As a customer service representative, nothing is more important than good communication skills. Learning about communication may sound boring to your employees though, but fear not. Using workplace communication games is a tried-and-true method for engaging your workers and helping them learn while having fun.
Effective Workplace Communication Games
There are a number of verbal communication games and activities to choose from, but these have proven to be most effective for improving customer service skills. Make time to gather your team to take part is some of these fun and educational activities.
Blindfold Game
This game is excellent for teaching employees how to communicate clearly while giving and following directions. You’ll need at least four people, an open space, obstacles like chairs or boxes, and a blindfold.
Use the obstacles to create a course for someone to walk through. Break into teams of two. Each team will take turns with one person blindfolded, and another guiding them through the obstacle course only by speaking.
This game is great for teaching teamwork, cooperation, and trust. But most importantly, it teaches your CSRs how to communicate clearly and effectively with as little confusion as possible.
Image from MyNextHire
Name Games
One of the biggest challenges for any CSR is remembering customer names. It may not seem like a difficult task at first, but countless phone calls can leave anyone’s memory a little hazy. Everyone loves to hear their own name though, and using it back to them shows customers that you’re listening and that you care.
Try encouraging your CSRs to use a customer’s name at least once in each conversation, and turn it into an office competition. Whichever CSR is the most consistent with remembering and using customers’ names wins a prize. Win or lose though, your employees’ ability to remember names will improve dramatically.
Yes, And…
This exercise is the core of improvisation, but it’s also one of the most useful communication games for customer service. It’s based on the idea of a conversation when you don’t deny what the other person is saying, and build upon it. Have one person start with a sentence of a story, and the other person answer with a “yes, and,” response like:
Person #1: I went to my favorite fast food restaurant today.
Person #2: Yes, and they had a delicious new item on the menu.
Person #1: Yes, and I bought one for each of my friends…
There doesn’t have to be a winner or any definite conclusion. It’s just a fun way to challenge yourself to think on your toes and communicate your thoughts quickly. Workplace communication games like this one can be a great way to blow off steam and develop speaking skills.
Customer Service Role Play
One of the most effective forms of training is simulating a real customer service situation, preferably a challenging one. Break your group of CSRs into two teams. Team A will be playing the customer service representatives, and Team B will play the angry customer. Team B will need to think of some complaints to make, the more absurd, the better.
Person A: Thank you for calling SuperGreat Service, how can I help you?
Person B: You just repaired my refrigerator and now my ice cubes are too cold!
Person A: I’m sorry to hear that sir, let me try to resolve the problem for you…
Practicing talking to upset customers with unusual complaints is an excellent way to improve your CSRs’ ability to stay calm under pressure and remain professional. Start thinking of complaints to use as training tools for workplace communication games in the future.
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