Mastering Service Excellence

Download this course description (pdf)

Business Issue - Like many successful retailers, financial institutions have put the telephone to work as a direct, cost-effective way of providing loyalty-building customer service. As a result, contact center representatives are the main point of contact for many of your most important customers. Handling service problems promptly, clearly, calmly and courteously is the most sensitive point of customer contact while cross-selling products and services is critical to both customer retention and sales growth. Organizations that recognize the tremendous referral opportunities presented to contact center representatives every day seek to leverage these opportunities by building service providers’ sales and referral skills.

Omega Performance’s Solution - Mastering Service Excellence, a two-day workshop, is particularly appropriate for an organization that is consolidating inbound telephone staff into one location and needs to train their representatives on a consistent set of sales and service standards. It is most effective when implemented in conjunction with Omega Performance’s Managing For Results in the Contact Center, which teaches managers effective techniques for guiding, coaching and motivating peak performance from their contact center group.

What Is Included

Mastering Service Excellence is designed to improve contact center service and sales at the point of customer contact. Contact center representatives learn to satisfy their telephone customers in a way that meets both the customer’s and the organization’s needs. Specifically, participants improve their communication skills, call management skills, ability to handle frequently asked questions, recognition of sales cues and referral skills.

The learning is organized into four distinct modules:

1) Building a Sales and Service Environment. Contact center representatives will want to sharpen their skills when they see how critical they are to the vision, mission and strategy of the organization. This module makes clear both the organization’s and the customer’s expectations of contact center staff. Participants hear why the organization’s executive leadership considers their role to be crucial to success and why they are expected to learn the skills offered in Mastering Service Excellence.

2) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). More than 90% of the calls taken by a contact center representative are a variation of one of 10 FAQs—frequently asked questions. By learning to hear the question and mastering the best ways to respond, reps become more efficient and effective in meeting customer needs. In this module, participants learn the top 10 questions customers ask. They then use customer audiotapes and Omega Performance’s mastery technology to develop “second nature” recall to identify customer questions and effortlessly and confidently offer the most appropriate response.

3) The Telephone Customer Interaction Model. The Omega Performance Telephone Interaction Model is a process to get from one call step to the next most efficiently. It is the key to effective call management, assuring that all customer needs are addressed. Reps will know when to take extra time for a sales opportunity. The Telephone Customer Interaction Model is not a script. Scripts make reps sound canned and insincere. The model is a guide that participants couple with their communication skills.

4) Communication Skills. Knowing what to say is fundamental to serving the telephone customer well. Confident mastery of FAQs gives reps this skill.

Knowing how to say the fundamental messages is equally critical. How a contact center representative speaks and listens makes all the difference between minimally acceptable and excellent performance. Participants learn and use a series of exercises to practice their vocal skills—tone of voice, pronunciation, inflection, appropriate telephone behavior and effective listening and questioning. They also practice identifying customer cues for possible sales opportunities and making clear and appropriate referrals.

Delivery Options

Mastering Service Excellence is delivered via an intense two-day workshop.

Results You Can Expect

Mastering Service Excellence helps your contact center representatives:

Respond knowledgeably to frequently asked questions and look for the sales potential in each of them
Use call management skills to keep the call on track
Use questioning, listening and vocal skills to improve effectiveness in customer interactions
Identify customer need cues and make appropriate recommendations and referrals
Turn difficult calls into productive conversations
Maintain long-term, profitable customer relationships through exemplary customer service

Who Should Be Trained

Mastering Service Excellence is for inbound contact center representatives who work in either centralized or decentralized centers. The program benefits both new hires and existing staff.