Customer Service Training: Critical Elements of Customer Service

• Demonstrate a customer service approach
• Understand how your own behavior affects the behavior of others
• Demonstrate confidence and skill as a problem solver
• Apply techniques to deal with difficult customers
• Make a choice to provide customer service

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 define customer service and introduce the six elements of customer service which will form the basis of this workshop. Participants will also learn about the first element: a customer service focus.

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, as well as all customers’ basic needs.

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

Pre-Assignment Review
Next, participants will review the answers to the pre-assignment, which asked questions about common customer service assumptions.

Setting Goals and Targets
During this session, we will look at setting long- and short-term goals and creating a personal vision.

The Second Critical Element – Defined in Your Organization
In this session, you will think about what your organization expects of you, and how to ensure that those standards line up with what customers expect.

The Third Critical Element – Given Life by the Employees
Next, participants will explore why customer service must be a philosophy that is practiced by all employees.

Communication Skills
This session will give participants an introduction to key communication skills, including empathy, body language, asking questions, and listening.

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.

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

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 Fourth Critical Element – Be a Problem Solver
We will look at a six step plan for solving problems. Then, participants will role play the plan.

Seven Steps to Customer Problem Solving
Next, we will look at a plan designed specifically for solving customer service problems. Then, participants will practice using the plan in a role play. We will also look at a six-step process that you can use to turn unhappy customers around.

The Fifth Critical Element – Measure It
The only way to know what’s really going right and wrong is to measure regularly. This session will give participants some ideas for measuring customer service.

The Sixth Critical Element – Reinforce it
Next, participants will learn some ways to keep a customer service focus strong. We’ll also share some powerful phrases that can help you build a positive image.

Dealing with Stress
This session will offer some quick, easy ways to destress in any place, at any time.

Workshop Wrap-Up
At the end of the day, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Anyone in a customer service or sales role that wants to go above and beyond to create loyal and lasting customer relationships.