Course Overview

 Skills Development is key to improving the performance of Customer Support staff and processes. Well-trained and confident staff will decrease costs, reduce repetitive calls and escalations, and can reduce staff and customer frustration. Increasing Customer Satisfaction should be a key goal and metric for most customer facing organizations.

Attrition in Customer Support and related areas remains high for most organizations.

This course can reduce attrition and increase job satisfaction for those with the important job of interacting with customers and others we partner with and serve. Most people perform, manage, or participate in Customer Support, Client Care, or have other types of Customer interaction. Technical Software, Workflow, and other types of traditional job training assume the patience, negotiation, and other aspects soft skills are already in place. Without covering the basic soft and hard skills of Client Care, driving to high performing teams who use and improve on Best Practices is almost impossible.

In this course, we use in-class role-play and other interactive exercises to increase Learner skills to be readily applied in the workplace. Using empathy, problem solving, active listening, having critical conversations, and other communication tools all build a strong presence you can leverage in any industry and setting. Whether your customers are internal or external, this comprehensive course covers the customer support and general communication skills you need to perform or lead Customer Service.

This program contains highly interactive and modular course units. The course is enriched with engaging discussion questions from best practice and real-life situations. Through the interactive role-play and many other exercises, Learners will improve their ability to quickly handle most service and communication situations.

Improving your Customer Support skills and knowledge ensures that you have a demonstrable solid foundation of Customer Support experience that can be readily applied in the workplace.

Valuable For The Following Professionals  

Skill Areas: Leadership, Operations, Customer Service, Process Improvement, Methods, Metrics, Sales (Pre/Post), Marketing, and more...

This program is designed for people of all levels and experience eager to obtain higher skill level in Customer Communication especially around Support and problem solving. It also provides a firm grounding in traditional Customer Support skills.

• Those desiring or who want to know about Customer Support Best Practices
• Prospective or current Client Care and related Team Members
• Managers of Support Groups, Supervisors, Operations Analysts
• External and Internal Consultants and Staff Analysts
• Senior Staff, Directors, Leaders at all levels to coach staff or as a refresher

Fast Improvement for Operations, Project Management, and Business Analysis
via Consulting, Process Improvement, Staffing, Speaking, & Training

• Increase Customer Satisfaction by focusing on Communication Skills
• Develop a personal improvement plan based on best practices and needs
• Understand how Customers think and how to best communicate with them
• Learn techniques for calming customers via Empathy and Active Listening
• Know the benefits and value of Customer Support
• Learn Customer Support principles and philosophy; the key concepts of Customer Support domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills
• Demonstrate that you have the capability to manage the Customer Support process
• Utilize the most common Customer Support processes, tools, and techniques
• Understand how Customer Support relates to Sales and Operations success
• Perform various exercises to reinforce key learning concepts

• Qualifies for 14 PDU^®s for Project Management Institute^® PMI^® Project Management Professional^® PMP^® and Agile Certified Practitioner^® PMI-ACP^® and other accreditations

• Qualifies for 14 SEU^®s for Scrum Alliance^® CSP^® Certified Scrum^® and other accreditations

• Qualifies for 14 CDU^®s for International Institute of Business Analysis^® IIBA^® Certified Business Analysis Professional^® CBAP^® and CCBA^® and other accreditations

Course evaluated and delivered by DA&R Senior Consultants and Instructors so you can be assured of highest quality.

Course Agenda

Customer Service Introduction and Logistics

• Course and Learner introduction, goals, and logistics
• Develop your own customized action plan

Module 1: The Value of Customer Service

• Understand Customer Service Foundation Areas
• Customer Care and Motivation
• Standing Out with Customer Service Best Practices

Module 2: Customers Define Success

• Trends in Customer Service
• The Customer Care Equation

Module 3: You Make the Difference

• Negotiation Skills
• Benefits of Active Listening
• Our Attitude Matters!
• Influencing Your Organization to Help Customers
• Partnering with Unhelpful Colleagues
• Applying the Human Touch

Module 4: Customer Relationships

• Face-to-Face Contact
• Service Face to Face
• The Service Recovery Process

Module 5: Who Is the Customer?

• Customer Relationship Management
• Internal Customers
• External Customers

Module 6: Customer Support

• Customer is the Focus
• Handling Customer Complaints
• Phone and other Customer Communications
• Metrics to Improve Customer Services

Module 7: Engage Difficult Customers

• Complaints are Opportunities
• The Unreasonable or Angry Customer
• Reducing Escalations
• Turning Difficult Customers into Loyal Friends

Module 8: Increasing Customer Loyalty

• Moments of Truth
• Analyze Moments of Truth
• Action from Moments of Truth

Module 9: Increase Sales and Productivity via Service

• Sales Orientation
• Process Improvement Opportunities
• Features and Benefits
• The Nature of Persuasion

Course Close: Final Questions, Next Steps, Study Plan, and Continued Support