Management and Leadership

Customer Service and Support: How to WOW your Customers

• Traditional Classroom: 1-day
• Virtual Instructor-led: Two 3-3.5 hour sessions; Three 2-hour sessions

It does little good to make a sale if your company or organization cannot service your current customers. Increasingly, many companies have found that outstanding customer service is the key to customer retention, growth, and profitability. Excellent customer service representatives and teams must possess a range of skills, including the versatility and proficiency in dealing with service disruptions and difficult customers, the ability to relate to customer expectations and concerns, the confidence to assert certain points to an unreasonable customer, and the skill to generate additional sales. With the appropriate application of these skills, customers will often receive a positive customer service experience that exceeds their expectations.

This program teaches the skills needed to “wow!” your customers and surpass their expectations, beginning with some foundation skills, but then progressing to advanced concepts such as a team approach to customer service.

Target Audience

Individuals who will benefit from this course include new and experienced customer service representatives, individuals involved in servicing and supporting customers, and entire customer service teams.

Learning Objectives

• Increase your ability to “wow!” your customers by exceeding their expectations.
• Develop proficiency in various methods of communicating with customers, with emphasis on telephone and email.
• Exhibit versatility and comfort in handling service disruptions and difficult customers.
• Ask effective questions and listen better for the customer’s needs and concerns.
• Identify when and how to use a team approach to customer service.
• Display comfort in identifying and developing sales opportunities.

Key Takeaways

• Telephone and email communication skills and guidelines.
• A six-step service recovery model for dealing with service disruptions, with emphasis on dealing with difficult situations such as the angry customer.
• Questioning and listening skills.
• The ability to understand the customer’s needs and concerns.
• Managing customer expectations with assertive and persuasive points when a customer is making an unreasonable request.
• Team-based customer service strategies.
• Sales opportunity analysis.
• How to identify opportunities for additional sales.

Course Outline

Module 1: How to Wow Your Customers

• Three Zones of Customer Satisfaction
• Developing a Customer Satisfaction and Service Strategy
• Three General Tips for Wowing Customers
  • 3 Rs: Respect, Responsiveness, Reliability
  • Be Accountable
  • Follow the Golden Rule

Module 2: Customer Service Skills and Competencies

• Questioning and Listening for Needs and Expectations
• Managing Expectations and Responding to Demanding Customers

Module 3: Communicating via Email and Telephone

• Different Modes of Communication
• Exercise: Brainstorm for Using Email and Telephone with Customers
• Body Language and Nonverbals
• Guidelines on Communicating over Telephone
• Exercise: Telephone Practice Activity
• Using Email Effectively

Module 4: Managing Difficult Customers

• Service Recovery Model
• Offering Options and Alternatives

Module 5: Sales Opportunity Analysis

• How to Identify Sales Opportunities
• IDEAL^® Questioning

Module 6: Customer Service as a Team

• When and How to Use Teams in Customer Service
• Attributes of Successful Teams

MDP161 Course Code