An efficient new hire checklist for customer support teams: 2023 edition

Customer support has long been filled with challenges such as high employee turnover, attrition, and the constant need to train and onboard new hires via a new hire checklist. These pain points not only disrupt the operations of customer support teams but also impact the overall customer experience.

To mitigate the issues caused by high employee turnover and attrition, companies must focus on creating a supportive and nurturing work environment for customer support professionals. 

The following article will teach you how to create a well-structured and comprehensive new hire checklist which ensures that new hires receive the necessary training, resources, and guidance. This way, companies can improve job satisfaction, reduce turnover, and enhance the overall efficiency of their customer support operations.

The importance of customer support onboarding

Before exploring the steps that make up an efficient customer support new hire checklist, it is necessary to understand why onboarding as a process is important in the first place.

Why is onboarding important?

Onboarding sets the foundation for an employee’s success and integration into an organization. 

Effective onboarding helps new hires acclimate to their roles and the company culture, enabling them to become productive contributors more quickly.

According to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), organizations with a structured onboarding process retain 50% more new hires than those without one. 

Optimized onboarding ensures that employees understand their responsibilities, possess the necessary knowledge and resources, and can navigate the organizational structure. Here are some of the main advantages of an optimized onboarding process:

• Reduces the time it takes for employees to become fully functional and minimizes any disruptions to workflow caused by uncertainty or confusion.
• Fosters employee engagement and job satisfaction, as it demonstrates the organization’s investment in their success while also providing a sense of belonging.
• Increases retention rates and reduces turnover, saving the organization time and resources associated with recruiting and training new employees.

Don’t forget that security is paramount in the onboarding process. It ensures the protection of sensitive information and safeguards against potential threats. From verifying the identity of new employees or clients to safeguarding confidential data, a robust security framework instills trust and confidence in the onboarding process.

If your new employees are working in an office, ensure that you walk them through office security protocols. Even if they’re not, make sure to talk them through authentication measures, encryption protocols, and access controls.

Why is onboarding via a new hire checklist important?

Customer support teams are at the forefront of customer interaction, addressing their needs and making their role vital to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Effective customer support onboarding ensures the following:

• New hires thoroughly understand the company’s products or services, enabling them to provide accurate and helpful information to customers.
• Familiarizes employees with the tools and processes used in customer support, such as ticketing systems and knowledge bases, which are essential for delivering efficient and consistent support. 
• Helps develop crucial skills, such as effective communication, active listening, and problem-solving. 

Customer support new hire checklist

1. Introduce the company culture

Here is how you can easily integrate new hires into your existing team and introduce your company culture values as you go along.

• Conduct an orientation session to welcome new hires to the company.

Begin the orientation session by giving an overview of the company, its history, mission, vision, and values. Explain the company’s products or services, target market, and key differentiators. Provide an organizational chart to help new hires understand the company structure and their place within it.

Google’s orientation program, known as “Noogler Orientation,“ sets the stage for the integration of new hires into the company.

The orientation session includes presentations and videos that showcase Google’s innovative projects, technologies, and initiatives. Nooglers are introduced to the company’s core values, such as “Focus on the user”, “Fast is better than slow” and “You can be serious without a suit.”

Image source: LinkedIn

• Provide an overview of the company’s mission, vision, and values.
• Provide new hires with a copy of the employee handbook.
• Incorporate company culture training into the onboarding process.
• Pair new hires with experienced customer support team members for shadowing and mentoring.
• Incorporate culture-related topics in team meetings, performance reviews, and training sessions.

2. Explain support goals and purpose

The purpose of a customer support team is pretty self-explanatory: to support and assist customers in any issue that may arise. However, a new hire can’t do this without having a thorough understanding of the customer, their personas, and their journey. This enhances the new hire’s empathy level, translating into better service from their side.

Here are two actionable tips to help you properly define support goals and purpose:

1. Start by outlining the broader goals and objectives of the customer support team. This can include providing excellent customer service, resolving issues efficiently, and maintaining customer satisfaction. Clearly articulate the team’s purpose and how it aligns with the overall mission of the company. 
2. Align with cross-functional teams: Customer support is not limited to the support team alone. Collaborate with other departments, such as product development, sales, and marketing, to ensure that support goals align with the broader objectives of the organization. This collaboration helps create a unified customer experience.

3. Discuss support KPIs and metrics

This is how you properly discuss support KPIs and metrics with new hires:

• Explain the meaning and relevance of each metric used in customer support. For example, explain that response time reflects the speed of responding to customer inquiries, first-contact resolution rate measures the ability to resolve issues in the initial interaction, while CSAT gauges post-support customer satisfaction. 
• Elaborate on defining a good performance level for each metric and set realistic targets for new hires to strive for. 
• Provide details on how the metrics are measured and how their performance is evaluated. Discuss the tools and systems used to track and collect data and the frequency of performance evaluations. 
• Set measurable objectives that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, instead of setting a general goal like “improve customer satisfaction,” establish a specific target such as “increase customer satisfaction ratings by 10% within six months.” This provides a clearer focus.

4. Introduce team structure and members

Let’s start with a real-life example of how to introduce new team members. HubSpot runs an onboarding program called “HubSpot Academy,“ which is designed to introduce new employees to the team structure and members. 

During the onboarding process, new employees have the opportunity to meet their team members through team meetings, virtual introductions, and collaboration sessions. This allows for early networking and relationship-building within the organization.

These are the basic steps you need to take to ensure a proper introduction for your new team members:

• Share contact information – Provide new hires with contact information for each team member, including names, titles, email addresses, and phone numbers.
• Facilitate introductions – Organize informal meet-and-greet sessions during which new hires can interact with team members in a relaxed setting.
• Highlight collaboration channels – These may include email, instant messaging platforms, project management tools, or internal social networks.

5. Assign a coach or mentor

Look for individuals within the customer support team who have a strong track record of success, extensive product knowledge, and excellent customer service skills.

Make sure to distinguish between the roles of a coach and a mentor. A coach focuses on providing guidance and support in specific job-related skills and processes, while a mentor offers broader guidance and professional development advice.

Once you have achieved these tasks, you need to:

• Provide guidance (training, written resources, etc.) for the assigned coaches and mentors on how to effectively provide feedback, offer support, and create a positive learning environment.
• Communicate the objectives, frequency of meetings between the mentors and the trainees, and desired outcomes. 
• Set regular check-ins in the form of one-on-one meetings, virtual chats, or informal discussions to provide constructive feedback, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate achievements.

6. Provide product training

Follow these tips to ensure that the product training for customer support new hires is comprehensive, engaging, and sets them up for success:

• Combine traditional training methods like presentations, documents, and manuals with interactive approaches such as hands-on exercises, demonstrations, and simulations. Consider incorporating videos, quizzes, and group discussions to keep the training engaging and interactive.
• Use case studies and/or role-playing exercises to simulate customer interactions and demonstrate how to effectively address various issues or questions. 

Apple successfully implements case studies and role-playing exercises in their product training. During their training sessions, AppleCare advisors engage in role-playing exercises during which they take on the roles of both the customer and the advisor. 

They are presented with various customer service scenarios, such as troubleshooting issues, resolving software conflicts, and guiding customers through product setup. The advisors are encouraged to apply their knowledge of Apple products and services to provide practical solutions and effectively address customer concerns.

Chat GPT can easily take over this whole process: during the evaluation stage, employees can assume the roles of both the customer and the advisor, interacting with the ChatGPT model in both instances.

The model can provide responses and inquiries that simulate real customer behavior and inquiries. Employees can then utilize their skills and knowledge to effectively address these simulated customer concerns and provide appropriate solutions.

• Encourage new hires to explore the product independently and experiment with its features. Provide them with test accounts or sandbox environments to practice without the risk of impacting real customers.
• Provide access to resources like knowledge bases, forums, or internal documentation wherein they can find the latest information. 

7. Provide tool training

Once you have identified the essential tools, create a structured training plan that outlines how each tool will be introduced and taught to new hires. Break down the training into manageable modules or sessions, focusing on one tool at a time. 

Provide a clear roadmap or schedule that specifies the duration and goals of each training session. This helps new hires understand the training process and allows them to track their progress.

Tool training should not be a one-time event. Encourage new hires to continue learning and exploring the tools independently, even after the initial training.

8. Provide communication training

This is how you equip your team with effective communication skills to deliver exceptional customer service.

• Provide guidance on writing clear, concise, and professional messages. Teach proper grammar and punctuation. Encourage the use of positive language and an appropriate tone. Provide examples of effective written communication.
• Conduct exercises to help new hires develop active listening skills. This can involve listening to recorded customer calls or engaging in listening exercises wherein they summarize and reflect back on what they heard.
• Share real-life examples of effective and ineffective customer communication. This can include transcripts of previous customer interactions, recordings of support calls, or email exchanges.

9. Assign support toolkit

Tailor the toolkit to suit the specific needs and preferences of the new hires.

Encourage new hires to personalize their workspace and configure the tools to streamline their workflow and enhance productivity. This can include setting up notifications, organizing folders or labels, and customizing templates or macros.

Touchpoint offers a range of features and functionalities that facilitate efficient customer support workflows. Here’s how it can assist in setting up a support toolkit for new hires and other team members:

• Provides a personalized dashboard that contains the most essential information for the user.
• Offers a seamless collaboration with teammates when using the tool; it’s easy to ask a colleague for advice without leaving the tool.
• Boasts sensitive permissions system so that the user has the features that they actually need to do their work while keeping the tool free from the ones that they don’t require.
• Supports AI functions to assist the customer in responding swiftly; this greatly increases efficiency while also supporting onboarding.
• Contains an in-app help system to help the user find the information that they need immediately when using the tool; if the user has a question while using the tool, pressing the help button displays relevant help material for that particular situation.

It is recommended that new hires are assigned some “mock tasks” within the tool to check whether they are able to perform the activities that are needed. For example, simulate an incoming customer request and ask them to handle that.

10. Ensure continued support

Offer training programs, certifications, or opportunities for your new employees to take on more responsibilities. Recognize and reward achievements to motivate new hires and encourage their long-term commitment to the role.

Establish a feedback loop wherein employees receive regular performance evaluations. Provide resources such as online courses, webinars, books, and industry articles that can help them enhance their customer support abilities. 

Schedule periodic training sessions to refresh and reinforce important skills and knowledge. These sessions can cover topics such as new product features, updated policies, and advanced troubleshooting techniques.

Customer support new hire checklist template

The following checklist offers a step-by-step timeline to ensure a smooth onboarding process for your new customer support team members. It will help you streamline the onboarding process, improve productivity, and ensure consistency in service delivery. 

The template can be fully customized to fit the specific needs and processes of your organization.

Day 1 new hire checklist

Week 1 new hire checklist

Month 1 new hire checklist

Conclusion

By following the actionable tips outlined in this article, you should be able to define your support goals and purpose. You should also provide effective tool training for your new support team members.

As you embark on enhancing your customer support onboarding process, it’s crucial that you choose the right tools for the job. Touchpoint is designed to streamline interactions and provide exceptional customer experiences. 

Its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features make it an ideal tool for managing customer inquiries, tickets, and communication channels. With Touchpoint, you can easily track and measure key metrics, automate processes, and collaborate efficiently within your support team.

Empower your new hires with a robust support software solution that will enable them to deliver outstanding customer service from day one. Experience the benefits of Touchpoint firsthand: