Description

Become a highly proficient customer services professional with our online course, which you can study at your convenience. Effective customer service is crucial to keeping customers loyal, boosting sales and subsequent company profits, and this course covers all the essential elements:

• First impressions
• How to say it
• Managing emotional states
• Victim words vs. empowered words
• A five-step method for dealing with customers who have problems or complaints
• Dealing with angry or irate customers
• More than a mouthpiece.

All successful organisations have a customer service strategy, requiring skilled personnel. Completion of this course prepares you to become highly competent and sought-after in this role.

Key Learning Points

Attention to the little details – from avoiding the “double hello” phenomenon to mastering the tone of your voice – enables a person to become an effective customer services professional. The content of this course teaches all the skills and strategies you’ll need for the job.

Module 1 – First impressions

This module give learners the understanding and skills needed to open inbound sales calls effectively. First impressions last, and you’ll discover how to represent a company in the best way possible, ensuring the caller’s experience is outstanding.

• How to make callers feel welcome and glad they have reached you
• The relative merits of two-, three- and four-stroke greetings
• How to be sensitive to the effect that delays or wait-times may have on the customer prior to the call being connected to you
• What to say and what not to say after the opening.

Module 2 – How to say it

The second section of the course looks at the six key variables that determine the quality of the customer’s response to your voice. The phone call might be the first impression the client gets of you and your business, so the way you speak to them will have a decisive effect on how they rate your customer service and their future with your business.

After this module, you will know how and when to apply six principal variables to your speech patterns for a positive effect on customers. These are:

• Volume
• Pace
• Inflection
• Pitch
• Pause
• Word Emphasis.

Module 3 – Managing emotional states

This part of the course will enable you to manage your own stress and perform effectively – at the same time as managing the customer’s emotional state.

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Use deep breathing, affirmation, and relaxation techniques
• Know when you need to request to take a break before accepting another call
• Express empathy and concern for the customer’s situation while confirming your understanding of the situation
• Demonstrate to the customer that you want to work together to achieve the same outcome.

Module 4 – Victim words vs. empowered words

• This module is all about the importance of using the right words when talking to customers.
• You will receive expert guidance on choosing empowered words over victim words.
• After this module you will know what phrases are better than others to use in fifteen typical customer service situations.
• With such a broad range you will undoubtedly be prepared for those most typical customer service situations.

Module 5 – A five-step method for dealing with customers who have problems or complaints

Finding a solution for customers with a complaint, and creating a positive experience for them demands significant customer service skills. This module teaches the process for dealing effectively with complaints:

• Hear them out
• Cushion it
• Confirm understanding
• Ask the customer for their ideas
• Accept or reply with alternative
• Confirm agreement
• Close the loop.

Module 6 – Dealing with angry or irate customers

This is one of the most important and challenging parts of customer service. This module ensures you know how to:

• Let the angry customer continue to vent without interruption until the anger has dissipated
• Express empathy without being “walked over”
• Use assertiveness when necessary and to know when it is called for
• Invoke a last-ditch technique for reasoning with an abusive or profane customer
• Know when to call for management help regarding the truly difficult customer.

Module 7 – More than a mouthpiece

The final module gives you guidance for the additional and related role of market researcher. Completing this module means you’ve succeeded in all the learning objectives:

• The primary source of new ideas
• How to listen for the un-addressed need
• How to get the customer to describe what they would really like to have
• How to provide market feedback to management within your company about existing products or services.

Advantages of this course

• With little or no prior knowledge of customer service, learners can gain mastery of the full spectrum of techniques for handling customer telephone experience.
• In just six modules you’ll have covered the important skills and strategies needed to be successful in the role of a customer services professional.
• This enables you to be an indispensable part of any company, strengthening their image, encouraging customer loyalty and ultimately boosting profits.
• The final module of the course goes beyond the role of customer services professional, introducing you to the skills of the related role of market researcher.