Becoming customer centric is one of the most important aims of any organisation. Customer centricity refers to the orientation of a company to the needs and behaviors of its customers, rather than internal drivers such as the quest for short-term profit. Customers have high expectations and demand quality customer service from companies they choose to do business with. Providing customer service excellence gives an organisation a competitive advantage in the marketplace and is the key factor that keeps customers coming back. Successful organisations understand the importance of developing a customer centric mindset and deliberately restructure their customer service model to increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Today, customers have an increasing range of choice: choice of supplier, choice of channel, choice of products and services. Their loyalty is determined by the quality of the experience they receive. Delegates will learn effective customer centric strategies and best practices to provide world-class customer service excellence. This dynamic, 5-day course gives customer service professionals the communication skills, technology tools, and motivation they require to build strong customer relationships and develop a customer centric organisation.

• Develop a strategy to build a more proactive, customer centric organisation
• Analyze and implement the 'best practices' of world-class customer centric organisations
• Utilize interpersonal skills as vital tools in the provision of customer service
• Measure and assess how well customer service standards and objectives are being achieved
• Enhanced communication, persuasion, and conflict resolution skills

By the end of this seminar, delegates will be able to:

• Establish the importance of setting and reviewing customer service standards
• Develop an understanding of internal and external customer expectations
• Communicate more effectively by utilizing active listening and questioning skills
• Demonstrate how to deal with difficult or demanding customers in a professional manner
• Set SMART objectives and goals to become more productive
• Utilize stress management techniques to increase job satisfaction

This 5-day seminar is highly interactive and encourages delegate participation through a combination of group discussion, videos, role-play exercises, case studies and breakout sessions. This seminar will include benchmarking best practices to model world-class customer service excellence. The comprehensive course manual has been designed to be practical, easy to use and facilitate learning. Delegates are provided a comfortable, enlightening learning experience that gives them the latest insights, techniques and best practices to promote long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• A shared organisational customer centric service vision
• Enhanced professional image with customer base
• Increased customer retention and revenue growth
• Improved intra/inter departmental communication and teamwork
• A highly motivated and customer-focused workforce
• Increased competency and communication skills

• An increased appreciation for their role in helping their organisation achieve customer service excellence
• Up to date techniques and methods to help them provide world-class customer service
• Enhanced leadership and communication skills required to excel in their career
• Increased confidence in their abilities to work professionally with difficult or upset customers
• Improved management performance by learning techniques to empower, motivate, and retain customer service personnel
• Improved time management skills to become more productive

DAY 1 : The Building Blocks of a Customer Centric Organisation

• Course overview and learning objectives
• Define Customer Service Excellence
• What do you want your customer to experience?
• Practical exercise: Identify specific ways to use 'customer service' to enhance customer loyalty and build employee morale
• Five key steps for implementing a Customer Centric Service Model
• Serving your internal customers
• First impressions are important - What do your customers see and hear?
• Understanding your customer’s nonverbal communication

DAY 2 : Developing a Top-Down Customer-centric Culture

• What do customers really want from your organisation and why?
• Does the 'customer experience' align with your organisation’s business goals and vision/mission statement?
• What do your competitors do better or differently than you do?
• Practical exercise: What are the most admired leadership traits?
• Shaping customer expectations - perception versus reality
• Case study: Examples of companies that provide world-class customer service
• Little things make a big difference - 'going the extra mile'
• The four customer personality types

DAY 3 : Responding to the Voice of the Customer

• Case study: Best and worst rated companies for customer service
• Listen, act, and deliver on customer needs
• Re-evaluate and realign the customer experience in line with demand
• Creating favorable customer service ‘touch points’ within your company
• Practical exercise: List the ways that your organisation creates positive ‘touch points’ to enhance the ‘customer experience’
• Leading and motivating others to deliver superior service levels
• The Customer Loyalty Chain
• Developing the processes that nurture customer brand loyalty

DAY 4 : Measuring and Monitoring Customer Satisfaction

• Why is measuring customer satisfaction important?
• Why is it critical to encourage customer complaints and feedback?
• Establishing quality customer service satisfaction measuring and monitoring standards
• Using customer centric diagnostic tools to evaluate trends, perceptions, and opportunities for performance improvement
• Best practices for recording and monitoring customer service issues
• Putting in place processes to resolve customer dissatisfaction
• Practical exercise: Customer service quality control checklist
• Strategies for working with difficult and demanding customers

DAY 5 : Leading the Way to Customer Service Excellence!

• The importance of attitude, teamwork, and professional development
• Developing a customer centric training program
• Setting performance goals
• Contests and employee recognition programs
• Coaching and mentoring strategies
• Methods to empower and motivate customer service employees
• Practical exercise: What is your Action Plan?
• What is your Action Plan?