Workshop on Advanced Customer Service Management

Program overview:

In the current business environment, customer satisfaction and customer experience are interwoven into organization financial success and are a significant part of the organization’s reputation. A positive customer experience, relates to effective and consistent customer service excellence.

The company’s most vital asset is its customers. Without them, the company would not succeed in business. When we satisfy our customers, they not only help our organization grow by continuing to do business with us, but they are more likely to recommend us to friends and associates.

Organizations which demonstrate a consistent customer service strategy, commitment to investing in a high-performance workforce and customer-focused systems enable extraordinary service delivery that enhanced customer satisfaction and lasting relationships.

This program is designed to give insight and in-depth analysis on how to build lasting rapport with customers, uncovering their needs to build world class customer service in any way that will enable “them” customers become advocates for our businesses in person and on-line creating word of mouth advertisement in the most effective and cheapest way.

For whom:

This program is designed for managers responsible for providing services, products or information to internal and external customers. Managers responsible for training, customer service, sales professionals, technical and support personnel, field sales representatives, finance and credit controllers, frontline staff, marketing communication specialists, public relations personnel, and SME business owners will benefit from this course.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• acquire customer care skills and know the challenges involved;
• analyze and identify strengths and weaknesses in their organization’s customer care approach;
• develop influencing skills to build long term relationships with key customers;
• manage customers’ perception of risk;
• describe different customer behaviour styles and how to approach them;
• turn every customer complain to opportunity to maximize relationships for positive outcomes;
• understand what exceptional customer care is and develop tactics and attitude to demonstrate this level of service;
• use the telephone, the internet and social media in delivering exceptional customer service at all time;
• deal effectively with anger, aggression and complaint of customers for positive outcomes;
• have in-depth insights into customer experience and satisfaction; and
• Create a customer centric workplace with customers as kings and queens of the business.

Course outline:

Day one: Understanding the Challenges of Service Excellence

• The challenges of customer service management
• Excellence in customer service and what it looks like
• Identifying how excellence in front-line customer service is delivered and managed
• Assessing the quality of the service that you offer
  • The role of customers in service the service flow
  • Concepts of customer care and the customer decision process
• Models for managing customer care
  • The customer and co-creation of service
  • The psychology of customer care
• Dealing with criticism, controlling anger and aggression
  • Understanding and managing customer feedback about you and your organization

Day two: Understanding your Organization’s Service Delivery Strategy

• The connection between customer service and reputation
• Examining the evidence for investing in excellent customer service
• Understanding Porters Value Chain – how do you create value for your customers
• Who are your internal suppliers and customers?
• Current Service map: Understanding your service delivery system
• Building lasting rapport with your customers – internal and external
• Creating a lasting first impression
• Step into another person’s shoes to better appreciate their experiences and motivations

Day Three: Role Communication in Delivering Customer Service Excellence

• Role of Effective communication in service excellence
• Developing listening and questioning techniques to understand what customers need
• Understanding typical customer behaviour patterns
• Body language clues that show how others are thinking and responding to you
• Lenses or filters to communication
• Communications models
• Using perceptual positions to understand your customers’ point of view
• Choosing communication channels to increase engagement

Day Four: Managing the delivery of customer service excellence

• Delivering a next generation customer experience
  • Current Service map to new service design
  • New service development cycle
• Developing a customer strategy:

 – planning for an interactive business relationship

• Change management of processes, metrics, incentives and

skills to deliver the new customer experience

• Evaluation using a performance management framework
• The role of culture in service excellence
• The role of people in service excellence
• Benchmarking to achieve competitive advantage
• Case study on service excellence best practices

by industry leaders

Day Five: Action planning to achieve customer service excellence

• Developing a plan to deliver excellence
• Presenting your plan to top-tier management
• Assertiveness and what it means
• Dealing with difficult people in an assertive way
• Maintaining high standards of customer service
• Reviewing the service that you offer and reacting accordingly
• Embracing and managing change
• Personal development planning

Training Methodology

Lectures, discussions, exercises, and case studies will be used to reinforce these teaching/learning methods.