Achieving Excellence in Customer Service

You Will Learn How To

Provide exceptional customer service that achieves results and gets noticed
Adopt the skills and techniques that routinely deliver positive customer experiences
Maximise the value of your customer interactions
Deal effectively with difficult customers and turn complaints into opportunities
Contribute to a customer-centric culture and achieve greater personal growth and customer satisfaction
Demonstrate a positive, confident and professional approach with internal and external customers

Course Benefits

Providing outstanding customer service often makes the difference between gaining and keeping a customer or losing one. This course offers the tools and techniques to ensure you build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with your customers. As a result, they become loyal advocates for you and your organisation.

Who Should Attend

Anyone from any organisation who needs to build effective relationships with external or internal customers. This includes help desk, technical support, front-line or support staff. This course may also be of interest to managers and team leaders wishing to coach and develop staff performance toward a customer-focused culture.

A media-rich environment immerses you in real-life customer service situations. Experiential activities, including role-playing, and simulated video and audio scenarios, allow you to practise the skills presented throughout the course. Activities include:

Profiling your customer service skills
Defining customer service excellence
Connecting with the emotional aspects of the customer experience
Assessing customer expectations
Modelling effective responses to typical customer service scenarios
Handling customer complaints and difficult situations
Putting the customer first in a simulated situation
Creating a personalised postcourse action plan

Course Content

Customer Service Excellence: Why It Matters

The importance of How

Focusing on the how as well as the what
Developing a relationship of mutual trust
Influencing customer perceptions
Calculating the lifetime value of your customer
Exceeding customer expectations

Creating the Customer Experience

Emotional aspects of the customer experience

Making the initial connection with the customer
Presenting a positive first impression

Identifying the differentiators of excellence

Taking responsibility for demonstrating customer care
Navigating the customer through the process
Instilling confidence with a personal approach

Fostering long-term relationships

Adopting a positive mental attitude (PMA)
Small actions that ensure attention to detail

Communicating Effectively with the Customer

Developing excellent communication skills

Establishing rapport with your customer
Personalising the message
Matching words and non-verbal signals

What you say and how you say it

Verbal and vocal techniques that work
Avoiding the quirks and distractors
Banishing jargon to create clarity
Matching words with nonverbal communication

Adopting a problem-solving approach

Turning active listening into problem solving
Employing questioning techniques that focus on outcomes
Encouraging a spirit of inquiry rather than adversary
Moving to a team approach with the customer

Achieving results for the remote customer

Choosing and using appropriate media
Applying best practices in call center etiquette
Top tips for e-customer care

Dealing Constructively with Tough Situations

Calming upset customers with active listening

Demonstrating emotional intelligence
Displaying empathy and showing neutral support
Establishing rapport and defusing anger
What you should not say to an upset customer

Techniques for dealing with difficult people

Remaining objective in challenging situations
Personalising and depersonalising messages
Asserting your position through polite repetition
Handling the obstinate customer

Transforming complaints into opportunities

Generating useful feedback and learning
Turning a negative situation into a loyal customer
Tapping into the potential advocate within your customer

Contributing to a Customer Service Culture

Demonstrating leadership in customer service teams

Mapping the internal customer network
Strengthening weak links in the chain
Influencing a customer-centric corporate culture

Measuring customer satisfaction

Setting and monitoring performance standards
Tracking progress with internal indicators
Enabling customers to express satisfaction
Constructing a customer service charter

Monitoring the team's development

Seeing customer service as an attitude, not an accident
Coaching your team for success

Making Excellence a Habit

The characteristics and practices of excellence

"Sharpening the saw" to hone your customer service skills
Projecting a professional image with internal and external customers
Ten rules that epitomise success
Measuring personal growth and achievements

Executing your personal action plan

Constructing personal development goals
Committing to immediate action

<< Back to Communication Course List

Related Courses

RealityPlus is a trademark of Learning Tree International.

Communication Courses