Approaches to use when handling difficult customer phone calls ~ a short course for trainers.

1. Telephone techniques to give customers a positive experience

2. Telephone techniques to give customers a positive experience

3. First impressions count When we meet people we form an impression based on a number of elements including appearance and body language. Without the aid of these verbal clues, it is more difficult to make a good first impression on the telephone.

4. Group Exercise What are the first words your customer hears? Is your first message consistent, welcoming and friendly? As a team, spend a five minutes agreeing your standard opening message

5. Your voice is your most powerful tool Pace Volume Clarity Tone Look up Smile!

6. But don’t take my word for it, try it out In pairs or threes, practice changing the way you talk: Think of something you can talk about for one minute Vary the tone, pace, volume, clarity, whether you smile or frown, whether you look up or down

7. Use positive language Certainly That’s great Thank you You’re welcome Brilliant Straight away Wonderful Fantastic It’s my pleasure The good news is.... I’m pleased to confirm Absolutely Rest assured Please Appreciate Immediately We value your custom Of course I will find out for you I will find out for you You’re welcome Thank you for calling I look forward to talking to you again You can be certain that Is there anything else I can help with? It’s been good to speak to you I’m glad we have been able to sort things out for you It’s no trouble

8. Establishing Rapport

9. Challenging Behaviour A good start is to see the behaviour as challenging, not the person

10. Exercise Problems & Solutions What type of difficult or challenging behaviour to you encounter or fear encountering? Use the post-it notes provided to give some examples.

11. Dealing with complaints

12. Dealing with complaints Never say or do the following

13. Dealing with aggression

14. Dealing with vagueness

15. Dealing with unfriendliness

16. And if all else fails…. talk to your line manager

17. Closing the call Just as important as first impressions, is the way in which you finish the call You want to give an excellent service but need to be able to deal with calls quickly as well as effectively

18. Closing the call

19. Exercise Creating A Customer Care Charter As a group, spend 15 minutes developing a list of points which will help to standardise the way you work and will give the customer the best possible service. For example: Within our organisation: We always answer the phone with our full attention and a smile