We know why keeping customers happy is important to small businesses, but why be so concerned about service in a large place? Who will know? Customers know. If they stop coming here, we could all be out of a job.

Good service will make you feel better about your job and make you feel better about yourself. Think of the customers as the reason you have a job. If you don’t service them properly, you may lose your job.

All members of a company should believe in service, and don’t just leave it up to one department to do it all. Nor can they just refer to their policies and stop there. They will all have to work together to go the extra mile.

At the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:

• Recognize that service delivery is an individual response value
• Understand how an individual’s behavior impacts the behavior of others
• Develop more confidence and skill as a problem-solver
• Communicate more assertively and effectively
• Make customer service a team approach

Course Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

What is Customer Service?

This session will get participants thinking about the information to be covered over the next two days through small and large group discussion.

Who Are Your Customers?

In most organizations and agencies, customers take two forms: internal and external. This session will look at both types of customers.

Meeting Expectations

This session will focus on the four critical areas that customers have expectations for.

Presenting Yourself Properly

Using individual testing, participants will take a look at the impression they give customers and ways they can improve.

Setting Goals and Targets

During this session, we will look at setting SMART goals.

Standards

Participants will participate in a brief lecture about standards, and then they will develop a set of standards for the four key components of customer service.

Communication

This session will focus on communication barriers and how we can overcome them.

Telephone Techniques

This brief lecture will look at an ideal telephone call, from the greeting to the conclusion. We will also look at common situations, such as placing a caller on hold and taking a message.

Managing the Talkative Caller

Talkative people are often interesting and enjoyable, but on the telephone they can take up a lot of time. Participants will work in small groups to identify ways to deal with talkative callers.

Dealing with Difficult Callers

During this session, participants will work in small groups to complete a mix-and-match exercise on common types of difficult callers and appropriate responses.

Dealing with Challenges

There are many types of unexpected challenges that we can encounter every day. Participants will work on small groups to develop responses to some of these issues.

Increasing Your Assertiveness

We will explore an easy four-step formula that will help you communicate more effectively and assertively.

Dealing with Difficult People

This session will give participants an opportunity to understand difficult behavior, identify some coping strategies, and discuss the difficult person they find most trying.

Dealing with Conflict

We will examine five ways to deal with conflict.

The Problem Solving Process

We will look at a six step plan for solving problems. Then, participants will apply the plan to a case study.

Seven Steps to Customer Problem Solving

We will look at a plan designed specifically for solving customer service problems. Then, participants will practice using the plan in a role play.

The Recovery Process

During this session, we will look at a six-step process that you can use to turn customers around.

Eliminating Customer Service Problems

Wouldn’t it be great if you never had to deal with an upset customer again? This session will examine some ways that you can reduce customer service issues.

Service PRIDE is a Team Effort

This session will look at five things that the company as a team can do to improve customer service.

Doing Your Part

This session will help participants identify ways that they can make a personal contribution to successful customer service.

Dealing with Stress

This session will offer some quick, easy ways to de-stress in any place, at any time.

Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the day, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.