Customer experience trends move quickly. One year's innovation is often the next year's expectation. Take delivery and returns, for example. Currently, 84% would turn their back on a retailer after a bad returns experience.¹ One great way to meet shopper demands is investing in staff. Happy employees have 31% higher productivity, 37% higher sales and 3x higher creativity.²

So, in what ways are companies investing in their employees? What are the pay-offs? And how could your business start doing the same?

After training, the next logical step is to ensure all staff members have access to the latest technology and tools - not only to inform their customer service, but to streamline it too.

One of DHL's clients, Broadberry Data Systems, supply some of the world's biggest brands with high-end computing software. For their online customer service team, technology is used to expedite the buying process. Bryn Downing, Broadberry's General Manager, explains the website has "a built-in one-of-a-kind configurator. It can simply supply a valid quotation built on the customer's ideal specification or, if they wish to progress, automate an order." For a company offering high-end, sophisticated servers, adding this ease to their online experience has been a game-changer.

Sometimes investing in your staff simply involves taking the time to listen, share and interact with them. These all help ensure high satisfaction rates.

Losing your employees can have heavy repercussions in terms of retraining time, cost and lost skills. Employee replacement can, on average, cost a company between 6 and 9 months of that employee's salary.⁴

The benefits of investing in your employees are huge. One of our DHL Customer Service Team Leaders, Chris Drinkwater, told us that "being agile and flexible is a key differentiator with DHL." He feels this is achieved because everyone "links together and works as one team."

Chris comments that staff training at DHL is all about "enhancing knowledge of the industry whilst increasing product knowledge too." He agrees there's a clear link between employee and customer satisfaction. "Absolutely - happy staff mean happy customers," Chris says. "They perform at their best; are more productive and more motivated." The part of staff training that Chris leads puts an emphasis on "team building" and "learning how to work together," precisely for this reason. 

Did you know DHL Parcel have a Customer Service excellence accreditation? We ensure all of our staff have the training and tools to keep your customers happy. 

^{1  internetretailing.net/selling/the-state-of-returns-in-2021-insights-from-klarnas-latest-research-report
2  entrepreneur.com/article/315095
3  entrepreneur.com/article/315095
4  developmentco.com/4-reasons-to-invest-in-your-employees/
5  entrepreneur.com/article/315095}