DHL Express: Customer Service Academy 

Building capability and confidence, quickly and digitally!

In recent years customer expectations around Customer Service have increased and
technology is allowing us to do things in business and in learning that we couldn’t
have imagined when we first started our customer experience journey with DHL
Express back in 2012. So, together, we decided to create a new and improved
Customer Service Induction.

The challenge

To enhance the current Customer Service Induction, we set ourselves some ambitious goals:

  • Reduce time to confidence and competence
  • Reduce turnover due to Customer Service Advisors being overwhelmed by the steep learning curve & information overload when moving from the training room to their actual work environment
  • Improve Customer experience at DHL Express
  • Use the latest screen-capture technology to create meaningful, contextual scenario-based learning experiences
  • Additionally, we wanted new hires to understand, and feel energised by, the crucial part they play in contributing to the success of DHL Express

We wanted to deliver this in a class-defining way; using a blended learning approach and incorporating the latest technology to ensure the new hires journey is unrivalled and aligned with their career path.

The solution

To be successful, we needed to create a solution that empowered new hires to get a
feel for what their job was, while learning how to do it, in a safe environment. No risk
of accidentally deleting a real customer’s shipment here!

Scenario-based learning combines system skills, communication skills, and business
context and knowledge in real-world application. We created a series of scenario-based digital skills workouts, using screen-capture technology. In each digital skills workout, new hires hear a customer interaction step-by-step, and using system prompts learn how to ‘read’ the screen and where to input customer data.

The results

In an operation as large as DHL Express, which has a number of systems that Customer Service Advisors use, the project is multi-phased. So far, we have only completed phase one of the booking system.

We’ve started training DHL Express facilitators on how to deliver the new digital skills workouts. Here’s what they’ve said about the scenario-based digital skills workouts:

The well-structured approach of CS Academy training ensures a thorough understanding
for new hires, fostering a solid foundation that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on
their performance and growth within the company.


CS Academy really shows and gives the understanding about how global DHL is and it
makes new hires feel part of our big yellow family. Using the same platform and learning
the same way really gives DHL Express the opportunity to show how great we are and what
great Customer Service really means. The ‘wow’ feeling from the very beginning makes
learners want to learn more and more all the time. The mix of classroom training and
scenario-based learning really makes learners feel connected to the business and cared for
as a new hire.


The Digital Skills Workouts in the Customer Service Academy gives us a level of
consistency, globally, that we’ve never had before in our onboarding and training. This
exciting step forward will have a huge beneficial impact on the Customer Experience
provided around the world.