Customer Service Training: Managing Customer Service

A company’s ability to provide excellent customer experience can only go as far as its ability to manage – and ultimately exceed – the expectations of its clients. The worst thing a business can do is tell a customer his or her problem will be resolved one way and then offer a contradictory solution or timeline instead.

As business executives, we all know there is a baseline expectation for high-quality customer experience in today’s marketplace. We also know that the best way to exceed the norm and maintain happy clients in the long term is to manage their expectations from start to finish. Companies can set themselves up for success by utilizing the right customer service policy and employing right strategies for managing customer expectations.

Managing a team of even the most talented customer service professionals can be difficult. While we can’t make it easy, it’s our hope that some of the lessons, tips, and philosophies in this workshop will help you manage team members who are engaged with their work and primed to provide your customers with great service.

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

  • Identify ways to establish links between excellence in customer service and business practices and policies
  • Develop the skills and practices that are essential elements of a customer service focused manager
  • Recognize what employees are looking for to be truly engaged
  • Recognize who their customers are and what they are looking for
  • Develop strategies for creating engaged employees and satisfied customers

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.

Changes in Customer Service

To begin the day, participants will explore who their customers are and how that has changed during the years.

Creating Excellence

This session will look at Curt Coffman’s and Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina’s twelve conditions for creating excellence.

Communication Skills

This session will help participants develop their listening and questioning skills – two cornerstones for great customer service.

Suspending Frame of Reference

During this session, participants will explore two advanced communications tools: the frame of reference and the Johari window.

Stereotypes

We all categorize and generalize; it helps us understand the world. This session will help participants identify their own stereotypes and ways that they themselves might be stereotyped.

Giving Undivided Attention to Others

This session will address two ways that we can pay better attention to others: attending and observing.

Leadership

This session will focus on The Situational Leadership Model, developed by Paul Hersey of the California Centre for Excellence. Participants will take the test, score themselves, and then examine their style in detail.

Engaging Employees

This session will explore the key behaviors of great managers. Participants will also identify ways to engage different types of employees.

Follow the Leader

Participants will explore leadership characteristics through a fun, thought-provoking activity.

Developing a Service Management System

To wrap up the workshop, we will look at a team approach to customer service.

Workshop Wrap-Up

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