Give New & Repeat Customers the ‘Wow” Factor Experience with Awesome Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service.

Create positive influence… engage and connect.  Make a lasting first impression for all the right reasons with the power of your telephone courtesy and customer service skills.

By: Corporate Training Options, Australia

We all want to make a lasting impression with new and repeat customers who call our businesses. So, whether you use the phone a lot or a little at your business, the fact is great telephone courtesy and customer service skills keep customers coming back and talking about you for all the right reasons.

Whereas poor telephone skills can repel them!

Why? Well, whoever answers the call provides the first impression someone has of your business, and first impressions count!  So, if people are welcomed, feel at ease and have a pleasant service experience when they call your business, they are more likely to do business with you.

If customers call and you’re rude, or you interrupt them, and they have a poor telephone experience, chances are they’ll go elsewhere and tell 10 other people about it as well.  Trust me – you do not want that.

So, if you and your staff use the telephone in your business, then exceptional telephone courtesy and customer service skills are essential to:

• provide customer service
• assist with customer ordering
• answer enquiries
• book meetings, and more

All of your team should be professionally trained to have excellent telephone skills, including managers, team leaders, sales staff, receptionists, administrators, and call centre operators.

We all know that excellent Customer Service is one of the most important aspects of your business, but sadly not all businesses take the time to practice or develop their customer service phone skills.

However, if you do, it benefits your customers, your sales, your businesses reputation and your productivity.  In fact, it benefits you and your team in a myriad of ways.

Now, providing a seamless telephone service experience is not always easy, however, with the right training, it’s not as hard as you may think.

Quality Customer Service

By developing skills in telephone courtesy and customer service, you can meet your organisation’s standards, create rapport with your customers, problem solve quickly and stay calm when under pressure. We teach you to add value to your customer’s experience and your skillset, so your confidence improves and your engagement with people on the phone is always positive.

Basic Telephone Skills

Answering the telephone, using your best voice, addressing the caller, and effective listening are all important parts of quality telephone skills. Customer service is everyone’s responsibility, and these skills are needed at every level of your business, from junior staff through to management.

Some aspects of basic telephone skills include:

• Answering the phone correctly
• Managing multiple calls
• Use the correct tone of voice
• Checking if the call is a follow up call
• Having the customer’s information available so that the customer does not need to repeat themselves
• Clarifying information when necessary
• Paying attention to detail
• Closing the conversation appropriately

Professional Telephone Skills

Timeliness, professionalism, and patience are important professional skills to know and develop when providing customer service over the phone.

And stay positive at all times. Having a positive customer experience with the company is what will keep your customers coming back.

The following are all important aspects of professional telephone skills:

• Managing technology
• Negotiation and problem solving
• Controlling the call
• Making follow up calls
• Taking notes while on the phone and recording all relevant information, which means that your customer does not have to repeat themselves
• Having good knowledge of your company’s services and products, as this gives your customer confidence in your organisation
• Confidence to handle difficult phone conversations. There may be times when you need to phone with news that you know your customer will not be happy with. Our training at CTO can help you to be confident, assertive and positive in these situations.

Understanding Your Customers

One of the best ways to deliver ‘wow’ telephone customer service is for you and your staff to understand why your customers are calling.

After all, whoever takes the call is the frontline of your business, so they need need to have empathy with the caller and require knowledge of how to handle the enquiry, or even a difficult situation if they occur.

Your customers will have a variety of different personalities and communication styles. Customer service staff need to be able to deal with all personality types and communication methods when answering the phone.

It is important that customers feel they are being listened to and are getting their needs met and questions answered. It is also important that you or your staff are assertive when it is necessary.

Staff need to know how to use clear communication when dealing with customers in person and on the phone. It is important to be understanding and empathetic when there is a problem or complaint.

That’s why so many people and businesses love our Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service course

Attitude and Great Service

Your attitude is everything!  Smile while you are on the phone. The customer can hear it in your voice. Really!

Take the time to understand your customers, discover their needs and motives.  Remaining positive at all times leaves a favourable impression upon your customer and keeps them coming back to your business.

A positive attitude and enthusiasm is catching and benefits the team member, the organisation and the customer.

Professional telephone and customer service skills are important to every organisation, and can increase your customer retention rates, improve sales and enhance the feeling of professionalism in your business.

Remember that ‘wowing’ customers & making a lasting first impression with the power of your businesses telephone skills, is what we’ve taught many people and businesses over the years with great success.  With our help we can teach you and your team how to make a lasting impression for all the right reasons on the phone, whatever the situation.

CTO’s Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service Skills Course can teach you and your team Professional telephone skills, including:

• phone answering
• addressing the caller
• practicing effective listening
• managing messages
• closing the conversation
• how to engage and interact with your customers using excellent telephone courtesy, which adds value to your business

Your team can also understand how to:

• ask questions
• negotiate with customers
• make follow up calls
• deliver bad news
• avoid statements that give the wrong impression
• manage various customer behaviour styles

If these skills will benefit your team, then CTO’s Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service Skills Course is perfect for you.

For information on how you and your team can improve your Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service skills, and for enrolment details about any of the Corporate Training Options Customer Service Courses, contact us today.

—

About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is a Business Education Training Company, which provides customised Professional Development & Business Technology courses Australia-wide.

The courses provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO’s Telephone Courtesy and Customer Service Skills Training is customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site at your workplace, on dates which suit you.

We look forward to working with you, to build your confidence, improve your efficiency and maximise your potential.

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website – cto.com.au

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.noesis.chat/

7 Techniques for Handling Difficult People and Situations

All of us need skills in handling difficult people, because we’ve all been there.  We’ve all been in a situation where someone – often our customer – is angry, upset, disappointed and feeling frustrated.  And they are directing their frustration at us.

In order to manage the situation well, we need to learn how to remain calm, diffuse the situation, and assist the customer to arrive at an outcome which is to their satisfaction.  This means we need skills that will help us to keep our cool while our customer is blowing their top.

Who are the Difficult People in your Life?

Difficult people are just everyday people who are currently in a situation which is causing them distress.  Alternatively, you may work with someone who is difficult on a regular basis.

How do these Difficult People Affect You?

It is easy to let a difficult person interfere with your mood and affect your day. In different situations, some people become hard to deal with because they refuse to cooperate. Difficult people need to be handled in a logical and positive manner to ensure they cause only minimal damage and disruption.

Here are 7 tips and tricks for handling difficult people and situations

1. Remain Calm

Keep your voice even and reasonable. By maintaining self control, you will avoid escalating the problem. Respond rather than react.

Take a deep breath, pause, and think before speaking. It may be necessary to walk away from the situation and come back to it when you are calmer.

2. Repeat Your Position

When dealing with a difficult person you may need to repeat your position. This shows that you will stick to your guns, are not a pushover, and are adept at solving problems.

You may need to repeat your position several times if the person is angry. For example, “I understand that you would like a refund for the item you purchased, however, our policy is not to provide refunds for change of mind after 14 days.  However, we can offer you a full credit for the item”.

This process is very effective. We expand on this in our course on Handling Difficult People and Situations at Corporate Training Options.

3. Focus on the Problem

Difficult people can try to make you feel uncomfortable or incompetent. They can insinuate that the problem is with you and the way you do your job. Whether this is a colleague or a customer, they can be quick to find fault with you and continually refer to the problem, rather than focussing on finding a mutually beneficial solution.

Do not be intimidated and always separate the people problem from the issue. Be lenient on the person and strong on the issue at hand.

4. Never Take a Difficult Situation Personally

The person that you are dealing with may be having a bad day, the situation may have come up for them before and been a problem, or they may just be a bad communicator. You may find that you need to deal with someone who is angry or difficult simply because you are the one they are talking to at the moment.

5. Know the Difficult People in Your Life

You will possibly deal with many different problematic people in your life – at work, at home, and socially. Know who they are, their attitudes and their common complaints.

If you have had instances with them in the past that you have not deal with well, think about how you would deal with the same situation in the future. What would you say, how would you act, and how would your body language be? The same or similar situations can often re-occur with difficult personalities.

Our course on dealing with difficult people outlines many common scenarios that team members face in work scenarios.

6. The Degrees of Difficult Situations

Difficult situations can range from a small misunderstanding, to bullying and aggressive behaviour. Decide whether the issue is worth getting into a conflict about. For minor issues you may decide that simply walking away is the best solution, which can then allow you to get on with your day with minimal disruption.

7. Avoid Being Part of the Problem

Always use empathy and be understanding in difficult situations. Be prepared to listen while the person blows off steam. Do not, however, remain passive – stand up for yourself.

Using humour is a great way to diffuse a difficult situation. Remain in control, confident and credible.

Teamwork and positive work relationships go a long way towards minimising conflict within the workforce. Effective communication is not always easy, but it can be learned.

At Corporate Training Options we will roleplay different scenarios, so your staff come away confident that they can deal with difficult situations.

Training in Handling Difficult People

The above techniques and actionable strategies on Handling Difficult People and Situations are covered in much more detail in the Corporate Training Options course so please contact us today for more information.

Training your team to deal with difficult people and situations will result in increased morale in the office, fewer customer complaints, more confident team members and a greater level of customer staff retention and productivity. This all affects the environment and morale in your workplace, as well as your profitability.

For more information, or to receive an online quote or to book a course for your team, you can view the course details here  Handling Difficult People & Situations course details

Any thoughts or experiences you’d like share about handling difficult people or situations?

We’d love to hear about your experiences, or answer any questions you have, so please feel free to contact the Corporate Training Options team today.

—

About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is an Australian Professional Development Training Company, incorporated in 1992.

Our customised Professional Development courses are available Australia-wide, for business executives and corporate teams, and provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO Professional Development Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates which suit you.

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website here

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.noesis.chat/