Customer Service Skills in a Competitive Environment

At the conclusion of this workshop Representatives will be able to:

• Use behaviors that match those of the customer and avoid stress creating behaviors
• Describe what people remember in a customer service relationship
• Recognize an irate customer contact as the first part of a negotiated agreement
• Make the initial moves in the Win-Win negotiation process
• Use appropriate telephone and active listening techniques
• Apply a quick fix risk analysis and the "unintended" consequence
• Craft solutions that satisfy the customer and the organization
• Frame "no" in a way that gives direction
• Clarify the service agreement "contract" with the customer
• Demonstrate a proactive approach to reduce customer stress
• Use techniques to refocus irrational conflict behavior

Customer service is all about attitude, negotiation and communications. Service providers, for the most part, understand what is considered good customer service. In many cases other factors are inhibiting the use of good customer service skills. These stress factors include:

• Fear of using modern negotiating tactics and gambits
• Systemic processes and procedures
• Technical limitations
• Organizational culture
• Relationship with the supervisor/manager

What is challenging to many organizations is that all the Employees and Associates that have occasion to interact with customers are not always as customer focused and don't display good customer service skills. To get the "Nordstroms" customer focused culture, everyone in the organization must recognize what constitutes good customer service skills and make these good habits part of their customer interaction. Before embarking on a comprehensive customer service training initiative, evaluate poor customer service causes rather than symptoms. Benchmarking current customer service satisfaction levels is an important step in establishing what areas need to be addressed.