Books or Video?
When it comes to Self Paced Customer Service Training, you have two primary choices when it comes to learning your new skills. Those two options are books and videos.
Books offer you the opportuntiyt to train anywhere. Take them with you on the train, in a carpool, on the bus or read them on your lunch hour or breaks. They offer the ultimate in flexability. Books also allow you to"train" in areas where others are without disturbing them. (Unless you are one of those people who like to read aloud!) Another great thing about books, or any printed matter, is that you can keep them and use them as references months or years later. This can come in very handy when you forget something, need a refresher lesson, or if a very difficult or unusual situation comes up and you are not sure how to handle it.
Videos are great in that they allow you to "see" what is actually going on. You might get to watch people role playing and showing a particular concept or situation. Videos can show you things that books sometimes can't. or example, if you are learning how to observe someone, a book can explain facial expressions but a video can actually show them to you as examples. Videos tend to engage more of your sense and present the course contents in a more interactive manner. A drawback of videos is that you need a player to watch them on and it might be difficult in some locations to watch them without distracting others.
There is no "best option" for everyone. Our suggestion is that you use a combination of books and videos to give you a well rounded education. Books will give you the information, videos will provide a visual example of what you have read. Reading, then watching, during any type of training is known to produce the best, and longest lasting, training experience for most people.
Videos tend to be a little more expensive and this might be an issue for people on a restrited budget. If that is the case, we recommend concentrating on books. You will be able to get more books for the same price and therefore get exposed to more knowledge and concepts. We are confident that most people can get a great skill set from reading books and manuals. After all, that is what CSTI has based their entire product catalog on!
