*J&G*

Please view “Short Course Evaluation”

This piece of writing involves my thoughts through entire training experience, and an insightful examination of training efficiency.

In today’s lesson I need to complete four units, it is last for two hours. However, I browsed through the training content, and then I got a little bored and impatient. In these four units study, reading and answer questions and then go to the next topic. I am sick of this fix learning format in this training program. 

Put yourself in my shoe, it is difficult to maintain my learning interest for ten units. At the very beginning of this program, I was enthusiasm and excited. Because it was the first time I approached to this kind of program. However, the entire three days training uses the same learning method: reading and answer questions, I got bored of this. 

Again I am the type of person who integrates several different learning styles, therefore in order to maintain my learning interest I expect alternative teaching styles. 

I didn’t really pay too much attention to today’s learning content. I clicked the “next” bottom browsing through slides. 

I didn’t get much out of today’s training. 

Today’s learning focuses on how to deal with problems that service people must encounter when interacting with customers. I expected the online training method should be more interactive and practical. However I am a bit disappointed, beside quiz and reading, there isn’t any more online activities involved.
 

I encountered situation that requires the skill of conflict resolution. After this lesson I still confused what should do to resolve this situation.  However, the training program didn’t provide any ways to get contact with the training services for questions, so I can not get direct feedback.
 

How effective I found about this course?
Training information has been well prepared since information put out showed the effort of information collected from different perspectives. Evident in excuse checklist in unit four, page 18.    

Today’s training focuses on techniques of questionnaires used while serving a customer over the phone. However, face to face customer service and call centre customer service is the same thing, Both of them need to obey the rules of customers communication.

1. In unit four, I developed my questionnaire skill, to ask the right question at the right time, from reading and practice. Questions are asked for gather information. The more you know about your customer, the better service you can provide. There are five types of question: status question is usually asked at the beginning of conversation to find out basic information and justify your reason for need of following information. Illustrative and clarification questions are often used during conversation. In order to find out detail information and picture problems, also very necessary to make sure matching definition understood by both you and your customer. Then consequence questions are asked to find out the impact of your proposed solution. At the last desire question may ask for a complete and enthusiasm service manner. 
2. Listen to customers are very important, select valuable and affective response. Skills such as hearing, repetition and justification are taught and exercised. 
3. Unit five introduces and outlines I lose-you win, I lose-you lose, I win-you lose and I win-you win strategies effectively handle angry customers. And then in late unit five and unit six, I have been taught theoretically correct steps and manner to handle customer conflict. Customer service represents the mission of an organisation; therefore your action and attitude in dealing with such cases represent the face of your organisation. 

By the end of the second day online training, I expect myself to complete course learning objectives 3 and 4. Check my pervious post “customer service: communication” to find out course learning objectives, view @ http://jayjay.edublogs.org/2006/05/19/customer-service-communication/. 

Today’s lesson began with real life related situation question, guided to think about the importance of asking accurate and appropriate questions for getting out more detail information of a customer. 

I worked for a retail jellwery shop as a salesperson. On the training day, I was taught briefly on questionnaire technique, for gather more information of what customers are interested in, or what particular styles customers after, open ended question are preferred to keep on a conversation. 

Objectives are given before every unit, so learners can make up their own check list of learning outcome. 

Skill assessment and “Think About It” exercise appear in multiple choice format, which in comparison to filling blank, or short answer is simpler to do. Also some questions used pictures as their answers can assist visual learners to form picture in mind. 

This training constantly provides mini test or exercises, so that learners are able to find out their level of understanding of taught concepts against with learning objectives required, at the same time these questions summed up the last topic then leading to the next topic. I like such design in this training, because using tests or exercise make a conjunction between two topics let me feel that the topics are linked and my study without being interrupted. 

Real life related examples or assumptions emerge teaching knowledge with practice.

Today is the first day of this online training, also it is the first time for me to use online training program, I am excited! In this case therefore I have a lot of thoughts upon this training experience.

Obstacles during training
Since English is my second language, I have difficulties to understand if I don’t get the meaning of some key words. This training program has been so considerable to provide links with online dictionary. Therefore this problem of any non-English speaker has been solved effectively.
I don’t like study, especially study knowledge that I assumed I have already known. I found that there were only small amount of information on every show slide, which made me feel relax as I taking the lesson, instead of feeling this is a duck-feeding study.
 

My developed perspective of Customer Service Communication
I have taken skill assessment before I started, I was expected that I would be getting majority of the questions right. In my old perspective, the understanding of customer service is a common sense, what service people need is smile and nice attitude. However, I got a so-so mark that convinced me that smile and nice attitude wasn’t enough for good customer services, I needed to enhance my interpretation of customers, so that I have the capacity to provide service meets their desires.

1. Pace, volume, inflection, intensity and attitude are five main elements of tone of voice.
2. In unit one, I learnt: Pace is defined as the rate of a movement when you talk. Use proper pace while speaking helps to create an image in listener’s mind. Volume of voice means loud or soft. The use of correct volume helps to convey your idea effectively. Customers are able to figure out what are the important things you try to explain in the conversation by they automatically recognise your voice volume. Inflection and intensity mean the highs and lows of your speaking voice, which can make a conversation more interesting, therefore customers are willing to continue talking, also it servers the same effect as volume. Pace, volume, inflection and intensity profile your speech a unique characteristic, and integrate with your emotion and attitude. Therefore proper attitude is a fundamental requirement for the efficiency of tone of voice. Gesture is very important to make conversation interesting and effectively convey your emotion and attitude to customers, also it helps for non-English speaker interpretation.
3. In unit two, be careful with the words you using during customer services. Because they make a real difference of customers’ interpretation. In this unit, gives examples to demonstrate learners the right words to use for clearly justify their response (either solution or limitation) to customers’ enquiries.
4. Being in the field of customer services, we as the service people should be able to recognise customer needs, therefore we are able to meet their satisfaction.  In unit three, I have been taught to recognise four different styles of customers, which are demanding (bottom line and result oriented), influencing (relationship oriented), steady (service and security oriented) and complain (detail oriented) customers. After my practice during either online training or in real life situation, I found that I am able to recognise these four customer styles, and match proper service skill for giving their desire.

Today is my first day online lesson. Before the actual lesson started, I have researched into the need for customer services training for organizations. 

Customer satisfaction is the key to business success. Managers who work in customer services field are having a big headache on the poor performance of staff communicating with customers. Low organizational efficiency has been evidenced by the raise figure of customers’ complains. Therefore, online training programs are designed by lots of elearning institutions, for assisting development of customer service communication skills. This type of programs is a low cost, interactive and effective program that has been broadly recommended by organizations. 

Unit objectives are stated explicitly before each unit, and skill assessment is provided for learners to find out their level of knowledge about communicative skill of customer services. 

By the end of today’s training, learners should be able to manipulate basic skills of deliver your word by using correct tone of voice and gesture. As well as being able to recognise the different types of customers. 

This course is designed for oganisational customer service training purpose, for anyone who wants to learn about creating and maintaining good customer service. It then presents strategies for understanding customer problems, resolving conflict, and writing effective correspondence, instructions and manuals completed in 10 units.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this online course, learners should be able to;   

1.     Recognize the best ways for getting your message across,
2.     Identify the various customer styles,
3.     Recall key phrases appropriate to each customer style,
4.     Use questions to get more information about a customer’s problem,
5.     Identify techniques for handling conflict and angry customers,
6.     Use written communication to motivate customer action,
7.     Distinguish the elements in a useful manual.