Introduction:

Customer focused organizations know that delivering excellence in service does not happen by accident. It requires careful integration of key factors that together set the company apart from competitors, win and retain profitable customers and attract, motivate and keep best staff. The delegates will learn the core practices and skills that successful businesses employ to consistently deliver world-class customer service experiences. This course will cover all the most important elements of service any person involved in direct interactions with customers should know and apply. From the necessary behavioral and communication skills to the right attitude and including specific methods to analyze and improve the service provided, we cover it all in a straight forward and effective manner that will help participants ensure customer satisfaction and delight in the most challenging situations.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Explain the importance of customer service in a competitive environment
• Defend the vital role internal customers play and show that their satisfaction is key for the success of an organization
• Practice the techniques of managing customer expectations and delighting customers
• Provide better, faster service and increase customer satisfaction
• Recognize early signals of customer irritation and respond appropriately in order to quickly find a workable solution to the problem
• Improve service delivery standards, reflected in higher levels of customer satisfaction and bottom line profits
• Build a customer focused culture
• Lead customer service performance and professionalism in their organization
• Improve business performance and the customer’s experience
• Recruit, train and motivate staff
• Develop and improve internal service standards
• Assess internal and external skills based development programs

Who Should Attend?

Executives, Managers, Team Leaders, PR Managers, PR Assistants, PR Executives, PR Researchers, Marketing Assistants, Marketing Executives, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supervisors, Product Managers, Marketing Managers, Marketing Assistants, Marketing Executives, Business Unit Managers, Sales Managers, Customer Care Managers and Supervisors, Directors of Public Relations, Directors of Marketing, Senior Public Relations Managers, Company Directors, General Managers, Senior Managers, Engineers, Foremen, Analysts, marketing staff at any level in the organization, market research, loyalty scheme managers, Those in PR in public sector, private sector and not-for-profit organizations, Those in PR at the national, regional and community level, those working for international, global or supranational organizations, those who are keen on improving performance by taking their customers to higher levels of satisfaction, as well as customer service managers and supervisors interested in advanced customer service tools

Course Outline:

The Business Case for Customer Service Excellence

• Why excellence in customer service is a hot business boardroom issue
• Understanding what your customers expect
• Benchmarking for competitive success
• Meeting and exceeding changing customer expectations
• Assessing your organizational culture for customer service focus
• Core foundations for building a customer centric culture
• Overcoming obstacles to customer service excellence

Improving Customer Service Standards

• Showing your customers you are serious about providing customer service excellence
• Resolving customer service challenges positively
• The six hats problem solving approach
• Shifting perceptual positions
• Resolving complaints, disputes and conflict
• Role modelling top performers in customer service
• Moving closer to the customer, rapport skills to build better relationships

Creating a Culture of Service Excellence through Continuous Learning

• What is a learning organization?
• Creating a vision for customer service excellence and continuous learning in your organization
• Applying continuous learning strategies to customer service excellence
• Planning for change, using the Neurological levels model
• Leading by example, teaching others through behavioral excellence
• There is no failure only feedback, moving forward for personal and business growth
• Building team work, cooperation and collaboration with colleagues

Hiring for Attitude: Training For Skills

• The importance of a strong value set in customer service delivery excellence
• Core customer service qualities and competencies
• The transferability of customer service skills
• Retaining and motivating your best people
• Developing staff engagement in the business
• Understanding the psychological contract and its impact on staff
• Using rewards and incentives to motivate performance
• The importance of the team leader/supervisor in frontline staff employment
• Addressing real life work challenges in customer service excellence

Assessing Customer Service Training and Development Programs

• Why skills training is on the boardroom agenda of successful organizations
• How to develop customer service excellence to compete in a global marketplace
• What to look for when choosing a skills development or training program
• Addressing attitudinal issues in learning
• Assessing the impact of customer service training in the workplace on the customer, the team and the business
• High performance coaching methods for customer service excellence and staff retention
• Maintaining positivity in the workplace

COURSE LOCATIONS