Training for

Customer Service and

Team Building
Marie DiRuzza
Assistant Director, Desktop Services
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
 Importance of Training for
Customer Service
 Customer Perceptions
 To the Customer you ARE the company
 Organizations with Happy Customers are
more successful
 Financial Benefits
 Happy Customers come back
 Happy Customers tell their friends
 Providing good Customer Service doesn’t
come naturally to everyone.
How do customers evaluate service
Quality?
R Reliability – Deliver on Promises with dependability &
accuracy

A Assurance - Knowledge, courtesy, ability to convey trust,

competence and confidence

T Tangibles - Facilities appearance, comfort, look and feel of

Marketing materials, etc.

E Empathetic - Degree of caring and individual attention the

customer receives

Responsive - Willingness to help promptly – without

R distraction
 Reliability - The Service Promise
 Organizational commitments
 Promises made via advertising, marketing, policies,
contracts, etc.
 Common Expectations
 Customer expectations are often based on
assumptions and past experience
 Personal Promises
 Agent to customer promises

Often the challenge is to reshape customer expectations.

Are you training your folks how to do this?
 Assurance & Tangibles
 Assurance Factor
 Product Knowledge & Company Knowledge
 Listening Skills – Active listening skills
 Communications Skills - includes verbal and written
(in-person, phone, and email service)
 Problem-Solving Skills
 Tangibles
 Take pride in your environment, yourself, your
workspace and any forward-facing delivery
mechanisms (online and marketing materials too!)
 Empathy & Responsiveness
 Empathy
 Recognize the Emotional State of the Customer;
validate their feelings
 Treat each person as an individual
 Responsiveness
 Respond quickly
 Set Expectations – deliver on those expectations

Research shows that the most frustrating part of waiting

is not knowing how long the wait will be.
 Training for Customer Service
 Train for Active Listening, Questioning,
etc.
 Use Case Studies to open discussions
 Group Activities
 Role Playing, scavenger hunts.
 FISH! Philosophy
www.thefishphilosophy.com
 Active Listening
 Pay attention to Content & Intent
 Ask great questions
 Use activities that hone questioning skills
• See the big book of customer service training games
 Tips:
 Tune in to the other person
 Limit distractions
 Don’t jump to conclusions
 Take notes and reflect information back
 Be prepared – use a Question Map/Flowchart
 Turn off your own worries
 Responsibility of Leadership
 The following quote from The Leadership
Challenge, outlines the responsibility of
leadership in Customer Service Delivery

 Lindsay Levin took over the reigns of her family

automotive business, Whites Limited, at only 29
years old. She talks about what she knows
about enabling her folks to provide great
customer service.
 Resources
Anderson, Kristin & Zemke, Ron. Delivering Knock Your Socks off Service.
United States of America: AMACOM, 1998.

Carlaw, Peggy & Deming, Vasudha Kathleen. The big book of customer service
training games. United States of America:McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,
1999.

Friedman, Nancy a.k.a “The Telephone Dr.”

http://www.telephonedoctor.com/

The Berkshire Leadership Group – Steven Green presenting

Delivering Exceptional Customer Service

Weisler, Kirk. Teambuilding Made Easy. SupportWorld Magazine. Also

available at: www.kirkweisler.com
 Questions?

Marie DiRuzza
diruzza@wpi.edu