Customer Service Curriculum

How can our clients ensure that their front-line service people are treating customers right, day after day?

Good customer service is an ongoing process. That’s why we address Customer Service Training as a process, not just a one-time event.

Analysis

We did a Root Cause Analysis to determine why clients were experiencing a wide variety of Customer Service problems. Analysis pointed to a variety of causes:

• Customer Service Process: In some cases, the process itself was set up in a way that made it difficult to satisfy customers.
• Supervision: Many Customer Service Supervisors lacked general supervision skills, as well as specific Customer Service Supervision skills.
• Service Delivery: Both novice and experienced Customer Service employees needed systematic training and ongoing reinforcement on how to deliver satisfactory customer service.

Design

We designed a series of Training Kits that gave our clients a turnkey solution for addressing the issues above. The Kits included:

• Process module: How to assess a system, improve the areas that need improving, and set standards & policies for everyone involved in the system. (Suitable for the process owners & managers)
• Supervisory module: How to operationalize Customer Service standards, communicate them, reinforce them, and supervise day-to-day CS operations. (Suitable for supervisors)
• Service Delivery modules: Series of skill-based modules on how to deal with customers, resolve problems, and handle the stress that goes with a CS job. (Suitable for Customer Service employees at any experience level. Multiple modules were internally consistent and mutually reinforcing.)

Training Kits

The Training Kits were designed so that anyone – whether or not they were professional trainers – could facilitate the training modules. Each Training Kit included:

• Facilitator Guide which detailed how to present the program, conduct the exercises, facilitate discussions and make sure that learning transferred back on the job
• Worksheets
• Exercises
• Slides
• Participant Materials

Special Skills/Software

• Instructional Design

Clients had a comprehensive package that addressed the Customer Service process systematically and consistently.

Managers and Owners had clear guidelines for assessing their Customer Service system, identifying problems, and implementing solutions.

Supervisors learned how to set performance standards, and how to make those standards work in the day-to-day operation of the Customer Service function.

Employees – from novices to experienced service providers – developed their Customer Service expertise and reinforced their commitment to satisfying customers.

For more information about this project, please contact us.