“Half the work is done behind the scenes.” My music teacher used to say it to stress the importance of the preparation in order to offer a great performance. And he was so right! In fact many years later, such a mantra is valid for Digital Customer Service managers and teams because developing focussed skills is paramount to stay relevant. Externally towards end customers as well as internally within the organization. Here are two essential ones.

1. Cross-department competencies

For many years, there has been a lot of talking about break down internal silos between company departments. Despite that such an intention has been rarely followed by effective actions. However, while there is still much to be done, I observe more frequent and encouraging signals. Indeed, in the last couple of years, more than one client company of mine has hired me to deliver cross-department training paths to develop new ‘hybrid’ skills for newly merged teams (Customer Service and Sales). Of course the reason for that may vary based the company’s structures and goals – nevertheless these two case example are self explanatory. 

• [Ecommerce] Create a new internal team with a dual purpose: promoting product sales and offering customer support via email and live chat. The goal of this up-skilling program? Building homogeneous skills, considering that some team members come from Customer Service backgrounds and others have a purely sales background.
• [Financial Services] In this case, the team members are unchanged, but the team’s mission has partially changed. In fact, the former Customer Service team has also taken on the role of supporting the Sales Area in the local branches. The goal of this program? Integrating new, focussed skills in customer development to ‘sell service’ through a gradual team’s mindset shift: from “problem solvers/complaint handlers” to “customer specialists with commercial acumen.”

2. Digital conversations skills for teams

In this second I work pretty often, honing it year after year. I’m referring to conversations skills that both manager and teams need to master over digital channels: e.g. email, live chat, WhatsApp, online reviews, or social media. And having delivered several customized workshops for companies of various industries I have set up developed the “Digital Customer Service Personas©” skill-set framework for customer service teams / agents. So, here are top trending up-skilling needs for them:

1. Active listening – they become able to detect customer’s intention and sentiment, especially over digital channels (where voice is not present).
2. Emotional intelligence – they can handle customer’s emotional moments keeping themsleves calm and focussed on delivering solutions.
3. Empathy – they use words wisely to let the customer perceives that they’ve understand how they’re feeling.
4. Proactivity – They anticipate customer’s next potential question or move, saving time and effort mutually.

💡 More about my customized trainings for your customer service team here.

3. Skills for customer service managers

When it comes to customer service managers up-skilling needs the scenario is pretty different because AI is already permeating their job. So, here’s my hands-on experience about the most relevant ones:

1. Analytical skills – the ability to choose what to measure and how to interpret the data. Too often, I observe managers with too much data at their disposal. And the excessive amount prevents them from focusing on the metrics that really matter! By developing analytical skills, you can optimize your customer service flows and processes.
2. AI / strategic innovation  – to design and implement effective roadmaps aligned with company objectives. That requires skills that allow you to leverage both conversational support (via AI agents, human agents, or both) and self-service support (e.g., with advanced knowledge bases/help pages), where customers can help themselves.
3. Negotiation skills – essential to promote the value and contribution of customer service to the business, interacting with internal and external stakeholders. Furthermore, they are essential to successfully begin to spread Customer Culture across the company, overcoming any internal resistance you may encounter.
4. Team Management – ​​Whether you manage an internal, external, or hybrid customer service team (partly internal and partly outsourced), you need new approaches and methodologies. This is to engage, involve, and motivate the people who manage customer service on the front lines every day through various conversational channels. Last but not least, considering that they work in person some days of the week and remotely others.

During a coaching session with a customer service manager, June 2024

Over to you

Closing up this overview about critical, focussed up-skilling needs, it’s no coincidence that many managers are re-arranging their service models to strike a balance between genAI and human competencies. That’s currently the top challenge. Therefore, if you’re a smart manager, you’ll feel the urgency of choosing wisely the training paths for you and your team. Because in this hyper-speed changing scenario we all may become obsolete in the blink of an eye.

So thinking about your up-skilling goals, which areas do you need to strengthen?

👉 Let’s talk about them informally to boost your 2026.

Have great conversations.

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Immagine in evidenza: Unsplash.com