NRCC News

Five-part customer service series begins this month

Mar 07 2017

This is an archived article!

This article was published on Mar 07 2017 and was archived on Mar 08 2018. The information below may be outdated or inaccurate.

A five-part seminar series that will help participants create positive, lasting impressions in customer's minds will be held in the coming weeks, sponsored by New River Community College's Office of Workforce Development.

NRCC's customer service series, "Customers Expect…," will allow participants to better appreciate customer successes and contribute to a customer-first culture in which customer care replaces traditional service. Each session will encourage participants to develop practical skill sets that impact both external and internal customers, or co-workers who serve as teammates.

The seminars, led by Dr. Robert Kenney, will be held on Thursdays at NRCC's New River Valley Mall site in Christiansburg from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration is currently in progress for the sessions, http://bit.ly/customerservicesp17 . Each session is $135, or the entire series is $600.

The series schedule follows:

Customers Expect Exceptional Communication: Thursday, March 16, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mall 142 (Class #3667)

Exceptional customer service requires a practical link between exceptional communication and quality service. Practicing a 6-step process for effective communication, participants will identify how to manage customers' first impressions and avoid common verbal and nonverbal mistakes, including conversations, telephone etiquette and email guidelines.

Customers Expect Constructive Resolutions: Dealing with Upset Customers: Thursday, March 30, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mall 142 (Class #3668)

Exceptional customer service requires having difficult conversations with upset customers and with people who seem to have conflicting priorities. Typical causes of customer conflict will be identified by using assessments to identify five ways they and others react to conflict and will provide strategies for diffusing customer anger and for controlling seminar participants' personal emotions during conflict.

Customers Expect Follow-Through & Follow-Up: Thursday, April 13, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mall 142 (Class #3669)

Exceptional customer care requires constant customer feedback. This session will define the difference between customer service and customer care. Participants will develop skills for follow-through and follow-up. Different ways of staying in touch with customers after interactions will be covered by soliciting customers' opinions, opening lines of communication, soliciting customer feedback to be sure customer needs were met and to help customers see the continued value of our products and services.

Customers Expect 2-Way Loyalty & Trust: Thursday, May 4, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mall 142 (Class #3670)

Exceptional customer care requires a true connection customers can see and sense in every interaction with your organization. Participants will plan how to build loyal partnerships with their customers, communicate gratitude to customers and make customers feel valued.

Customers Expect a Caring Culture: Getting Your Team's Buy-In: Thursday, May 25, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mall 142 (Class #3674)

Exceptional customer care requires a team culture that stands behind the customer-friendly behaviors of every individual inside your team. Customers should experience high performance standards, no matter with whom they interact. Participants will use critical change management strategies and build plans to help convince their co-workers to adopt customer care as their brand of customer service and to help insure that the psychology behind these practices permeates the participant's teams.