Posts Tagged ‘customer service training’

Telephone techniques training course – 1 day

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Telephone techniques course – 1 day course. We’re just putting the finishing touches to our latest one day course in telephone techniques for all business people who use the phone talking to customers.  This series of one day courses is being offered at venues across the Midlands including Leicester, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton, Loughborough, as well as Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, St Ives, Coventry and Daventry. 

Raise your game and build better relationships with your customers

Raise your game and build better relationships with your customers

Whereas our ‘full fat’ 2 day courses are generally aimed at either Telesales OR customer service, this one day compact course is for all staff who deal with customers.

It covers all the basic things you need to be aware of when dealing with customers. In just one day you will cover ;

  • Listening skills
  • Questioning skills
  • Expression (how your voice tells the other person more about you than you will ever know.)
  • Mixed messages (why the message you send is not always the message they receive.)

Attending our course will increase your awareness of yours and your customers communication skills. This will enable you to build better empathy with your customers, thus ensuring better long-term trading relationships.

Better communications skills and telephone techniques leads to more sales and a greater customer experience. If you are interested in this compact telephone skills course in Birmingham, Daventry, Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Cambridge, St Ives, Solihull, Lichfield, Loughborough or anywhere across the East and West Midlands, drop us a line to info@tomarket.co.uk and we’ll send you more information.

Customer Service masterclass training – Leicester / Northampton – 24th – 25th August 2010

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Customer Service masterclass training - Leicestershire / Northamptonshire – 24th - 25th August 2010. 2 day course ideal for anyone who talks to customers on the telephone in a customer service role : customer service, contact centre, call centre, internal sales etc.

Customer Service 2 day training - Autumn 2009

Customer Service 2 day training - February 2010

Customer service course will cover key communications skills for offering exceptional customer service. Includes questioning skills, listening skills, mixed messages (why the message you send is not the message they receive) plus we’ll show you how the first 6 words you say to someone over the phone can tell the other person 40 plus things about you.

If you want more customers, and to develop more loyalty from the people you currently sell to, we’ll show you how. Get more customers, more often, who will stay for longer and spend more. Follow the link to find out about the dates of all forthcoming open courses. http://www.tomarket.co.uk/courses.php

2 day customer service course ideal for anyone in Birmingham, Cambridge, Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Stamford, Grantham, Wellingborough, Loughborough, Coalville, Oadby, Oakham, Uppingham, Rutland, Derby, Coventry, Nottingham, Hinckley, Lutterworth and all parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. 24th – 25th August 2010.

Council customer service training – open course East Midlands

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Council customer service training – open course East Midlands 9th March 2010.

Councils all around the country are under increasing pressure to upskill their customer facing staff, both from government and from customers of course ! There is also a general trend to establishing centralised customer service teams as opposed to the strongly departmental set up previously. Some of you are further down the road with this programme than others.

We have worked with a number of councils in the East Midlands undergoing this transition. So having run a number of bespoke courses to include customer service both on the telephone and also face to face, we are opening up this training as an open course.

 

The fee represents a huge saving of over 50%, compared to what our clients in the private sector would pay.

 

The course will run week commencing 8th March so if you have unallocated budget left, it can come out of this year’s budget.

 

The course will cover aspects of customer service including ;

 

  • Listening skills
  • Questioning skills
  • Building rapport
  • Directing the conversation
  • What makes excellent customer service

If this is something you are interested in, simply e-mail us info@tomarket.co.ukWe will then send out more details about the precise dates, and the venue (not booked yet, but likely to be the East Midlands.) We will also send you a copy of the full course schedule with details of all the modules which will be covered during the day.

 

Lunch and refreshments will be served and each delegate will get a full set of printed notes.

 

Why might you be interested ?

There are a number of reasons why this may be of interest to you. I believe that this is a unique course – I have not found any other courses specifically for customer service in councils. Here are some of the key reasons

 

  • Support in the development of your people (who are the face of your organisation)
  • To add to their skills in their increasingly general role
  • Customer service is a key aspect of your business process
  • You may have some budget left
  • They will also benefit from sharing experiences in a room with people from other councils. (While this isn’t specifically what the course is aimed at, it is a very useful by-product.)

We’d be interested to know your thoughts on this course even if it’s not for you at the moment. You’re welcome to phone or e-mail us.

Telemarketing, telesales and customer service team development – car companies

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

We offer training –  Telemarketing, telesales and customer service team development in car companies.  We’ve worked with many over the years ; 

  • dealers
  • finance divisions
  • vehicle leasing
  • car dealerships
  • after sales including service and parts

The recent troubles and global overcapacity of the motor industry have been well documented, but the clouds are beginning to lift for many. Customers are still a precious resource and many companies are saying to us that they want their customers to enjoy visiting the dealership and dealing with the service coordinator or the parts manager.

Car companies are gearing up with quality training to increase conversion

Car companies are gearing up with quality training to increase conversion rates

Many dealerships now look really funky with their glass sides, polished floors and coffee machines on tap. But it is the human element that has the most impact. Studies show that customers across all industries attach 80% of their customer service experience to the human interaction they have.  It’s not about the coffee, it’s about Sarah or Tom and whether they smile or not !

Car dealerships, car finance, leasing, car sales, vehicle after sales can all benefit from some tailored onsite training, as the market begins to come to life. Contact us on 01858 461148 if you’d like to discuss developing your own team.

Customer Service training for your service desk

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Customer service training for your service desk is an important training topic at the moment it seems. Increasing numbers of companies are talking to us about customer service training for their after sales or service desk team.

Customer Service training for after sales is a hot topic

Customer Service training for after sales is a hot topic

This is partly about making the customer enjoy the experience of dealing with you. Customers with computers, cars, fork lift trucks, floor scrubber driers have a choice of where they go to for after sales servicing. It is  important they leave feeling cared for, that they’ve been treated fairly and they aren’t being ripped off.

There are many situations in your car dealership or service area that have to be handled sensitively. For instance how do you handle presenting a larger bill than the customer was expecting – in these trying times ?!

How do you also ensure that when your technician identifies some work that needs doing, this gets converted into business for your service team ? How do you avoid the person driving out and getting the work done elsewhere ? Many car dealerships are monitoring these figures now, and often conversion rates are poor. In fact less than 40% on 2 occasions we’ve been involved in recently.

Think what an increase to 50% conversion would do for your business. Talk to us if you’re serious about making a difference – with a strong desire to improve the experience  your customers have of dealing with your organisation.

Finally – How do you deliver bad news ? Using positive language will make a big difference. A separate article has been added on this issue recently.

To Market runs customer service, telesales and telemarketing training in many service lead organisations including car dealers, fork lift truck dealers, industrial washer scrubber dryers, machine tool companies, computer software providers, I.T. support companies, car dealerships, agricultural machinery suppliers, motor factors, computer retailers as well as a wide range of business to business, and industrial sales organisations.

Hiring top people is expensive – training them to be top people is more cost effective

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Hiring top people is expensive – training them to be top people is more cost effective. I came across the following quote while rereading the One Minute Manager, a top business book from the 1980s. The advice is still as relevant now ……

“You really have three choices as a manager. First you can hire winners. They are hard to find and they cost money. Or second, if you can’t find a winner, you can hire someone with the potential to be a winner. Then you systematically train that person to become a winner. If you are not willing to do either of the first two (and I am continually amazed at the number of managers who won’t spend the money to hire a winner or take the time to train someone to become a winner), then there is only the third choice left – prayer.” From the One Minute Manager (Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson)   

The case for training is clear, develop the people you have and turn them into winners. Whether you have customer service, internal sales, telesales or telemarketing people, they must be motivated and trained to be the absolute best they can be. Not only will they be more successful for you, but they will also enjoy being successful and will be more motivated. You know it makes sense !

Training is cheaper than recruitment

Training is cheaper than recruitment

Travel industry sales training – holiday companies

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Travel industry sales training – holiday companies. Travel companies often have a particular interest in working with training providers who have a detailed knowledge of the travel business.

Sales training and customer service training for these companies is as important now as it has ever been. We are pleased that we secured the services of a top travel industry trainer. Alan Cook has over 25 years experience working as a trainer and most of them with travel companies. He joined us back in 2007, with a wealth of experience in the travel and leisure industry. 

Alan Cook - specialist travel industry trainer

Alan Cook - specialist travel industry trainer

If you are looking to increase your conversion rates on the phone, to sell more, to make more bookings of your overseas, or ski or UK based holidays we know a man who can. He’s already been doing it for a number of years. Alan Cook has many years experience having worked for Thomas Cook at Peterborough, and Page and Moy a Leicester based travel company now owned by Market Harborough based travel group Travelsphere.

Contact us info@tomarket.co.uk if you are a travel industry company wanting to do more. We can help.

Expert travel industry training in Leicester, Market Harborough, Peterborough, Manchester, Brighton, London, Birmingham, York, Cambridge, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby. In-house training, coaching programmes and mentoring for customer service, telesales and sales agents for UK breaks, ski holidays, tours, cruises, chalets, escorted tours etc.

Exceptional customer service is about effort – it really is that easy

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Exceptional customer service and it’s really not that exceptional is it, is about effort. The businesses who do will prosper and those who don’t won’t ! It really is as simple as that.

Last week I went to a local town and was searching for a particular ordnance survey map. I visited 3 shops who sell maps. The first didn’t have the one I wanted on display. So I moved on. Shop number 2 had a small display and a lady stood behind the counter. “Do you have any others apart from these, as the one I want isn’t here ?” I asked. “No only those” she replied. “OK, when will you next have more stock in ?” I persisted. “We have a delivery every couple of months or so.” ‘Wow’ I thought, not exactly racing out of the shop then are they ?  

“And can you order the ones you want ?” I followed up with. “No, not really we just get issued with this small range.” At no point did she suggest that she could order it, not did she suggest another solution. I was unimpressed.

Shop 3 also didn’t have the map, and so I returned to shop 1 and asked the busy manager if she had any more stock. She said that she didn’t but she would be seeing the rep on Wednesday. She said that she was willing to call him, if I was prepared to wait 5 minutes. I did and she went off to make the call.

The outcome ? Well she is getting one dropped off on Wednesday afternoon, so guess which shop will be getting my map business. It may only be an £8 purchase, but it’s still all about effort. Make sure that you go the extra mile, and are willing to help people. Not only will your actions solve more customer problems, and help you maximise any opportunity, but also you’ll impress them !

And in these times where there is less money going round the economy, there is more need to make sure you get more than your usual share.

This is one of many important topics we cover on our 2 day customer service masterclass courses. The venue for the next course is likely to be the East Midlands and so is ideal for any customer service, contact centre, call centre personnel in Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton, Peterborough, Corby, Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Loughborough and Northamptonshire. http://www.tomarket.co.uk/courses.php gives you dates of this and other courses.

No actually I don’t want anyone to do my packing thank you ! Customer service tip

Friday, July 24th, 2009

For goodness sake ! No really ! I nearly swore then !

For heaven’s sake when you’re designing your customer service process, or when you’re offering customer service yourself, for goodness sake use a bit of common sense. Of course we’re all brought up with the mantra of exceeding customer expectations, or delivering exceptional customer service and all the best practice in customer service training, but be a human too !

I walked into Sainsburys and bought just one item, a one pint of milk. So I don’t know what that weighs, around 1 1/2 lbs I guess. Because I only had one item I went to the one item till. The guy’s opening gambit line to me was “Would you like help with your packing ?” Really he did. He didn’t smile as he said it, he really meant it.

Use a bit of common sense when dealing with your customers in business, and treat them as individuals and prove that you are one too ! Think outside the square and be prepared to go beyond the process and the system. People will thank you for it and remember your great service.

Business development seminar for owner managers – fully funded in the East Midlands

Friday, May 15th, 2009

A one day business development seminar is about to be run for owner managers fully funded in the East Midlands.

If you’re a director or owner manager of a small to medium sized business in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire your place at this £500 one day business development seminar may qualify for full funding. So to you – not a bean ! Not one penny ! 

It is being funded by the government through Train to Gain. The seminar will be based on

How to win and keep more business

So it will cover elements of sales, customer service and how to motivate your team  to build better customer relationships. And of course you will pick up ideas from other people like you (who run their own businesses) so good opportunities to network too with like-minded people.

If you think you may qualify, and you’d like more details on how to improve the sales and customer service functions within your company just let us know via e-mail. You can e-mail me directly and I’ll write to you personally with more details. If you have any questions in the meantime – pick up the phone and give us a call.

This seminar is ideal for business owners, and directors within companies in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Loughborough, Coalville, Oakham, Rutland, Market Harborough, Wellingborough, Nottingham, Mansfield, Sutton in Ashfield, Derby, Lincoln, Newark, as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire