Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Creating an Outstanding
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Customer Experience
How to Make Every Customer Interaction Count
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Instructor Guide
Half-Day Course
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
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EN-01-DC-19
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
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RTL allows you to tap into a wide range of expertly developed training designs—each complete with the
components you need to lead a comprehensive workshop experience. With just a few clicks of the
mouse, you can download everything you need directly to your desktop in a matter of minutes.
“I was able to go from unzipping the RTL files to delivery in less than 2 hours, making the preparation
time to delivery easy and much less stressful. The instructor guides are written in a way that is logical
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and makes the pre-workshop study time simple and less frustrating: No hunting for the right slides, no
guessing what the instructional designer intended for each module!”
—James T. Puett, Manager, Leadership and Organizational Development, Healthways Human Resources
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Skill Development for One or One Thousand
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completed the classroom course.
• You need to deliver training inexpensively and efficiently.
• You need to supplement other formal training.
• You want to use the training in a one-on-one coaching session.
• You want to reinforce the learning post-workshop.
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
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Customizable
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Add your organization’s logo. IE
Change fonts, colors, and layout properties to match your organization’s brand.
Change examples or activities to fit your industry or work environment.
Extract relevant sections and reuse them in other designs you have created.
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Course Components
This course contains the following components:
• Instructor Guide
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• Participant Guide
• Classroom Presentation
• Learning Summary
• Course Overview
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•
Course Evaluation IE
Supplemental Self-Study Presentation
Additional Materials
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You will need to prepare the following materials to conduct the course:
• Flip charts (used in sections 2.2, “Be Courteous,” 2.3, “Attention,” and 3.3, “Do Something Extra”)
• (Optional) A Koosh ball or beanbag (see Review, “Learning Summary”)
Target Audience
This program is appropriate for high-level employees who have direct contact with customers and some
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influence in the hiring process as well as the ability to modify established systems of operation.
Timing
The timing suggestions noted in this course assume that you have experience facilitating instructor-led
training. If you are a new facilitator, you may wish to allow more time. Regardless of your experience
level, you and your participants will gain the most from the course if you devote time beforehand to
understanding the content. Please consider rehearsing your delivery to gauge the pace of the course
and determine whether you need to adjust the timing.
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Module 2: Live Customer Interactions ..............................................................................................10
2.1 Show You Care................................................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Be Courteous ..................................................................................................................................... 12
2.3 Pay Attention..................................................................................................................................... 13
2.4 Show Respect .................................................................................................................................... 15
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2.5 Demonstrate Understanding ............................................................................................................. 16
2.6 Make It Memorable........................................................................................................................... 18
Module 3: Recovery After a Slipup....................................................................................................20
3.1 Handling Difficult Situations .............................................................................................................. 21
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3.2 Take Ownership of the Problem........................................................................................................ 23
3.3 Use Common Sense and Creativity ................................................................................................... 25
Module 4: The Intersection between Self-Service and Customer Service............................................27
4.1 How Self-Service Interlinks with Customer Service........................................................................... 28
4.2 Minimize Customers’ Efforts ............................................................................................................. 30
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
Course Objectives 5 minutes
Successful completion of this course will increase your ability to
do the following:
• Establish a company culture that encourages employees to
create an outstanding customer experience.
• Identify ways to show customers you care and to make every
customer interaction memorable.
Introduce yourself and briefly
• Explore techniques for de-escalating issues and developing
loyal customers through effective problem resolution. describe your background.
• Discover how to ensure self-service systems offer the same Go over logistics (schedule,
outstanding experience as live customer interactions. breaks, restrooms, etc.) and any
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ground rules for the day. Typical
group rules include showing
respect for all participants,
participating fully, not using
electronics, and not interrupting
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
Introduction 10 minutes
According to the Customer Experience Impact Report (RightNow
Technologies, 2010), 40% of consumers switched to buying from
a competitor because of its reputation for great customer
service, 55% cite great service, not product or price, as their
primary reason for recommending a company, and 66% said that
great customer service was their primary driver for greater
spending.
Ask participants to read the
The basis of good customer service is simple:
introduction, which provides an
• Treat customers with respect. overview of why this topic
• Make them feel heard, understood, and confident that you matters and describes how the
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will do your best to ensure the issue is taken care of. course will empower them as
• Provide them with the information they need. professionals.
• Make their shopping experience easy and satisfying. Tell participants to keep in mind
• Resolve issues quickly. also that quality customer service
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What makes it outstanding:
your strongest competitor; it
• Providing quality service 100% of the time. Every employee should be measured against the
should consistently provide the same level of service with
best customer service your
every customer.
customer has experienced,
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• Making a personal connection with the customer. This regardless of where they
happens on an individual level—customers don’t connect
experienced it.
with companies, they connect with individual people.
• Surprising the customer (in a good way).
While creating an outstanding customer experience sounds
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Objectives
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• Recognize the significance of values and standards in providing an outstanding
customer experience.
• Discover how to encourage a greater commitment to the company and meeting
the needs of its customers.
• Identify strategies to recruit employees who will carry out your service vision.
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Activity Section Time
Total: 50 minutes
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
1.1 The Foundation of Great Service 20 minutes
An organization that consistently provides an outstanding
customer experience will be guided by values, not rules.
The Importance of Values over Rules
Rules constrain employees; values empower employees.
• Rules depend on circumstances, and circumstances are
constantly changing. Employees who are trained based on “Although customers may not be
specific situations may be at a loss for how to handle an issue consciously aware of an
that doesn’t fit neatly into what they’ve been taught. organization’s culture, it is the
• Establish standards more than rules. Standards are valuable; foundation for the service the
they give employees a picture of what to aim for and help customer will experience.”
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ensure a consistent customer experience.
“Note that we’re not advocating a
• Values depend on understanding what is most important to complete absence of rules. Every
the organization and on the desire to make choices and organization needs rules. But we
decisions that support the big picture. When employees
are saying that when it comes to
understand what the organization is striving to achieve, that
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
2.1 Show You Care 5 minutes
If there’s one statement that sums up what customers want “The heart of customer service is
from their interactions, it’s “show me you care.”
the interaction a customer has
An organization cannot survive on its own; it’s the people behind with a real person. There are
the product or service that drive results. That’s because
other aspects of customer
customers want to feel as though their needs matter, and it’s
the individual employees who are able to demonstrate that level service, which we will discuss
of sincerity. To show you care: later, but for now, we’ll look at
live interactions, such as face-to-
• Be courteous
face contact, phone
• Pay attention conversations, or real-time online
• Show respect chats.”
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• Demonstrate understanding
• Make it memorable
These points aren’t intended to be a series of steps or a script to
follow. The goal is to treat every customer as the individual that
contact.
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they are. The elements should show up in every interaction;
however, there is no one right way to handle every customer
Review the opening
paragraphs and bullet points.
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
2.3 Pay Attention 15 minutes
What makes a customer feel special? When you pay attention to “Next, to show they care about
them.
their customers, employees
Make a Personal Connection should be careful to pay close
Whether it’s short term or long term, your goal is to create a attention to them.”
relationship with the customer. Here are some ways to do that:
• Use the customer’s name.
• Avoid using a cookie-cutter script if it makes you sound
robotic.
• Create an opportunity to make a personal connection.
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Example: Employees whose name badges also contain a
Review the opening sentence
piece of information about them—where they are from,
what their passion is, etc. The benefit: Makes them “real” and “Make a Personal
people and offers a conversation starter. Connection.”
Group Activity: Find a Connection
Review the instructions.
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
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when they land in their connecting city.
• Many banks offer to send reminders when upcoming credit
card payments are due to help customers avoid late
payments.
• Google anticipates users’ mistakes by gently reminding them
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if they have written “attachment” in an email message but
didn’t attach anything.
Even more extreme, Google’s Mail Goggles anticipates users’
potential regret at sending a late-night message. If enabled,
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Goggles requires the user to answer some math problems to
ensure the user is in a proper frame of mind (i.e., not drunk)
before allowing the message to be sent.
• Most retail stores keep track of customers’ preferences and
contact them when new merchandise arrives that matches
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their preferences.
• Some florists keep track of their customers’ favorite flowers,
their birthdays, their spouses’ birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
and remind them before the event.
• Coffee shop baristas will usually learn the orders of their
regular customers.
Group Activity: Anticipate Your Customers’ Needs
Instructions: Work in pairs. Come up with at least three ways you
can anticipate your customers’ needs. For now, don’t worry
about how realistic they are. Just consider what would make
your customers’ lives easier when they do business with you.
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
2.4 Show Respect 10 minutes
At its essence, respect is showing that customers have value and “When it comes to showing
are important to you.
customers they care, employees
• Do not demean customers, even silently to yourself. should show respect.”
Consider them the bright, worthy people that they are.
• Be sincere. Don’t be cynical, especially about the company Review the opening sentence
you work for. and bullet points.
• Be honest. Don’t try to conceal or cover up mistakes or make
excuses when interacting with customers.
Ways to Show Respect
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• Respect their temperament: Reflect their demeanor and
energy. For example, if the customer is more reserved and
you are extremely outgoing, back off your intensity. And if Review “Ways to Show Respect.”
the customer is high energy and talkative, match their Lead a discussion asking
animation as best you can.
participants what makes them
•
•
whenever possible.
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Respect their opinion: Ask their advice and seek their
feedback about your products or services. Give them choices
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3. “The company is doing the best it
5. That’s not my fault.
can.”
De-escalate the Interaction 4. “Maybe I can expand the scope of
• Let the customer vent. Most people will naturally calm down my job.”
•
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if they just have a chance to tell their story.
Acknowledge their feelings. Emphasize your understanding
of their anger. People need to know that you “feel their
pain.”
5. “I can fix this situation and make
someone’s day.”
“Once you are in the proper frame
of mind, de-escalate the
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• Restate the issue. Describe your understanding of the interaction.”
situation as clearly as possible.
Once you show the customer you understand both the issue and
their feelings about it, you can move to problem solving.
Group Activity: Angry Customer Role-Play
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Instructor Notes
4.1 How Self-Service Interlinks with 10 minutes
Customer Service
People appreciate the convenience of being able to browse
Explain that the goal of this
products/services, complete transactions, find answers, and module is to increase
resolve issues at their own pace. This makes self-service systems participants’ awareness of how
like chatbots, online ordering, automated phone prompts, and important self-service systems
email appealing options. are to creating an outstanding
In fact, the vast majority (81%) of customers prefer to use a self- customer experience. Typically,
service system before contacting an actual person (Dixon, only those in certain authoritative
Ponomareff, Turner, & DeLisi, 2017). Therefore, creating an positions have the ability to
outstanding customer experience also means ensuring you have
reprogram or institute new self-
effective self-service systems in place.
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service systems; however, even if
Elements of Effective Self-Service Systems employees do not have this
Here are some ways to demonstrate “customer care” through authority, they should be
self-service systems: encouraged to suggest
• Personalize the experience by programming the system to improvements to those who do.
•
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recognize (or ask for) and use the customer’s name.
Take the customer’s point of view—make the system simple
and minimize efforts. Consider: Is there a “click” (extra step)
that can be eliminated? A simpler way to request an
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exchange or process a refund?
• Make it easy to connect to a live person for those who desire Review the opening paragraphs
to do so.
and “Elements of Effective Self-
• Provide a place for unhappy customers to voice their Service Systems.”
concerns. When you know what upsets customers, you have
Mention that we will explore how
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Creating an Outstanding Customer Experience • Instructor Guide
Instructor Notes
Test Your Knowledge 10 minutes
1. Having a set of customer service rules is the best way to
ensure that your organization provides an outstanding
experience.
a. True
b. False
2. List three ways to encourage company commitment.
As a final activity, allow
3. Which of the following questions is most likely to reveal participants 5 minutes to
whether or not a candidate’s values are aligned with your
customer service vision?
complete the “Test Your
Knowledge” section individually.
a. “How much customer service experience do you have?”
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Debrief by reviewing the answers
b. “Do you like working with customers?”
as a class (see the Answer Key
c. “How would you improve your organization’s service?” below and on the next page).
d. “What is your worst experience working with a
customer?”
experience?
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4. What are the elements of an outstanding customer
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