Does anyone have any useful material, exercises etc I could include in a one day workshop on telephone skills? The staff receive lots of calls from uptight/irate customers and need some help in defusing the anger, rather than adding to it (which is what some of them seem to be doing at the moment!). I am tackling the issue of why the customers are upset separately, but the staff need development now! I have lots of stuff on face to face customer care, but not so much on telephone techniqes in these situations. Any help would be appreciated. The staff are all fairly young (20 ish).
Thanks
jennifer james
5 Responses
Helpful telephone training equipment
Hi Jennifer, we have recently purchased equipment for our customer service training which is really useful. I designed huge numbers of scenarios which would suit all the different departments in our organisation. The equipment allows “customers” (delegates) to phone the delegates and act out the scenario, 18 people can be involved at a time and the trainer is able to listen in and comment on the calls. This is all recorded and then can be listened to either by the individual pair involved or in plenary. The company who produces the equipment is called PhoneCoach Limited. Website – http://www.phonecoach.com. Hope this is helpful. I also use a Fenman video “Positive Telephone Skills”. Good luck.
Fi
Complaining customers
Hi
I have been training customer service in call centres for seven years now and have developed a couple of courses… I try and avoid role plays if at all possible because they end up cliched and people don’t take them seriously, although Fiona’s idea of ‘phonecoach’ stuff is good.
If you mail me what it is you are trying to do (what you want them to be able to do, how you want the day to be etc.) I may have some pointers/things/ideas I can offer and share with you.
Kate 🙂
Telephone training is often seen as a quick fix
Dealing with customers on the telephone is more than telephone technique training. How you sound over the telephone gives the customer the impression of whether you are ‘friendly’, ‘helpful’, ‘obstructive’ etc.
A good tip is to use telephone training equipment so that staff can hear how they sound on the phone.
Try a Video
Hi Jennifer,
I always try and use humour in telephone technique training. Why don’t you try a Fawlty Towers video, i find that they work really well for most situations includign fire, complaint handling. Just show the scene that is relevant.
Phonecoach
Hello, i have recently purchsed the wire free phone coach system which has broken down on every use. Please could anyone reccommend a different supplier? thank you