Each and every one of us serves customers, whether we realize it or not. Maybe you’re on the front lines of a company, serving the people who buy your products. Perhaps you’re an accountant, serving the employees by producing their pay checks and keeping the company running. Or maybe you’re a company owner, serving your staff and your customers.

This workshop will look at all types of customers and how we can serve them better and improve ourselves in the process. Participants will be provided a strong skill-set in dealing with usual customers, dealing with difficult customers, and generating return business.

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.

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 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.