Training & Development

The overall aim of Customer Service training programmes is to provide bottom line improvements in service delivery, customer satisfaction, growth and profit.

There are three basic building blocks from which a successful customer service experience is made. A breakdown in any of these stages is likely to thwart an organisation’s (and its customer’s) goals. The three stages are Preparation, Interaction and Follow Through.

Preparation means knowing the customer, the product, and the company. It also means knowing how to operate equipment or use systems important to job performance. It may include working on personal characteristics such as appearance and enthusiasm.

Interaction includes all the behaviours critical to an effective encounter with a customer. Contributing to success at this stage are interpersonal skills that can be modelled, learned and practiced.

Follow-through involves keeping promises, checking to see that service was satisfactory, and informing other departments of the customer’s situation and reactions to products or services.

The programme covers all three elements of this formula, with special emphasis on the Interaction stage. Classroom discussions, exercises, and practice sessions work to build the customer contact person’s interaction skills to the point where he or she is able to meet or exceed customer expectations in almost any encounter.