STRIVE for Excellence in Customer Service

A new training program developed in partnership with Nordstrom, a department store with a reputation for excellent customer service. Nordstrom staff will lead components of the curriculum in the third week of training. A certificate of completion and job placement assistance will be offered to participants successfully meeting program requirements.

Topics to be covered:

Customer Service Basics
What is customer service?
Why is customer service important?
Introduction to Customer Service
Honesty, Integrity and Customer Service Ethics
Manners/Please, Thank-you
Creating a customer friendly environment

Communication Basics
How to greet the customer
How to start a conversation
Listening
Speech/Quality of Voice
Verbal & Non-verbal Communication (Attitude, Body Language, Intonation, Language, facial expressions, Tone of Voice) 93% of communication is nonverbal
Telephone Etiquette (Building Customer Rapport/Trust)

Salesmanship
Greeting the Customer
Identifying the customer need
Selling Techniques
How to sell
Overcoming Objections
The Close

Handling Complaints and Angry Customers
Problem Solving and Troubleshooting
"Making it Right" the cost of an unhappy customer
Complaint + Opportunity. Most loyal customers are those who had a problem that you fixed immediately. Customers don't care about explanation, or who is to blame, they just want it fixed right now. Be accountable for taking care of the problem.

Leadership
Empowerment
Making "value-added" judgment calls/Ethical choices
Putting the customer first (having an "outward" mindset) Put yourself in the customer's shoes, how would you feel? What would you want?
Sensitivity

Additional Topics for Discussion

Workplace Ethics
Corporate culture
Corporate values
Job search strategies
Diversity - appreciate it, respect it, know different cultures behave differently in similar situations. Don't prejudge a customer by outward appearances.

Evaluation:
Participants will be given a competency based evaluation/assessment at the end of the training to determine their level of understanding, prior to moving to the job placement component. A score of 90% must be obtained to move to the job placement component. Attendance of 90% of the classes is expected for job placement assistance.