Customer Handling Skills for Call-Centre Representatives

Course Objectives

At the end of this training, participants would:

• understand the nuances of body language and verbal skills
• appreciates aspects of verbal communication such as tone, cadence, and pitch
• understand questioning and listening skills
• know how to deliver bad news and say “no”
• learnt effective ways to negotiate
• appreciate importance of creating and delivering meaningful messages
• use tools to facilitate their communication
• know the value of personalizing their interactions and developing relationships
• use vocal techniques that will enhance their speech and communication ability
• apply personalized techniques for managing stress

 Target Competencies

 Essential Telephone skills with customers
 Customer orientation
 Emotional control
 Empathic outlook
 Flexibility in service delivery
 Developing call script
 Self-confidence

·         To begin, participants will explore Albert Mehrabian’s study on communication and how it affects telephone communication. Participants will also learn the role that body language plays in telephone communication.

·         This session will cover the four E’s of an effective telephone voice and how you can use them to promote a service image.

·         In this session, participants will learn about what a customer is, and they will identify some of their own customers.

·         This session will give participants an opportunity to develop strong, helpful phrases for assisting customers.

·         During this session, participants will learn techniques for active listening and staying focused.

·         In this session, participants will learn about open and closed questions, as well as probing techniques.

·         Delivering bad news and saying “no” can be two of the most challenging aspects of a call center agent’s job. This session will give participants techniques and practice in these two key skill areas.

·         This session will discuss how to use information delivery and rapport building to help participants sell over the phone.

·         During this session, participants will look at some key elements of taking messages. Then, they will develop a quick reference sheet that they can keep by their desk.

·         Voice mail is a great tool, but it can also be frustrating. In this session, participants will discuss some tips for leaving messages. They will also have an opportunity to practice those techniques.

·         This session will give participants a chance to practice some vocal exercises.

·         During this session, participants will learn about these two types of calls and how to maximize their efficiency in each.

·         Scripts can be an effective tool, particularly for cold calls. This session will give participants a chance to lay out the framework for their script.

·         Next, participants will learn ways to customize their scripts. We will also look at FAQ sheets and how they can help participants on a daily basis.

·         This session will give participants 15 techniques for success and some ways to customize their service.

·         During this session, participants will learn different ways to address objections.

·         Next, participants will develop good questions that can help them close a sale.

·         During this session, participants will work in pairs to rewrite dry and less than imaginative statements to show empathy for their customers.

·         This session will explore some ways that customers have changed in the past twenty years.

·         Negotiation is a key skill for call center success. During this session, participants will learn four things that they can do to become better negotiators.

·         Next, participants will learn about the four phases of negotiation and some different types of negotiation.

·         This session will explore some situations where you come into contact with a client or customer at a time when you can have a huge impact on them.

·         During this session, participants will learn some ways to deal with different caller types.

·         This session will give participants nine easy techniques for managing difficult customers. We will also look at how to deal with vulgarity.