Managing Customer Service
The need to lead, model, and promote the organizational values within a customer service environment is essential for business success.
Hence, every day, a customer service manager must lead their team to success while modeling the customer service standards that are set out by the company.
And there are two components to successfully leading a customer service team: understanding what customer service is all about and understanding what leadership is all about.
This training will provide the participants with opportunities to explore their responsibilities within their role as a leader (supervisor or manager) in a customer service environment.
The Learning Journey
The first portion of the course focuses on the six critical elements of customer service:
- A customer service focus
- Defined in your organization
- Given life by the employees
- Problem solving tools
- Measure it
- Reinforce it
Next, we learn about the Situational Leadership II® model and servant leadership. We also consider our own comfort zone. Then, we learn about performance management techniques and the role of onboarding and orientation.
The final section of the course explores James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s five leadership practices:
- Challenge the process
- Inspire a shared vision
- Enable others to act
- Model the way
- Encourage the heart of employees
Then, we wrap things up with a look back at the pre-assignment.
Training Objectives
After completing this training, participants will:
- Be able to identify ways to establish links between excellence in customer service and their business practices and policies
- Develop the skills and practices that are essential elements of a customer service-focused manager
- Be able to recognize what employees are looking for to be truly engaged
- Be able to recognize who the customers are and what they are looking for
- Develop strategies for creating engaged employees and satisfied customers in whatever business units they manage
Training Outline
Session 1: Course Overview
- Learning Objectives
- Pre-Assignment
- Pre-Assignment Article, Part One
- Pre-Assignment Article, Part Two
- Pre-Assignment Article, Part Three
- Making Connections
- Pre-Training Assessment
Session 2: Six Critical Elements
- Element One: A Customer Service Focus
- Making Connections
- Element Two: Defined in Your Organization
- Making Connections
- Element Three: Given Life by the Employees
- Self-Assessment
- Element Four: Problem Solving
- Define the Problem
- Research and Analyze the Problem
- Establish a Criteria List
- List Possible Alternatives
- Evaluate Each Alternative
- Select the Best Alternative(s)
- Making Connections
- Element Five: Measure It
- Critical Evaluation
- Informal Surveys
- Focus Groups
- Brainstorming
- Benchmarking
- Fish Bone (Cause and Effect, or Root Cause)
- Element Six: Reinforce It
- Additional Rewards
- Developing and Maintaining Relationships
- Phrases for Customer Service Success
- Measurement in Practice
Session 3: Understanding Leadership
- About Leadership
- Director’s Style
- Coach’s Style
- Supporter’s Style
- Delegator’s Style
- Understanding Your Comfort Zone
- Our Comfort Level
- The Cyclical Process
- Managing Performance
- Servant Leadership
- Making Connections
- Onboarding and Orientation
- The First Day
- Your Role as a Leader
Session 4: Five Practices of Leadership
- Challenging, Inspiring, and Enabling
- Challenge the Process
- Making Connections
- Inspire a Shared Vision
- Enable Others To Act
- Making Connections
- Modeling and Heart
- Making Connections
- Practices in Practice
- Pre-Assignment Review
Session 5: A Personal Action Plan
- Starting Point
- Where I Want to Go
- How I Will Get There
- Summary