Companies and organizations are more and more conscious that offering good quality products or services is not enough to gain and keep satisfied customers. The service, support, and after sales that are offered are playing a more important role in this. Especially at the moment that the customers are faced with questions or problems related to the product or service they have purchased and want to be helped quickly and adequately. The telephone helpdesk or service desk offers a large number of possibilities in this area. Helpdesk staff form a contact point for both internal and external customers.

As a Help Desk agent, you are the contact for all internal and external customers. But giving the right answer to questions from customers is not sufficient.  It is equally important to analyse customers’ questions quickly and accurately, to respond appropriately to the customer’s attitude and reactions, and to provide an answer or a solution in a manner that is tailored to the individual needs.  You will frequently be required to deal with a range of different personal emotions:  bad tempered, irritated, uncertain, and hasty; but on occasion also interested and sympathetic.  A Help Desk agent must be able to respond to all of these different types of reactions.  After your training, you will be able to adapt your response to the client, to their problems and to their specific situation. It is exactly this Added Value that is all-important to you and to your customer’s perception and satisfaction.

Approach

During this two-day training (with an interval) various different working methods are used: explanation by the trainer, exchange of experience, written exercises, joint projects, discussion, role plays in front of the camera (Phone Coach) and in small groups, and finally the participants work on their own action plans with personal tips and points for attention.

Topics

What do customers expect from you as a help desk agent?

Standards for customer-oriented telephone conversations at the help desk

Structuring of the conversation

Techniques for asking questions, active listening and asking further questions

Presenting your answer/the solution

Using plain language

Communication: treating the caller as a human being

Dealing with difficult situations

Complaints are opportunities

Personal action plan

Training Objectives

At the end of this training you will be able to:

1. Ask probing questions
2. Listen actively
3. Formulate answers clearly
4. Work customer-oriented and be pro-active in your dealings with customers and users.

Duration: Two Days

Programme Schedule

Day One

Introduction & Welcome

Programme Objectives

Personal Objectives

Customer Expectations vs Expectations of your Organisation

Norms for a Successful Customer-Focused Call

Call Structure Results for an an Effective and Efficient Call

Analyse the customer’s question/problem

Pinpoint the customer’s question/problem

How to Present the Answer/Solution

Personal Action Planning

Day Two

Welcome Back

Dealing with Different Types of Customers

Dealing with Difficult Situations

Recognising and Dealing with a Customer Complaint

How to ensure that the customer understands and carries out the answer/instructions

How to speak the customer’s language

Personal Action Planning