Posts Tagged ‘customer service training’
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
Tags: customer service training, effective training, leicester, management, northampton, telemarketing training, telephone techniques, telesales team motivation, telesales training
Posted in communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer services, Independent audit of telemarketing team, sales development training, telemarketing, Telemarketing management, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales team assessment, telesales team management | No Comments »
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
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.
Tags: customer service coaching, customer service training, increasing sales, sales training, selling more on the phone, travel industry mentoring, travel sales training
Posted in benchmarking customer service teams, benchmarking telesales teams, communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer service team assessment, customer services, Overcoming objections, sales development training, Selling advice, telephone techniques, telesales, Telesales team assessment, telesales team management | No Comments »
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.
Tags: customer service 2 day seminar, customer service advice, customer service tips, customer service training, customer service workshop, exceeding customer expectations, exceptional customer service training, offering great customer service
Posted in communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer service team assessment, customer services, Forthcoming courses | No Comments »
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.
Tags: advice on customer service, customer service best practice, customer service in retail shops, customer service tips, customer service training, delivering exceptional customer service, exceeding customer expectations
Posted in communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer services, retail sales | No Comments »
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
Tags: building business, business development, business growth seminar, business growth workshop, corby, customer service training, developing new business, Funded training, funding for business growth seminar, kettering, leicester, Lincoln, new business ideas seminar, northampton, Personal development, sales training
Posted in business development, business growth, customer handling, Customer service management, customer services, Field sales training, Free training, Funded training, owner managers directors, Personal development, sales development training, Selling advice, seminar, Train to Gain funding | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Recently To Market was commissioned to run in-house training for a plastic packaging company. We’ve worked with them over many years and the customer service course went well.
We’ve carried out both customer service and telesales training for companies who specialise in the manufacture of plastic packaging.
This training can be based around whatever your business challenges are, but we’ve worked on new sales development, identifying needs, lead qualification, overcoming objections, advice on getting past gatekeepers plus questioning skills. That’s on the telesales, telemarketing and internal sales courses.
On customer service training we work on handling conflict, dealing with complaints, complaint handling in other words, exceptional customer service training and how to delight the customer.
Packaging is one of the industrial market sectors we specialise in so if that’s your bag so to speak give us a call on 01858 461148 or e-mail us info@tomarket.co.uk
Tags: customer service training, exceeding customer expectations, exceptional customer service training courses, in-house telephone skills training, telemarketing training, telephone skills courses, telephone techniques, telesales training
Posted in communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer services, Getting past gatekeepers, Overcoming objections, telemarketing, telesales, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Customer Service masterclass being run on 28th & 29th September in Market Harborough, Leicestershire so ideal for anyone interested in improved customer service skills in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Coventry, Milton Keynes as well as wider parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. We’ve even got bookings from Lichfield and Birmingham.
Customer service skills training is suitable for anyone interested in contact centre, call centre or customer care training and during this 2 day masterclass we will cover telephone techniques covering dealing with conflict, negotiation skills, questioning skills and calming customers. We will also work on communication skills to include listening skills, controlling the conversation, customer service professionalism, and vocal tone and expression. Everything you need in fact for improving customer service skills.
To register interest in this course, just e-mail us info@tomarket.co.uk and we’ll send you details back to include the training programme plus fees. Then if you’re interested we can reserve you a place while you make your decision.
2 days of customer service telephone skills training in Market Harborough aimed at customer service agents or people in contact centre or customer care in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Milton Keynes, Wellingborough, Coventry as well as wider parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
Tags: corby, coventry, customer service skills, customer service training, Customer Service training course, Customer Service training programme, kettering, leicester, Leicestershire, northampton, Northamptonshire
Posted in communication skills, customer handling, Customer service management, customer services, Forthcoming courses, Personal development, telephone techniques | No Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
While walking around the shops last weekend, I noticed something about the way they offered their services to me that was impressive. We can all apply these principles.
In one shop I have a loyalty card which they stamp when you use it. It is fairly straightforward it rewards you with 10% discount and you pay a fixed amount for the card. It then expires after 12 months.
However over the 12 month period the hand written expiry date has sort of worn off. It has a busy life in the wallet of a male, and I’m sure the inadvertent capsizing of a canoe in a French river last summer which soaked everything in my pockets was the final straw.
Anyway the shop (unable to clearly see the expiry date) made a quick decision to put 2 months extra on it. This worked well ! I, the customer came away feeling like I’d got a special deal (because I had) and yet it cost them little.
Furthermore I was impressed at this keeness to go the extra mile and to offer some added value to my customer service experience and would it make me more likely to shop there again – you bet !
So the retailer has built a little more loyalty to it’s brand. Job done !
In another store in the same day, it seems they were offering a free gift if you spent over £30. I went to the till twice and made a number of small purchases. The manageress served me the second time and although I hadn’t spent the ‘qualifying amount’ she gave me the free gift anyway. Again it made me feel special. I got a deal that supposedly wasn’t available to everyone. That shopkeeper was offering added value in customer service.
Quite simply make your customer feel special, and offering them added value or going the extra mile will often be enough to turn them into a loyal customer. Offer exceptional customer service and it’s the little things that add up.
Tags: adding value to the customer experience, advice on customer service, Customer Service free tips, customer service tips, customer service training, exceeding customer expectations, going the extra mile training
Posted in communication skills, customer services, retail sales, Selling advice | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Apparently there’s a bit of a recession on at the moment ! Only last week (mid January) the figures came out to confirm it ! Well that’s come as a bit of a bolt out of the blue hasn’t it ?!
It has been said by many wise people that “you can’t change what has happened to you, but you can decide how you will deal with it.”
So let’s get a positive attitude and get over it shall we ?!
Apparently this has been one of the longest bear markets for a while – 16 years. There is normally a market correction or recession every 10 years or so. Our job then is to come up with strategies and ways of dealing with it.
Now is the time to review the products and services you offer your customers. You have got time to try new ideas, now is the time to review your communication strategy with all of your customers - both those who are still with you, and those who used to buy your products and have stopped for whatever reason.
Now is the time to look at getting some ideas from your front line troops on ways your organisation could improve, and now is the time to look for some additional training and development ideas for them. They may well need help and motivation to help you win the business that is out there at the moment.
Even if you haven’t got any more than £100 to spend, you can still have access to the training CDs available through www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk They’re currently only £16.99 delivered and ordering is easy through PayPal. They cover customer service training, telesales tips, telemarketing techniques and ideas on self-development.
Remember one of Churchill’s lesser known quotes “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” How true.
Tags: customer service training, personal self-development, positive mental attitude, telemarketing training, Telephone skills, telephone techniques training, telesales training, training CDs
Posted in communication skills, customer services, Selling advice, telemarketing, telesales | No Comments »
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
Benchmarking a customer service team for training is a powerful way of getting the most out of any development programme. It can be used as part of your appraisal or training needs analysis process. To Market will carry out an onsite team audit to help benchmark your customer service, contact centre or call centre telephone team at your offices wherever they are : Leicester, Northampton, Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, Coventry, Kettering, Corby, plus wider parts of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. We’ve also recently audited teams in Bedford, Hemel Hempstead, Stratford on Avon and Sudbuy Suffolk so we cover the UK.
By appraising your telephone team on site at your offices helps you identify training needs before taking the plunge. Getting an independent view of your team can be helpful in the effective management your customer service or contact centre team.
The To Market customer service team appraisal takes place at your offices and so is completely tailored to your team and the feedback is specific. You can even download a copy of a real team audit report from the To Market website by clicking on http://www.tomarket.co.uk/sample-audits.php. There is a customer service team audit report and one for a telesales team. They have been cleaned up to protect client confidentiality.
Book a benchmark appraisal on your team today and you may be amazed at how much it helps demonstrate to help with the effective running of your customer service team for just a few hundred pounds. Our senior trainer Andrew Seaward – To Market will carry out the audit on your team.
Tags: benchmarking customer service, Customer service, customer service assessment, customer service team audit, customer service training, independent assessment of customer service
Posted in benchmarking customer service teams, Customer service management, customer service team assessment, customer services, Independent audit of customer service | No Comments »