Customer Service Skills
What is customer services skills training?
Customer expectations have changed dramatically over the last twenty years. We’re in an era where we want it and we want it now. This has been triggered by the easy accessibility of products and services on the Internet and because all the fantastic technology we have at our fingertips. We no longer have to visit a shop, make a phone call or write a letter – we can now use our phones or tablets to look at products and services on offer to us at any time of the day and night!
Make it easy on yourself
Recent Harvard research suggests that one of the questions organisations are now asking themselves is: ‘How easy is it to do business with us?’ Brightstone can make your business run more easily by improving your customer service skills. Many of the obstacles to excellent customer service are do with mindset and we have the expertise and experience to help you make the necessary changes. Our bespoke change programmes support teams and organisations in developing their strategy and approach to making it easy for their customers to interact and receive effortless service.
Who is service skills training for?
In any market or industry, it costs far more to gain new customers than to retain existing customers. Neglecting, constraining or failing to develop and optimise customer services capabilities is a waste of great opportunities. After years of working with all kinds of people and setups, Brightstone has found that the problem often lies with organisations and their leaders who are habitually fixated on sales, marketing, advertising and promotion in a desperate bid to attract new customers. Meanwhile, they pay scant regard to the many customers that are leaving. All they need is simple and effective customer service and care.
Reasons for organisations seeking our service skills programmes are:
Service levels are suffering
High customer churn – customers leaving
Quality standards aren’t being reached
Staff morale is low
Customer complaints are rising
The Brightstone way
Brightstone offers training programmes for frontline teams handling customer enquiries either face-to-face, over the phone or through online chat. Our programmes typically include work with management and leadership teams to ensure newly developed skills and techniques are supported and sustained through effective measurement and management of quality (service standards).
What are the benefits of undertaking training in service skills programme?
Improve customer service
Increase revenue / profit
Create change in in your service skills
Ease of service for customers
Developing the attitude, skills and knowledge of employees helps the company improve the customer experience, employee experience and ultimately the measure of success – whether that be ‘net promoter score’, ‘customer satisfaction surveys’ or ‘effortless service’.
Higher employee motivation and engagement
Customer service training provides employees with a greater understanding of the impact their role has on the customer and company they work for. When a company is willing to invest in training then the staff feel they have demonstrated that they care about continual development and progress. Ultimately, this fills your staff members’ ‘emotional bank accounts’ which creates more motivated and engaged staff.
Improved customer service skills
Employees improve their skills and often acquire new ones. Brightstone’s customer service training focuses on improving communication through the power of questioning, deep listening and rapport-building as well as helping people understand the importance of empathy and the skills to empathise.
Rise in profit
Increased loyalty, higher customer retention, the acquisition of new customers, reduced employee turnover and increased sales will boost your profits!
Improved customer service skills
Increased customer satisfaction
Increased customer loyalty
Reduced cost of customer churn
An increase in profit
“It there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
Henry Ford
What is a typical programme?
We meet the client first and establish what success looks like for them from a Service Skills Programme. This initial step is free and helps us to find out what you need.
Conduct a review – we meet with management and staff across the business/service/department on a
1:1 or focus group basis. Next, we observe staff in their workplace as they interact face-to-face, via email or over the phone. Then, we share a presentation/report which highlights strengths and development areas with recommendations for the programme.
Design a programme in partnership with the client. Either a 2 – 3 day programme for staff or a series of ‘modular’ events taking place over a 4-6 month period.
Typically we also provide recommendations to develop the management team support and sustain the development of their staff through upskilling them in performance management and coaching service improvement.
Content typically includes:
- The psychology of service
- Core and advanced communication skills – the power of questions, deep listening, building rapport and empathy, handling challenging conversations
- Structuring a dialogue
- Practicing skills throughout
Review and measure success.
Success Story
Serving Up Success with a Financial Services Institution
Coaching
Serving Up Success with Legal & General Brightstone is focused on getting fantastic results. We are keen to achieve results with and through the people we work with. We like to keep [...]
But don’t take our word for it…
“A thought provoking workshop, which has given me plenty to take away and work with.”“A really useful course with tools and techniques that I’ll be taking away and using straight away.”