Posts Tagged ‘Customer service’

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.

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Posted in Car dealerships, communication skills, customer service team assessment | No Comments »

The banks and customer service

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

It seems that the banks are easy prey to heavy criticism at the moment. I generally believe there is much good about much of what they do but sure enough there are many things they’ve been getting wrong of late – not least of which is appearing to be greedy (with our money !) However this post is about something specific. Here goes ………

I phoned my ‘local’ bank recently during our lengthy period of bad snow in order to find out if the branch  was open. I had taken the journey into town on the previous working day only to find out that it was shut. Fairly straightforward then ? …..

I looked up a number by keying in the name of the bank and the town into Google. It gave me an 0845 number. OK. I called it and was answered by a guy with a noticeable North East accent. As the call progressed I could hear other voices in the background with the same accent – so I guess I was through to somewhere in the Newcastle – Sunderland area. No problem with that, good service is good service wherever it comes from.

I had to answer the range of security questions which got a bit irritating. I completely understand the need for this if I’m wanting to know any financial details or carry out any transactions – but all I want to know is if the local branch has open doors ! Why do I need to give my bloody security details ?!

Anyway I did and then he asked me to tell him again which town I was in, he prompted me but made a town name up which was admittedly similar but not the same as mine. I had to correct him, so this made me think that he wasn’t listening properly.

He then had to phone the back to see if they were open, which took a few minutes. He was polite and responsive at all times, and seemed pleasant and I’m sure he’s good to his mother ……. but

It all took too long, their system wasn’t flexible enough, and I was made to feel like a number, rather than an important customer. This is not good enough customer service. If the banks are going to ensure they offer exceptional standards of customer service, they really will need to raise their game most significantly.

The standard to aim for is “big enough to cope, small enough to care.” It is most important that the banks get this right with their customer service standards 

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Posted in Banking, communication skills, customer handling, customer services, retail sales, telephone techniques | No Comments »

Benchmarking customer service teams for training – Auditing customer service team performance

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.

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Posted in benchmarking customer service teams, Customer service management, customer service team assessment, customer services, Independent audit of customer service | No Comments »

Explore the wonders of Britain – why your country needs you !

Friday, January 9th, 2009

A slightly offbeat subject for today’s blog. And not even related to training ! But then if Clarkson can get away with rambling about all sorts of different subjects in his books, I’m sure you’ll forgive me this once.

It’s that time of year when you may be starting to think about your summer holiday.

And as we all know this year may be very different for many people. With uncertain conditions ahead, reduced hours, job losses and pay cuts, the choice for many this year may be very different to normal.

So here’s a thought – by taking your holiday in Britain you will ultimately be taking steps to protect your own job ! If we all spent the £29 billion that we traditionally spend in Britain this summer, that will be money going into food, leisure, entertainment and then from that into packaging, financial services – and so on and so on – you get the picture.

And after all, you can forego that constant sunshine for just one summer can’t you ?!   

Wherever you end up, write in and let us know what sort of customer service standards you get.

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Posted in communication skills, customer handling, customer services, retail sales | No Comments »

Customer Service training courses tips and blog

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Customer Service courses tips and a customer service blog are available from Leicestershire based training company To Market. Training can be in-house on your premises or open courses are run at  local venues including Leicester, Northampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Peterborough, Solihull, Lichfield, Cambridge, Warwick, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Derby as well as Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Birmingham. More details can be found by clicking straight through to the To Market website.

Customer Service training is designed around how to how to exceed customer expectations, offer exceptional customer service, handle conflict and deal with difficult and demanding customers.

To Market will show you the secrets to exceptional customer service. There is a To Market customer service blog too where you can pick up tips and advice on all customer service issues – and comment on customer service training issues.

Finally you can have your customer service team benchmarked via To Market’s team audit. One of the To Market trainers will give you a report based on observing your customer service team dealing with customers live. Find out more by clicking on the team audits page on the To Market website.

Customer service training programmes are led by our senior trainer Andrew Seaward and cover customer care courses, customer service phone training and full programmes in training for customer service. 

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Posted in benchmarking customer service teams, customer handling, Customer service management, customer service team assessment, customer services, Independent audit of customer service | No Comments »

Positive attitude – develop one !

Friday, April 25th, 2008

It’s really important to have a positive attitude in your dealings with your customers. In customer service training this is one of the most important points that comes out of our training. So if the customer service personnel think it’s key – it’s key !

 

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Smiling !

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

How far does a smile go ?! A long, long way I reckon ! I much prefer dealing with people who smile at you, and seem genuinely keen to help. You just know instinctively that they’re more likely to help, and nothing will be too much trouble. Also of course the more positive they are about their job, the more likely they will be to do that little bit more and ensure that you get the right result.

As a result you’ll be inclined to spend more time with positive, smiley people. And after all what does it cost – nothing, it’s free. On our 2 day customer service training, this is one of the top tips and one of the first things people tell me about when I ask them what they like and dislike about customer service when they are customers.

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Remember to call back

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

If you’ve promised to call back at a specific time, do so. They will be impressed with your professionalism.

Customer Services Training Courses run by To Market

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Posted in communication skills, customer services, telesales | No Comments »