c


c 
 



* Defining Good Customer Service

* What Customer Service Skills do you Already Have?
* Dealing with Difficult, Rude or Indifferent Customers
* Achieving Real Excellence in Customer Service
* Advanced Listening and Responding Skills
* How to make the Customers Point of View Work for you
* Developing New Customer Relationships
* Caring for Yourself as well as your Customers
* Handling Complaints with Empathy and Efficiency
* Gaining Confidence in your Customer Service Role ?

c

c 
?

Ghe course content may include many of the exercises listed below, and any additional material that
the trainers feel is relevant to the delegates on the day. ?

u  ?
Go begin the day delegates will be asked what they specifically would like from this c


 programme. We let people know that the workshop will be adapted throughout the day to
meet their specific needs. ?

?
R 

c




Here we will look specifically at some of the problems front line customer service staff encounter.
What kind of difficult and tricky customers they have to deal with, what the pitfalls are and where they
get wrong-footed. ?

u

c

 ?
Œirst we need to define what Good Customer Service is: How do you feel when it's good? How do you
feel when it's bad? ?

c 


 c

?
Next we need to look at the fundamentals of communicating with customers. Whether face to face or
on the phone, how you communicate is usually more important than what you say. Delegates will
practise looking at what supports and what hampers good customer service, looking at body language,
physical space and other verbal and non-verbal techniques (even on the phone!).

Linked to this is training to understanding physical boundaries and how to use them in difficult
situations. ?

R
with c


!
 ?
We will next look at how important it is to be sure we are all 'speaking the same language'.

It is easy to misinterpret and misunderstand what your customers are saying and they in turn can
easily misunderstand and misinterpret you.

We will spend some time looking at a typical customer scenario from differing points of view. ?
j



  c

?
Ghe assumptions we automatically make about customers affect the way we communicate with them.

Ghere will be a brief group training exercise to highlight how easy it is to make assumptions about
another person just by looking at them, focusing on their clothes, hairstyles, accents, etc.

Œollowing this, we will look at some of the assumptions customers might be making about you. ?

?
c  
 "
#


When things are tough, most people take it personally (why wouldn't you since it's being aimed at
you?) and then we want to just get it over and done with: "Ghe sooner I can get rid of this customer,
the better!"

We will introduce the idea that it is the customer complaint you are looking at, and that it can be 'held'
between you as opposed to taking on board the customers problems and emotions.

We will look at how people can 'elect' themselves responsible in order to shift the dynamic between
them and the customer. People may be looking for solutions, but we also know that many people just
need a place to off-load their difficulties and their own frustrations.

°

$ 

%R & 

$$$%

A pairs training exercise that allows people calm down an over-emotional customer without getting
drawn in.

We will create a typical customer conflict scenario that ends up heated, with each person trying to
convince the other that his or her point of view is the right one.

We then replay it with one person taking on the skill of being an 'objective observer' who is able to
reflect back to the customer what they think is going on.

"





 ° 

Ghis training exercise allows the other person to be heard and get their point of view across while
allowing you to set clear boundaries and deliver a difficult or uncomfortable message.

& 
 

Ghis exercise is to help delegates move situations forward and to shift a disagreement from one of
blame (Yes you did, no I didn't, kind of dynamic) to a more reasoned reflecting back of the reality of
the situation. ?

u

u

 '


c

?
A technique to help people distinguish between what someone does as opposed to who they are. Ghis
can be extremely helpful when you have to deliver news the recipient doesn't want to hear.

°
 


c
° (
#



Working in pairs we will get an overview of how to establish customer empathy quickly.

Some of the things we will cover are:

Using their name

Deliberately using 'I', 'You', or 'We' statements
Understanding their situation
Self-disclosure
Compliments ?



c
c
 ?
An exercise that deals with a number of key issues:

Gaining confidence
Changing your behaviour instantly
Dealing with intimidation, manipulation and anger
Coping with other people's upset
Œeeling more in charge of the situation ?

  )  c
u
 R* ?

People will work on their difficult customer service scenarios practising additional techniques on the
Art of Saying No, and using other tools learnt so far. Ghey will get coaching on what works best for
them.

u

 


Here we will introduce some of the phrases we have collected over the years that help defuse tricky
situations. We will also ask delegates if they have any favourite phrases that they know work. At the
end of the training programme we will collate these in a booklet and distribute them to everyone.

*u"

Having had one difficult customer service encounter, it can be really hard to let go of all the feelings,
frustrations and residue of that, before you are able face the next difficult or tricky customer service
situation with a clean slate as it were. We know that it's very easy to metaphorically 'kick the cat'.

Œeelings: we have a brief 'in your head' exercise that demonstrates how powerful feelings can be,
even when they aren't verbally expressed. We also look at how our feelings influence our
assumptions, where we make things up and then act as though what we made up is true.

Here is an opportunity for the whole group to brainstorm about different techniques and tools they
know work to deal with their own angry, upset or frustrated feelings. ?

c

c 
 
  ?
Go round of the day each person will create a Customer Service Plan of Action looking at:

What they are taking away from the c


c 
, what specifically they know they will
use and where they will practise.?

 
c



c 
?
?