system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s  Privacy Act system notices . For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy .

Read Our Comment Policy

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

• We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
• We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
• We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
• We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Try2bfly March 03, 2020 I have the fake check

In reply to I have the fake check by Try2bfly

In reply to I just got 2 checks yesterday by D~Nice

1Locolobo March 03, 2020 I got one about advertising from a company wrapping my truck with their logo. I sent me a check and I take it to my bank to have it checked out it was not real. They stamped it counterfeit company keeps calling me keeps texting me I have ignored them asking for the money.

In reply to I got one about advertising by 1Locolobo

In reply to I went thru same experience , by Annee

In reply to you aren't alone,when it by taptap

You can help law enforcement by reporting this to the FTC at www.FTC.gov/Complaint. The information you give goes into a secure database that the FTC and other law enforcement agencies use for investigations. You can choose whether or not to give your name and other personal information. Thank you.

Deuceknigh1 March 03, 2020 They emailed me or texted me. To be a secret shopper for CVS and or Walgreens. Luckily or unluckily I’ve been scammed by fake check scams before and reported it to the FTC scam site. My wife and I both received checks in the amounts of $2976.00 and here wax almost the same . They said we were to buy products and rate the cleanliness of the store, the helpfulness of cashiers etc. when they initially got in contact with us, they asked,” how would you like to shop and be paid to do it plus keep all items you buy”? “You will use your money and be reimbursed and or we will send you Capitol to shop with or both.” Once we got the checks and saw it was bogus and way too high of an amount of money , we reported it, within a day or two we got texts saying “ surely by now you’ve received the check, deposit it and get in touch with us NOW, RIGHT NOW!” We of course did not and they sent another text or two and that was it . It’s sad that they prey on people looking for honest work or opportunity and don’t care whom they hurt . I sincerely hope they all get caught at one point or another and have to make reparations for their thievery. Sincerely, Steve Knight

Dba March 03, 2020 This happened to me last year. I found the add on Craigslist. They sent me a check and everything but thank God I did not cash it. I did report it though. Thanks again for the confirmation that I did the right thing.

julietoast March 03, 2020 I just got another one but it is a cashier's check from a local bank? Wouldn't I be able to go to that bank and cash it ? Of course it may be fake but they would tell me.

In reply to I just got another one but it by julietoast

You are responsible for the checks you cash or deposit, even if you don’t know they’re fake. It can take weeks for a bank to discover that a check was a forgery. Until the bank confirms that the funds from the check were deposited into your account, you are responsible for any money you withdraw against that check. You can read more about Fake Checks in this FTC article.

In reply to You are responsible for the by FTC Staff

Cc March 03, 2020 I was sent a money order it was delivered by mail in a first class envelope. With two money orders and instructions telling me what yo do. Luckily I was able to figure it out I didnt deposit I threw them out

Glen March 03, 2020 Yes I have got several emails like being a secret shopper but I didn’t and I unsubscribe but then here will be another one come what can you do

kat March 03, 2020 Should we report it when we get this letter and check in the mail and who to, would it be a good idea to put on social media to warn others, I caught it was a scam but others might not?

In reply to Should we report it when we by kat

You can report the details to the FTC at www.FTC.gov/Complaint. The information you give goes into a secure database that the FTC and other law enforcement agencies use for investigations.

If you get a check and letter through the mail, you can take it all to your local post office and ask them to forward it to the Postal Inspectors. 

Ralph johnson March 03, 2020 I have received 3 different check the 2nd one in December 2019 for over $2,000.00 to have a decal for a engery drink co put the sticker on my car i was to keep $400.00 and send the rest to them i am not dum so i took the check to my bank and opened a savings account. That check was a cashiers check my personal banker told me it was a.scam check so it was shreaded the first check i dont remember what it was for. But the 3rd check they. gave me 24 hours after it was deposited into my account to buy gift cards scratch off the backs take pictures and text the numbers to a phone number i would advise any one if you receive a check and not sure about open a savings account DO NOT DEPOSIT IN YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT ARE YOUR PERSONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT .

In reply to I have received 3 different by Ralph johnson

In reply to I have a question what if you by Kassie

Linda March 03, 2020 Last week I got 2 envelopes in the mail with tracking numbers, a letter saying to deposit into your account keep 200 and buy $800 in I'm at cards as a mystery shopper. The 2 money orders I took to the post office and they showed me the difference between the real postal money orders and the scammers postal money order. Then they were to be handed over to the police. I told him I got one last year and I threw it in the garbage. So be very careful the scammers are getting better at these money orders.. Always have it checked out before you fall for a scam..

This happened to my girlfriend's mother a few months ago. She received a check in the amount of $950.00 and asked me if this looked legit. I told her almost certainly not. Guess how much one must steal from someone in California in order for it to be deemed a felony, rather than a misdemeanor? Answer: any amount over $950.00 !!!

msfisk March 04, 2020 I'll report the checks I received. I did deposit one of them but then waited to see what would happen---it was no good.

Kathleen March 04, 2020 I got one of the offers on my e-mail. I have been a secret shopper for a legitimate company years ago and I know they don't give $400. for a brief time in the store. they only pay pocket money, or they did when I did this. So I just deleted it cause I knew it was a scam. But some people that are on tough times might think this is real!

Dan17 March 04, 2020 I got a text message this morning from a secret shopper fake, who threatened me that the FBI would be at my doorstep before 1000AM, if I didn’t send in my report about Best Buy. I texted them back telling never contact me again.

GodsDivaaa March 05, 2020 I had a customer fall for a scam and it cost him over $6K to his CC. Not only did he go out and purchase over $6K in gift cards he gave the scammers all his info. The scammers made bogus payments to his CC acct which later retuned. Banks are not responsible when customers are scammed like this and this does not fall under the fraud liability. People need to beware! 99.99 percent of the time no company is going to give you free money. And why people fall for these scams is beyond me. I wish people were more aware of these types of scams. I will be too happy when these scammers are caught. People don’t realize it is a global issue and if you go to YouTube look up romance scams.... Don’t be a victim people!!!

dooqofurl March 05, 2020 The number 1(281)413-9941 and it's a fake check scam. Keep an eye out.

dweinert March 07, 2020 Husband took the fake cashier's check today to the "issuing" credit union and asked if it was real. The credit union confirmed it was fake and is reporting this as check and mail fraud. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Don&#039;t use April 20, 2020 I have 4 checks - ALL SCAMS - and they keep sending them to me!! I have never cashed one and they all want me to "Secret Shop" at Walmart's service center!! I have told them they are trying to scam me. I gave the information to my bank trying to make them aware. Whether or not they did anything, I don't know! But these people can't be very smart!

Behonest April 27, 2020 How do I report the Secret Survey Scam, and the fake check sent along with it.

Jrbro May 24, 2020 I just got a check for $1950 from Geiger and Peters through someone asking me to be a secret shopper for Whole Foods. I went along as I knew Whole Foods would never use someone with such poor grammar and spelling. Of course, I was instructed to cash it and then await further instructions, which I did not do.

In reply to I just got a check for $1950 by Jrbro

Linda D May 28, 2020 This scam is still going on. I guess as long as they can get money out of people it pays to keep going. Can't remember when or why I signed up for this. Maybe I thought it was a Whole Foods opportunity. Any way, we received a Priority Postage cardboard mailer in the mail. Looked real official. Inside were a cashiers check and instructions. Once I saw the check, I knew it was a scam. Any time someone wants to give you money, it's almost always a scam or has some type of finical tie behind it. Did not have to read the flyer that came with the check, but I did. They wanted me to cash the check and purchase Sephora gift cards for $2,500. After purchasing the gift cards they wanted me to send pictures of the front and back with the secret number scratched off and revealed. They did an excellent job of making everything look real. Now I'm getting text messages. I thought about playing mind games with them, but not worth my effort. However, I think I will respond back and tell them that I have reported them to FTC and block their phone number. I'm sure their phone number probably changes a lot. Sorry to those who lost money to these scammers and a "Good job done" to those who recognized and reported these scammers.

JPMiami June 07, 2020 I did get a text message for Whole Foods and did a google search as it looked very suspicious. Just want to know if this can be reported somewhere. Please let me know.

In reply to I did get a text message for by JPMiami

ojosverdes June 08, 2020 I just got a Text saying that. There will be a huge research project in my area, and they need secret choppers. But they change the technic a little bit. Now is a "Store Evaluator", and they sent a link. Don't fall for that!

In reply to I just got a Text saying that by ojosverdes

Bvalbval June 09, 2020 The below was texted from. +1 (346) 348-5800 Hello How are you doing today? The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the economy and the way we do business. We have taken certain steps to ensure that we are able to provide you with full support and service as we all wait for the pandemic to turn around. Whole Foods Market®is beginning an exceptionally huge research project in your area. This project happens each week, so we have to select Shoppers to function as a store evaluator. You will get $400 on every task. Every task requires 20-30 minutes of time at the store in addition to time to review your post-visit reports. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION rebrand. ly/ 60 vt2 kp

In reply to The below was texted from. +1 by Bvalbval

In reply to I just received the same by Lvnv

In reply to Lvnv, on April 9, 2021, I by MelA

Kay June 18, 2020 I got a text for both the car wrap and the secret shopper for the Walmart in my town haven’t received anything yet. When I receive the check who do I contact to turn them in before they change accounts so they can be stopped

Musette June 19, 2020 I received the fake check for $2950 with instructions to purchase 3 Nike gift cards. Thank you so much for posting information on this scam. Saved me a lot of money and headaches!

Blackapino84 July 02, 2020 I was just scammed by one of those so called secret shopper, now I owe my bank! These scammers must be stopped!!

Lifeisword September 24, 2020 I received the email and indicated that I was interested. After receiving another message with information about payments and assignments, I decided I to see what all it entails. But thank the Lord—my discernment kicked in. I googled reviews on “Whole Foods Mystery Shoppers.” This link popped up!! Thanks for saving me a major headache!!

Kiki2 September 24, 2020 This is the content of a text msg I received twice from mobile# 346.306.9340. First received 7.8.20 @ 7:54pm Pacific. Link went to a cannot find page though so a good thing. "The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the economy and the way we do business. We have taken certain steps to ensure that we are able to provide you with full support and service as we all wait for the pandemic to turn around. Whole Foods Market®is beginning an exceptionally huge research project in your area. This project happens each week, so we have to select Shoppers to function as a store evaluator. You will get $400 on every task. Every task requires 20-30 minutes of time at the store in addition to time to review your post-visit reports. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION:/bit.ly/8xITi3 Human Resources Manager - Global Operations Christopher Michael." then recieved another text from the same# @ 11:24am Pacific 7.9.20 with a different link. I didn't click on it though. "The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the economy and the way we do business. We have taken certain steps to ensure that we are able to provide you with full support and service as we all wait for the pandemic to turn around. Whole Foods Market®is beginning an exceptionally huge research project in your area. This project happens each week, so we have to select Shoppers to function as a store evaluator. You will get $400 on every task. Every task requires 20-30 minutes of time at the store in addition to time to review your post-visit reports. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION: bit.l y/Dts XX Human Resources Manager - Global Operations Christopher Michael."

Iwona July 13, 2020 I'm so grateful for this post and that I read this in enough time. The CSET letter appeared odd. I was under the impression only Whole Foods stores were recruiting. That tipped me off. In addition, there were spelling, punctuation and sentencing errors on the letter and my check.

linjonik July 14, 2020 I just received a text to be a Whole foods shopper. Glad that I looked this up. TY