It's hard to build customer service skills when you can't practice.

Perhaps you're a student, in-between jobs, or transitioning into a new career. Whatever the situation, you want to practice the essential customer service skills that will help you succeed in your new job.

Fortunately, there's a way to do it, even if you aren’t currently serving customers.

A lot of customer service boils down to good people skills. So you can practice your core service skills in any situation where you're interacting with other people.

One of those opportunities is when you are the customer. Here are a few of my favorite exercises for building rapport, listening, and problem-solving skills.

Grow your rapport skills

Rapport is essential to great customer service. It's a process of creating a personal connection with another person so they know, like, and trust you.

It also makes service more fun when we get along with the other person. Here are three exercises you can use to practice your rapport skills while you are a customer.

Exercise #1: Make the first move

Practice your best greeting by greeting customer service employees, even if that means you must greet them first. For instance, you might approach an employee in a retail store to ask for assistance or ask a cashier how they're doing before they ask you.

Exercise #2: Full attention

Practice giving customers your full attention by giving service providers your full attention. Put your cell phone away and eliminate other distractions while someone is serving you. This will make it easier to make a connection and build with the other person.

Exercise #3: Introduce yourself

There are many situations where a service provider introduces themselves to customers. When this happens to you, practice introducing yourself to the employee. Get comfortable sharing your name and learning the name of the person who is helping you.

LinkedIn Learning subscribers can watch this short video to learn more about these exercises.

Elevate your listening skills

Customer service professionals are in the business of helping customers. That starts with listening carefully to identify opportunities to serve.

You can practice your ability to identify customer needs by spotting opportunities to be helpful to the people serving you.

This exercise is called Make Their Day. It works by doing just two things:

1. Look for opportunities to be helpful to the person serving you.

2. Take action to make their day easier.

Here are a few examples:

• Return unwanted clothing to their displays after you use the dressing room in a retail store.

• Gather account numbers and other necessary information before calling customer service.

• Clean your table when you are finished eating at a fast food restaurant.

LinkedIn Learning subscribers can watch this short video to learn more about this exercise.

Sharpen your problem-solving skills

The real work begins after we build rapport and listen to our customers needs. Now we need to take action and provide solutions.

Here are two exercises that can help you develop your customer service problem-solving skills.

Exercise #1: Refocus on solutions

It's easy to focus on blame when you experience a service failure, but it's that blame that causes customers to get upset. You can practice the art of defusing emotional situations by refocusing the conversation on finding a solution to the issue.

Exercise #2: Admit your mistakes

Customers often make mistakes that contribute to service failures, but we're reluctant to admit it. You can improve your problem-solving skills (and get better service), when you admit any mistakes you made and politely ask a customer service employee for assistance.

LinkedIn Learning subscribers can watch this short video to learn more about these exercises.

Conclusion

You don't have to wait to get a job in customer service to build your skills. Everyday interactions are often opportunities to practice various techniques.

Here are a few more resources that can help:

LinkedIn Learning subscribers can find even more exercises in my course, How to Get Great Customer Service. If you don’t have a subscription, a 30-day trial is available. You might also get access through your local library.

If you want to take your skills to the next level, you can try my Customer Service Foundations course on LinkedIn Learning. It covers all the essential service skills and provides you with a nice certificate of completion that you can add to your LinkedIn profile.

You might also consider volunteering at a thrift store, museum, community theatre, or other organization where you can interact with the public. Many volunteer opportunities offer flexible scheduling without any long-term commitments.