Customer service comparative review.

In this special Summer issue, Training Media Review compares products that train on customer service and Microsoft's Office suite of programs.

Is there any business skill more in need of training than customer service? Whole industries such as the airlines and computer software manufacturers seem to minimize customer service.

Large swaths of the retail industry seem to think that they are doing customers a favor by letting them into the stores. You want service? Imagine that! You don't get it, do you? We shouldn't blame the frontline folks, though. The problem starts at the top, with senior management and the business model they are guided by. This is a serious constraint on the efficacy of training.

Training may not be the cure-all for bad customer service. Low pay and benefits (sometimes no benefits), low prestige, no obvious career track, and indifferent management all contribute to make frontline service a haphazard thing. But when you deal with an organization that has its act together, combining reasonable job benefits and challenges with good training, you know it. Southwest and Frontier Airlines, Filene's, Saturn, and many more organizations win loyalty and repeat business because they deliver value and treat their customers right.

This comparative review is limited to products evaluated in the last two years or so. We have mercifully left out some bottom feeders that did not make the cut in terms of minimum quality. We also excluded programs that address both sales and customer service, a natural pairing under stringent economic circumstances. The product reviews are presented in alphabetical order by title. In the Comparative Ratings table (page 15), the programs are ordered by rating, from highest to lowest.