The Journey to build a Customer Centric Organization in the Public Sector

Course Overview:

Becoming customer-centric is one of the most important aims of any organization. Customer centricity refers to the orientation of a company to the needs and behaviors of its customers, rather than internal drivers such as the quest for short-term profit. Customers have high expectations and demand quality customer service from companies they choose to do business with. Providing customer service excellence gives an organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace and is the key factor that keeps customers coming back. Successful organizations understand the importance of developing a customer-centric mindset and deliberately restructure their customer service model to increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Today, customers have an increasing range of choice: choice of supplier, choice of channel, choice of products and services. Their loyalty is determined by the quality of the experience they receive. Delegates will learn effective customer-centric strategies and best practices to provide world-class customer service excellence.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

Establish the importance of setting and reviewing customer service standards
Develop an understanding of internal and external customer expectations
Communicate more effectively by utilizing active listening and questioning skills
Demonstrate how to deal with difficult or demanding customers in a professional manner
Set SMART objectives and goals to become more productive
Utilize stress management techniques to increase job satisfaction
Develop a strategy to build a more proactive, customer-centric organization
Analyze and implement the 'best practices' of world-class customer-centric organizations
Utilize interpersonal skills as vital tools in the provision of customer service
Measure and assess how well customer service standards and objectives are being achieved
Enhanced communication, persuasion, and conflict resolution skills

Course Coverage:

Topic 1: The Building Blocks of a Customer-Centric Organisation:

Course overview and learning objectives
Define Customer Service Excellence
What do you want your customer to experience?
Practical exercise: Identify specific ways to use 'customer service' to enhance customer loyalty and build employee morale
Five key steps for implementing a Customer-Centric Service Model
Serving your internal customers
First impressions are important - What do your customers see and hear?
Understanding your customer’s nonverbal communication

Topic 2: Developing a Top-Down Customer-Centric Culture:

What do customers want from your organization and why?
Does the 'customer experience' align with your organization’s business goals and vision/mission statement?
What do your competitors do better or differently than you do?
Practical exercise: What are the most admired leadership traits?
Shaping customer expectations - perception versus reality
Case study: Examples of companies that provide world-class customer service
Little things make a big difference - 'going the extra mile'
The four customer personality types

Topic 3: Responding to The Voice of the Customer:

Best and worst-rated companies for customer service
Listen, act, and deliver on customer needs
Re-evaluate and realign the customer experience in line with demand
Creating favorable customer service ‘touchpoints’ within your company
Practical exercise: List the ways that your organization creates positive ‘touchpoints’ to enhance the ‘customer experience’
Leading and motivating others to deliver superior service levels
The Customer Loyalty Chain
Developing the processes that nurture customer brand loyalty

Topic 4: Measuring and Monitoring Customer Satisfaction:

Why is measuring customer satisfaction important?
Why is it critical to encourage customer complaints and feedback?
Establishing quality customer service satisfaction measuring and monitoring standards
Using customer-centric diagnostic tools to evaluate trends, perceptions, and opportunities for performance improvement
Best practices for recording and monitoring customer service issues
Putting in place processes to resolve customer dissatisfaction
Practical exercise: Customer service quality control checklist
Strategies for working with difficult and demanding customers

Topic 5: Leading the Way to Customer Service Excellence:

The importance of attitude, teamwork, and professional development
Developing a customer-centric training program
Setting performance goals
Contests and employee recognition programs
Coaching and mentoring strategies
Methods to empower and motivate customer service employees
Action Plan

Topic 6: Understanding Your Customers:

Who Is Your Customer?
Importance of Customers Feedback
Types of Customers

Topic 7: Complaints Management:

What Is a Complaint?
What Are the Sources of Complaints?
Why Should an Organization Seek Complaints?
Complaints Are Golden Opportunities for Improvement

Topic 8: Complaints Management Standards:

Why Standards?
Types of Standards
ISO 10002 as a Model
The Impact of Customer Attitudes towards Complaining and Organizational Reactions
Business Needs and Commercial Implications

Topic 9: Essential Elements of a Complaints Management System:

Scope and Policy
Planning
Resource/Competence
Logging and Receiving Complaints
Implementation and Operation
Management Review
Corrective and Preventive Actions

Topic 10: Designing and Implementing an Effective Customer Complaint System:

Complaint Definition, Handling, Escalation and Resolution
Developing a System Including Workflow and Process Mapping
Monitoring, Measurement and Management Review
Audits in Principle and Practice
Possible Barriers

Targeted Participants:

Head of Customer Service
Customer Service Managers
Customer Service Supervisors
Customer Service Professionals