Beyond Customer Service: Building a Customer Centric Organization

Introduction:

Becoming customer-centric is one of the most important aims of any organization. Customer centricity refers to the orientation of a company to the needs and behaviors of its customers, rather than internal drivers such as the quest for short-term profit. Customers have high expectations and demand quality customer service from companies they choose to do business with. Providing customer service excellence gives an organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace and is the key factor that keeps customers coming back. Successful organizations understand the importance of developing a customer-centric mindset and deliberately restructure their customer service model to increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Today, customers have an increasing range of choice: choice of supplier, choice of channel, choice of products and services. Their loyalty is determined by the quality of the experience they receive. Delegates will learn effective customer-centric strategies and best practices to provide world-class customer service excellence.

Targeted Groups:

• Head of Customer Service
• Customer Service Managers
• Customer Service Supervisors
• Customer Service Professionals

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Establish the importance of setting and reviewing customer service standards
• Develop an understanding of internal and external customer expectations
• Communicate more effectively by utilizing active listening and questioning skills
• Demonstrate how to deal with difficult or demanding customers in a professional manner
• Set SMART objectives and goals to become more productive
• Utilize stress management techniques to increase job satisfaction
• Develop a strategy to build a more proactive, customer-centric organization
• Analyze and implement the 'best practices' of world-class customer-centric organizations
• Utilize interpersonal skills as vital tools in the provision of customer service
• Measure and assess how well customer service standards and objectives are being achieved
• Enhanced communication, persuasion, and conflict resolution skills

Targeted Competencies:

• Communication skills
• Leadership skills
• Technology tools
• Self-confidence
• Time management
• The motivation you require to build strong customer relationships and develop a customer-centric organization

Course Content:

Unit 1: The Building Blocks of a Customer-Centric Organisation:

• Course overview and learning objectives
• Define Customer Service Excellence
• What do you want your customer to experience?
• Practical exercise: Identify specific ways to use 'customer service' to enhance customer loyalty and build employee morale
• Five key steps for implementing a Customer-Centric Service Model
• Serving your internal customers
• First impressions are important - What do your customers see and hear?
• Understanding your customer’s nonverbal communication

Unit 2: Developing a Top-Down Customer-Centric Culture:

• What do customers want from your organization and why?
• Does the 'customer experience' align with your organization’s business goals and vision/mission statement?
• What do your competitors do better or differently than you do?
• Practical exercise: What are the most admired leadership traits?
• Shaping customer expectations - perception versus reality
• Case study: Examples of companies that provide world-class customer service
• Little things make a big difference - 'going the extra mile'
• The four customer personality types

Unit 3: Responding to The Voice of The Customer:

• Best and worst-rated companies for customer service
• Listen, act, and deliver on customer needs
• Re-evaluate and realign the customer experience in line with demand
• Creating favorable customer service ‘touchpoints’ within your company
• Practical exercise: List the ways that your organization creates positive ‘touchpoints’ to enhance the ‘customer experience’
• Leading and motivating others to deliver superior service levels
• The Customer Loyalty Chain
• Developing the processes that nurture customer brand loyalty

Unit 4: Measuring and Monitoring Customer Satisfaction:

• Why is measuring customer satisfaction important?
• Why is it critical to encourage customer complaints and feedback?
• Establishing quality customer service satisfaction measuring and monitoring standards
• Using customer-centric diagnostic tools to evaluate trends, perceptions, and opportunities for performance improvement
• Best practices for recording and monitoring customer service issues
• Putting in place processes to resolve customer dissatisfaction
• Practical exercise: Customer service quality control checklist
• Strategies for working with difficult and demanding customers

Unit 5: Leading the Way to Customer Service Excellence:

• The importance of attitude, teamwork, and professional development
• Developing a customer-centric training program
• Setting performance goals
• Contests and employee recognition programs
• Coaching and mentoring strategies
• Methods to empower and motivate customer service employees
• Action Plan