Professional Persuasive Language

Course Description

Customer satisfaction is a feeling and a perception.  The consummate professional manages perception so that the customer always feels cared for and attended to.  This program teaches specific communication skills proven to create a positive experience for customers even when reality may be less than positive.

Course Objectives

• Be consistently professional & helpful from greeting to close;
• Communicate everything positively, even negative news;
• Avoid inadvertently irritating customers or losing credibility;
• Lead even tough customers to best solution with persuasive language;
• Avoid “It’s not my job” or “I don’t know” trap;
• Manage process & complexity;
• Avoid blaming coworkers;
• Make interactions efficient to avoid/reduce queues;
• Defuse customers’ anger and focus them on solutions;
• Reduce or avoid escalations to a supervisor.
• Build a positive reputation/brand;

Course Outline

1) Professionalism Defined

• Control Focus & Perception
• Honor Limitations & Laws
• Help Customers Feel Good

2) Language

• Words to Avoid
• Words to Use Instead
• Go the “Extra Mile” Every Time
• Importance of Greetings/Endings
• When the answer is, “No”

3) Authority & Credibility

• Persuasive Language & Education
• Policy & Laws
• Voice Pitch & Inflection

Course Length

• Onsite Training - Half-Day
• See all Delivery Options

Importance of Service & Customer-Focused Attitude

Course Description

Sociologists claim that customer service is emotional labor.  “Being On” all day is hard.  Customers get upset, yet the customer service professional cannot.  This program teaches attendees how to leverage mission and purpose to find motivation even in tough times.  Attendees learn how emotions are created and how to control their own emotions regardless of outside influences.  This sets the stage for influencing the customer’s emotions in other modules.

Course Objectives

• Believe that customers can be happy whether we can or cannot help;
• Understand that service is subjective mastery;
• Interact don’t transact;
• Take pride in ones’ role;
• Control one’s attitude every day;
• Project professionalism regardless of personal or work stress;
• Recover quickly after difficult customer interactions;
• Increase energy level at work;
• Expand creativity and problem solving;
• Use body language in-person & on telephone;
• Find a positive in any perceived negative;
• Avoid taking things personally;
• Honor negative emotions;
• Reduce burnout.

Course Outline

1)      The Goal of Service

• 5 Possibilities
• How To Be the Best
• Avoiding Transactions
• 3 Measures of Success

2)      The Power of Pride

• It Starts with You
• What Do You Do For a Living?
• Connecting With Mission
• Focusing on Outcomes and Value

3)      Emotional Principles

• Impact On Customers
• Impact On Performance
• Impact On Coworkers

4)      Emotional Control

• Mental Strategies
• Body Language Strategies
• The “Game Face”
• Emotional Reset Button
• Emotional Habit Rewiring

5)      Stress Management

• Honor Negative Emotions
• Theory of Alternate Stressors
• “Being On” vs. “Being Off”
• Avoid Burnout

Course Length

• Onsite Training -
  Full-Day or Half-Day
• Blended/Flipped -
  Half-Day or 2 hours
• E-Learning -
  1 Hour or 30 minutes
• See all Delivery Options

Listening So Customers Feel Heard & Helped

Course Description

Listening is powerful.  It can defuse an angry customer, create rapport, facilitate conflict resolution, and improve education.  This program provides attendees with listening and questioning skills to create better customer experiences, more options, and more learning.

Course Objectives

• Listen so customers feel heard;
• Stop letting the same obstacles interfere with listening;
• Improve understanding;
• Reduce errors due to poor listening;
• Engage customers better;
• Guide customers to provide the needed information;
• Understand learning styles;
• Use questions effectively;
• Create clarity for customers;
• Allow customers to educate & persuade themselves;
• Have customers feel in control;
• Improve customer’s sense of satisfaction and being understood.

Course Outline

1)      Listening Barriers

• Environmental
• Personal
• Mental
• Physical

2)      Proactive Listening Skills

• Verbal & Visual Attending
• Matching Learning Styles
• Naïve Listening
• Asking Questions

3)      Types of Questions

• Open Ended vs Closed Ended
• Leading vs Neutral
• Softening Questions

4)      Motivation

• Asking Persuasive Questions
• Simple & Complex Reflection

Course Length

• Onsite Training -
  Half-Day
• Blended/Flipped -
  30 Minutes pre-work
  2 hours Onsite/Virtual
• E-Learning -
  30 minutes
• See all Delivery Options

Psychology of Voice & Building Rapport with Anyone

Course Description

It’s what you say and it’s how you say it.  This program teaches voice psychology and techniques for projecting appropriate tone on purpose.  Attendees will also learn how to create rapport by understanding themselves, their customers, and their coworkers using a personality typology. This allows for an instant improvement in customer satisfaction, collaboration, and teamwork.

Course Objectives

• Set the tone immediately with a natural, upbeat greeting;
• Leverage voice mail for service success;
• Understand how voice creates customer perception;
• Leverage voice to create the tone desired;
• Personalize service through rapport;
• Avoid taking things personally;
• Appreciate differences in customers and coworkers;
• Build on one’s own strengths;
• Minimize weaknesses individually and as a team;

Course Outline

1)      Voice

• Psychology of Voice
• 5 Dimensions of Voice
• Projecting Tone on Purpose
• Vocal Exercises

2)      Rapport

• Principles of Rapport
• Entrainment
• Mirror and Match for Rapport

3)      Personality Styles

• Anticipate with a Typology
• Discover the Two Dimensions
• Know Thyself

4)      Understand Others

• Use “Cheat Sheet” for Each Style
• Entrain Style for Rapport
• Personalize Service & Teamwork
• Type with 2-Question Test

Course Length

• Onsite Training -
  Half-Day
• Blended/Flipped -
  30 Minutes pre-work
  2 hours Onsite/Virtual
• E-Learning -
  30 minutes
• See all Delivery Options

Customer Service Leadership

Course Description

This program helps leaders, managers, supervisors, and directors help their employees deliver outstanding customer service.  Customer service starts at the top and filters its way down.  Attendees leave with an understanding of how to set clear strategy, motivate, and enable their staff.

Course Objectives

• Define clear strategy using the impossible triangle & boundaries;
• Automate strategically so employees can deliver higher level service;
• Distill strategy and goals into a motto that motivates employees;
• Craft policies and procedures that are customer-focused and easy for employees to communicate positively.
• Replace haphazard communication with standards;
• Deliver great service consistently using standards;
• Improve service using goals;
• Identify measures that can be used to reward, recognize, and coach.
• Facilitate better internal customer service;
• Improve communication with employees;
• Separate and honor the two levels of service;
• Become dedicated to leading through example.

Course Outline

1)      Strategy & The Impossible Triangle

• What You Do Really Well
• What You Don’t Do Really Well
• What You Might Not Do At All

2)      Boundaries & Transactions

• Policies & Procedures
• What to Automate
• What to Elevate

3)      Motivation

• Service Motto
• Standards & Goals
• Measurement & Reward
• Recognition When Things Go Right
• Coaching When Things Go Wrong

4)      Two Levels of Service

• The Organizational Level
• Personal Level
• A System For Giving Employees Influence

5)      Communication Skills

• Being an Exemplar
• Praise in Public
• How to Coach
• Napoleon Method
• Perception Checking
• Tracking Accomplishments

Course Length

• Onsite - Two Days or One Day