Course Overview
The 2-day engaging Customer Service training course is an intensive introduction to customer service. It deals with the basics of serving a Customer in a professional and effective way that will have an effect of retaining existing customers or acquiring the new customers. Issues of communication are dealt with extensively so that the participant will be fully conversant with the appropriate ways to communicate with the Customer face to face including body language, by telephone or by email. Participants will learn how to become more effective communicators and listeners who are able to engage better with customers, with positive energy, commitment and ownership on their day to day interactions.
Customer Service is one of the major factors of customer differentiation, more especially for businesses selling the same product, and in some cases operating under controlled prices. In the business world where economic fluctuations are the order of the day, attracting and retaining customers becomes a matter of paramount importance and sets you apart from your competitors. The course highlights the need for any business to keep monitoring its customer relationships and also to keep obtaining regular information on customer service levels.
The course first defines the concept of customer service to provide a lens from which to analyze customer service aspects in an informed manner. It outlines and explains reasons why customer service is getting more attention, particularly in the services sector. The course will also give Participants a background of the customer and his needs, expectations and emotional motivations. It will also fine tune participants’ customer service skills, motivate them to becoming more customer focused and more passionate about delivering outstanding service. Other concerns include exceptional and excellent experiences that result in long-term and fruitful customer relationships.
This course also analyses service quality levels and how to resolve them using such tools as employee empowerment, without having to wait for senior management interventions.
Product knowledge also form part of the course. The course also presents the need to measure customer service in order to see whether the level of customer service is improving or deteriorating. These measurements provides an early warning system that informs the business of the need to take instant action to address customer issues before the customers become disillusioned and eventually leave the business never to come back.
Target Audience
This course is suitable for all customer – facing staff including those who work hand in hand with internal customers only. This course is open to all business industries.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course participants will be able to:
- Demonstrate basic understanding of customer service concepts.
- Communicate effectively with customers and colleagues.
- Identify barriers to good customer service.
- Solve issues related to difficult customers and customer complaints.
- Provide excellent customer service.
- Evaluate and measure customer service quality – SERVQUAL.
- Demonstrate good knowledge of company products
- Develop and retain customers by creating suitable customer relationships.
- Recognize customer service as an element of sales.
Content
- Introduction to Customer Service
- Customer Needs and Expectations
- Customer Related Communication
- Dealing with Customer Service Complaints
- Customer Service ss An Element Of Sales
- Telephone Techniques
- Major Secrets to Effective Customer Service
- Customer Relationship Management
- Customer Service Quality
- Measuring Customer Service
- Dealing with Difficult Customers
Course Schedule
Day 1 (10 hrs) – including Assignments
What is Customer Service
- Defining customer service
- Why customer service is vital to the organization.
- Identifying and explaining internal and external customers and how to deal with them
Customer Needs & Expectations
- Define and explain customer needs.
- Identify customer expectations and their importance.
- Handling customer expectations and how to exceed them.
Customer Related Communications
- Defining effective customer communication.
- Outlining and explaining the importance of effective communication in serving customers.
- Elements of effective communication
- Types on communications with customers.
- Barriers to effective communications and how to resolve them.
- Understand the importance of listening and demonstrate good listening skills/techniques.
- Barriers to effective listening.
Dealing with customer complaints
- Why do customers complain?
- Types of customer complaints.
- Practical complaints.
- How to deal with customer complaints.
Customer Service as an element of sales
- The importance of sales
- Different selling strategies
Day 2 (10 hrs) – including Assignments
Telephone Techniques
- Stages in telephone communication.
- The best practice in using telephone communications
- Common challenges in using telephone communications
Five major secrets to customer service
- Providing true customer service.
- Taking customer complaints seriously and making customer service every person/department’s responsibility.
- Being honest with your customers.
- Educating your staff to be equally as concerned about your customers as you are.
- Empowering employees to resolve customer problems on their own.
- Getting customer service feedback from the customers
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- The meaning of CRM
- Types of CRM
- Components of CRM
- Benefits and advantages of CRM
- Why is CRM so important in business?
- What can CRM system do for you?
- Measuring the success of CRM
Customer Service Quality
- Using the SERVQUAL Model
- Components of SERVQUAL Model and the importance of each.
- The 5 key themes of the SERVQUAL Model
- Excellent customer service supervision
Measuring Customer Service
- Using customer surveys
- Types of customer service-related surveys
- Importance of measurement of customer service
- Customer feedback
Dealing with difficult customers
- Calmness and efficiency
- Accepting reality of the situation and applying a problem-solving approach to customer service.
- Not passing the bug but taking responsibility
- Avoiding too much analysis – paralysis by analysis
- Right attitude towards all customers
- No favoritism
Delivery Mode and Facilitation Strategies:
The program will be delivered through classroom-based instruction on full-time basis. The teaching and learning strategies include lecture, exposition, group discussions and presentations, and case studies.
Certification:
Certificate of attendance will only be issued upon continuous attendance and successful completion of the course. For one to be eligible for a certificate, one must attend at least 85% of the course throughout the duration of the program
Instructor Profile
The instructor for this course should hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in Business Studies, Marketing, Commerce, Public Relations, Human Resource Management, Retail Management, Psychology and other relevant qualifications. The facilitator is also required to have-experience facilitating customer service courses and at least 2 years practical experience of dealing with customers in the private or public sectors.
Assessments Methods
A number of assessment tools will be used throughout the course to enable learners to actively partake in the course and to gauge the level of understanding of the learners.
Quizzes
After some of the topics have been covered, there will be mini quizzes that will be handed out and students have to complete them based on the material they just covered.
Group Discussions
Before and after exposition of some of the topics, participants will be made to partake in group discussion activities in order to maintain high levels of member involvement in the learning process and hence improve information retention so that learning becomes effective. This will also enhance learners to share their various experiences and learn from each other. Presentations will also improve the communication levels of learners besides promoting group problem solving.
Scenario Analysis
There shall be the use of scenario analysis as a tool for assessing the level of learner application of learned materials. The facilitator will create appropriate scenarios based on the theme of customer service especially material already covered to gauge learner understanding of the course material. Scenario analysis also enhances the transfer of learning form the training aspect to the real work aspect more easily.
References
Kinni, T. (2011) Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service. Disney Institute
Dixon, M, Toman, N and DeLisi, R. (2013)The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty. Hardcover
Webb, N.J. (2016)What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint. Hardcover
Mehta, N. Steinman, D. and Murphy, L. (2016)Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue. Wiley.
Skrob, R. (2018) Retention Point: The Single Biggest Secret to Membership and Subscription Growth for Associations. SAAS, Publishers, Digital Access, Subscription. Membership Service Inc.
Marchand, G. 2018. Customer Care: Calming the Upset Customer.