Customer Service Training courses are usually purely focused on delivering service to customers. And, that\’s a really good start. But the problem with delivering \’customer service\’ is that it delivers what your organisation believes a prospective or existing customer should receive rather than delivering what would be most valuable to the individual wanting to spend their money with your brand. Summit\’s Customer Service Training courses go one, big step further than the norm in that each programme focuses on delivering Customer Satisfaction – what\’s most important to your customer.

Yes, we do understand that your organisation can\’t deliver everything your demanding customers want, but you can deliver so much more satisfaction than you do now. And the more satisfied your customers are, the more often they are likely to choose your brand over another, even when other brands\’ prices are lower. Cost alone is rarely a buying strategy. Yes, it\’s very important, especially during the current economic climate, but the general public want so much more than a low price. They want to feel they can trust their chosen provider, will be dealt with fairly and efficiently if a problem should arise and, that you\’ll do your best to make them are of the best deals available to them if they match their needs.

If you look at media commentary, Santander bank has attracted significant attention due to delivering inferior customer service after convincing millions of customers at other banks to transfer to it. The problem? Due to the overwhelming response and new account applications, Customer Service training and resourcing appears to have not been adequate as thousands of individuals experienced long delays in receiving confirmation of their account opening. And British Airways. Remember the launch of BA\’s Terminal 5 at Heathrow? When systems and communication processes failed on day one, and continued for several weeks after, customers flying to one destination had their baggage delivered to an entirely different destination. What failed? Customer Service Training proved to be unsuitable as BA hadn\’t planned for such a problem.

It\’s vital that your customer service training programme invest in delivering customer satisfaction in addition to customer service. Your staff need to plan for and be ready for even the most challenging of situations – even if the worst case scenario never happens. And that\’s what Summit can help you to deliver.

One important aspect of customer service training is helping staff to enhance their self-awareness when it comes to customer service challenges. We expect excellent service, but if we have to provide, we often only see the customer as a trouble maker and most of us don\’t like being hassled.

And is customer service really what we should be going for? What about customer satisfaction? Ensuring that customers not only get the service standard you have to provide to keep them calm, but a service that makes them want to come back to you over and over again?

Remember: customer service = the standard of service set by your department
customer satisfaction = the standard of service your customers expect from you!

Author Bio: Scott Watson is author of \’Win Every Time – Essential lessons for existing and emerging leaders\’. More information is available on the Customer Service Training website and the Team Building Training website. Also check out the Management Training Blog.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: customer service, customer service training, satisfaction, clients, travel, service