The Importance of Training for Customer Service

How do Customers Evaluate Service Quality? Customer Service Training ideas The Importance of Team Building Easy Team Building Ideas

Customer Perceptions To the Customer you ARE the company

Organizations with Happy Customers are more successful Financial Benefits Happy Customers come back Happy Customers tell their friends

Providing good Customer Service doesn’t come naturally to everyone.

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Reliability – Reliability – Deliver on Promises with dependability & Deliver on Promises with dependability & accuracyaccuracy

Assurance - Assurance - Knowledge, courtesy, ability to convey trust, Knowledge, courtesy, ability to convey trust, competence and confidencecompetence and confidence

Tangibles - Tangibles - Facilities appearance, comfort, look and feel of Facilities appearance, comfort, look and feel of Marketing materials, etc.Marketing materials, etc.

Empathetic - Empathetic - Degree of caring and individual attention the Degree of caring and individual attention the customer receivescustomer receives

Responsive - Responsive - Willingness to help promptly – without Willingness to help promptly – without distractiondistraction

Organizational commitments Promises made via advertising, marketing,

policies, contracts, etc. Common Expectations

Customer expectations are often based on assumptions and past experience

Personal Promises Agent to customer promises

Often the challenge is to reshape customer expectations. Are you training your folks how to do this?

Assurance Factor Product Knowledge & Company Knowledge Listening Skills – Active listening skills Communications Skills - includes verbal and

written (in-person, phone, and email service) Problem-Solving Skills

Tangibles Take pride in your environment, yourself, your

workspace and any forward-facing delivery mechanisms (online and marketing materials too!)

Empathy Recognize the Emotional State of the Customer;

validate their feelings Treat each person as an individual

Responsiveness Respond quickly Set Expectations – deliver on those expectations

Research shows that the most frustrating part of waiting is not knowing how long the wait will be.

Train for Active Listening, Questioning, etc.

Use Case Studies to open discussions Soap Story, Johnny the Bagger

Group Activities Role Playing, scavenger hunts.

FISH! Philosophy www.thefishphilosophy.com

Pair up trainees. One person faces the screen (director), the other has their back to the screen (solver). The director has to sit on their hands and is tasked with directing the other to complete the puzzle. They must communicate clearly. The solver must listen to directions and can only move the pieces as directed.

Practice for Listening and Communications Skills.

Some Problem Solving involved.

This is some correspondence which actually occurred between a London hotel's staff and one of its guests. The London hotel involved submitted this to the Sunday Times. No name was mentioned.

Read the story then use these questions to facilitate a discussion.

What went wrong? How could the situation have been avoided? How could it have been curtailed before it

escalated?

Forbidden Phrase . . . Replacement . . . I don’t know . . .

“Good Question, let me look into that for you.“ We can’t . . .

“That’s a tough one, let’s see what we can do” (find an alternative)

You’ll have to . . . ”Here’s how we can help you with that.”

Hang on a second, I’ll be right back. . . “I’ll need to ask an associate to be sure, are you able to

wait while I check into it?” No . . .

Find a positive alternative. “We are all out of stock, but we can give you rain check or a similar product at the same price.”

Pay attention to Content & Intent Ask great questions

Use activities that hone questioning skills See the big book of customer service training games

Tips: Tune in to the other person Limit distractions Don’t jump to conclusions Take notes and reflect information back Be prepared – use a Question Map/Flowchart Turn off your own worries

The following quote from The Leadership Challenge, outlines the responsibility of leadership in Customer Service Delivery

Lindsay Levin took over the reigns of her family automotive business, Whites Limited, at only 29 years old. She talks about what she knows about enabling her folks to provide great customer service.

http://www.stservicemovie.com/ by Barbara Glanz and Ken Blanchard.http://www.stservicemovie.com/ by Barbara Glanz and Ken Blanchard.

Barbara was hired by a supermarket chain to deliver Barbara was hired by a supermarket chain to deliver Customer Service training to build customer loyalty. During Customer Service training to build customer loyalty. During her presentation she said: “Every one of you can make a her presentation she said: “Every one of you can make a difference and create memories for your customers that will difference and create memories for your customers that will motivate them to come back. motivate them to come back. HowHow?”?”

““Think about something you can do for your customer to Think about something you can do for your customer to make them feel special – a memory that will make them make them feel special – a memory that will make them come back.come back.

A month later she received a call from a 19-year-old bagger A month later she received a call from a 19-year-old bagger named Johnny. He proudly told her he was an Down named Johnny. He proudly told her he was an Down Syndrome individual and told her his story.Syndrome individual and told her his story.

“I liked what you talked about”, he said, “but at first I didn’t think I could do anything special for our customers.” “After all, I am just a Bagger.”

“Every day after work, I’d come home and find a thought for the day. If I can’t find a saying I like”, he added, “I just make one up!”

His Dad helped him print them out on the computer. Johnny would cut them out and sign them on the back and bring them to work the next day.

When he finished bagging a customer’s groceries,

he would put a thought for the day in the bag and say “Thanks for Shopping with us!”

The Manager was on rounds about a month later and noticed a long line at Johnny’s line.

He called for more cashiers but no one would move.

They all wanted to be in Johnny’s line to get his “Thought for the day”.

Great service comes from the heart.

Helps build strong working relationships Enhances teamwork and communications can make work fun and enjoyable

has a positive impact on attendance and retention

People who have friends at work are more productive and loyal

Use Icebreakers & Introductions – be creative 3 Truths & 1 lie Helps people learn about each other in a fun

way Doodles

Helps open up discussions facilitates getting to know each other

Scavenger Hunts Building activities – balloon sculptures,

coffee cups towers, airplanes, etc.

Ingredients:

Canvas(es) Paint Brushes Newspaper orPaper Towels

Imagine how connected your employees will feel with their art on the wall . . .

www.johannstoessel.com Card Trick Teach them to Fish

Logic Puzzles

Anderson, Kristin & Zemke, Ron. Delivering Knock Your Socks off Service. United States of America: AMACOM, 1998.

Carlaw, Peggy & Deming, Vasudha Kathleen. The big book of customer service training games. United States of America:McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999.

Friedman, Nancy a.k.a “The Telephone Dr.”http://www.telephonedoctor.com/

Glanz, Barbara & Blanchard, Ken. “Johnny the Bagger”http://www.stservicemovie.com/

The Berkshire Leadership Group – Steven Green presentingDelivering Exceptional Customer Service

Weisler, Kirk. Teambuilding Made Easy. SupportWorld Magazine. Also available at: www.kirkweisler.com