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September
2007
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Information you can Count on.
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The Missing Linkback |
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How People Can Know Everything About Customer Service and Still
Not Be Able to Do It  I
had a strange experience at an airline counter recently. My
international flight was cancelled and when I went to the
counter to find out what to do next, I watched three customer
service agents discuss the flight they were going to put me
on much later that day.
They went about printing tickets, writing me meal vouchers,
looking at the computer...all without any of them speaking
directly to me or even telling me what they were doing! As
I stood there feeling ignored, I realized the problem was
that none of them wanted to be the one explaining the bad
news. They all knew what to do, likely had been taught all
the right customer service techniques, but when it came down
to it, they were afraid to even talk to their customers!
Is it fair to expect people without extensive business
experience to be able to satisfy difficult customers in
high stress environments? After all, doing so requires exceptional
"people'"skills - the ability to listen, empathize, articulate
respect for others points of view, target solutions, and
influence others, all with confidence and professionalism.
Whether fair or not, the fact of the matter is your customers
expect it. Your people's interpersonal skills make all the
difference in how your customers perceive your organization,
how likely they are to do business in the future, and how
quickly and efficiently their needs are met.
The problem is that this is the toughest part of customer
service and the hardest to train, which is why people in
customer service who know their products and have been through
customer service training can still fall short in actual
practice.
The good news in that these are specific and coachable skills
that can be improved. Anyone in and internal or external
customer service position can benefit by improving their
ability to:
- Begin a business conversation in a way that puts others
at ease.
- Listen, not just to what others say but how they say
it - identifying their satisfaction or willingness level
at any time
- Prove respect for what others have to say, causing credibility
and rapport. People "open up" to customer service people
who are skillful at this ability
- Analyze an opportunity or problem in depth, receiving
meaningful and honest answers to specific fact-finding
questions.
- Quickly solve problems and resolve conflict.
- Take the lead in a conversation to articulate solutions
and gain belief or buy-in.
These high level skills make everyone better at customer
interactions. People are able to understand customer customer
attitudes and problems more thoroughly, respond appropriately,
dissolve negative attitudes, position and "sell" solutions
and ideas and gain successful outcomes.
The secret to success is practice. Interpersonal customer
service skills can only be improved through interpersonal,
face-to-face use and repetition. This is why "The Par
Groups" methodology for developing customer service
skills focuses on real use of the skills and frequent coached
practice in order to make sure your people actually become
comfortable and fluent enough with the skills that they
can apply them even in those "scary" real life situations.
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Learning Po
Finance |
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Kick Traditional
Training Methods 
This year 4.95 million Chinese university graduates will enter
the job market, according to Xinhaua News Agency. Despite
this huge influx, human resources limitations continue to
top the list of challenges facing foreign companies operating
in China. In a recent CEO survey conducted by Korn/Ferry,
60 percent of Chinese executives surveyed cited "finding and
retaining good talent" as their biggest challenge. New graduates
are often inadequately prepared for the workplace an lack
the soft skills necessary to work in a global economy. Skills
such as flexibility, critical thinking and communication skills.
In an attempt to close the talent gap, many companies are
investing heavily in education and training programs, with
mixed results
Klas
Mellander, international management consultant and author
of The Power of Learning: Fostering Employee Growth,
says he knows how companies can optimize their returns on
training.
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Coming to a City near Youning |
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Author : James C. Georges
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Celemi Sessions
Across Canada In
August we completed our first training session for an audit
software company. They chose Celemi Apples & Oranges to
increase the financial knowledge and business acumen of their
sales professionals. The target market for the company is
CFO's and audit committee members of all size firms. The comments
were outstanding and the results closely mirrored the stated
goals of the Training and Sales departments.
Our fall schedule of events for Celemi Learning Solutions
includes Tango for a Software company, Apples & Oranges
for a transportation company, Decision Base in English and
French for a national brewer, and Decision Base and Tango,
in English and French for a major telecommunications company.
Most of our simulations are available in multiple languages.
For most of these clients these are the continuation
of existing training programs using Celemi Learning products.
We are also waiting to confirm sessions in Calgary for
a natural resources company.
In
conjunction with these scheduled events we will be hosting
"OPEN SESSIONS". An open session has multiple companies
participating, allowing a business that cannot host a full
session to participate and to experience "Celemi" first
hand. It is also a great opportunity for training management
and staff to evaluate Celemi Systems and see how it can
enhance the learning experiences for all employees. Dates
for our scheduled events will be available in the October
issue of this newsletter. If you have an urgent request
please contact us by phone or email. Anyone interested in
attending an "Open Session" please contact us to express
interest.
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Contact Information
phone:
604-484-6611
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