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 doesnt come naturally to everyone.

Reliability Deliver on Promises with dependability &

accuracy

A Assurance - Knowledge, courtesy, ability to convey trust,

competence and confidence

T E R

Tangibles - Facilities appearance, comfort, look and feel of

Marketing materials, etc.

Empathetic - Degree of caring and individual attention the

customer receives

Responsive - Willingness to help promptly without

distraction

Organizational commitments

Promises made via advertising, marketing, policies, contracts, etc.

Customer expectations are often based on assumptions and past experience Agent to customer promises

Common Expectations

Personal 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
Take pride in your environment, yourself, your workspace and any forward-facing delivery mechanisms (online and marketing materials too!)

Tangibles

Empathy

Recognize the Emotional State of the Customer; validate their feelings Treat each person as an individual
Respond quickly Set Expectations deliver on those expectations

Responsiveness

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

Practice for Listening and Communications Skills. Some Problem Solving involved.

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.

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 dont know . . .

Good Question, let me look into that for you. Thats a tough one, lets see what we can do (find an alternative) Heres how we can help you with that.

We cant . . .

Youll have to . . .

Hang on a second, Ill be right back. . .

Ill 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 Dont 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.

Barbara was hired by a supermarket chain to deliver Customer Service training to build customer loyalty. During her presentation she said: Every one of you can make a difference and create memories for your customers that will motivate them to come back. How? Think about something you can do for your customer to make them feel special a memory that will make them come back. A month later she received a call from a 19-year-old bagger named Johnny. He proudly told her he was an Down Syndrome individual and told her his story.

I liked what you talked about, he said, but at first I didnt think I could do anything special for our customers. After all, I am just a Bagger. Every day after work, Id come home and find a thought for the day. If I cant 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 customers 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 Johnnys line. He called for more cashiers but no one would move. They all wanted to be in Johnnys 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 Helps open up discussions facilitates getting to know each other

Doodles

Scavenger Hunts Building activities balloon sculptures, coffee cups towers, airplanes, etc.

Ingredients: Canvas(es) Paint Brushes Newspaper or Paper 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 presenting Delivering Exceptional Customer Service Weisler, Kirk. Teambuilding Made Easy. SupportWorld Magazine. Also available at: www.kirkweisler.com