Jeanne S McPherson, PhD
The Collaborative Service Edge:
Engaging Internal and External Customers
“An alarmingly high number of service improvement or customer-focus initiatives fail miserably, despite the best intentions of all those involved.”
Ray Miller, Laura E. Miller,Now That’s Customer Focus!
“The goal of any customer-satisfaction effort should be to improve external satisfaction levels by first improving internal customer relationships.”
Richard Y. Yang and P. Keith Kelly,Satisfying Internal Customers First! (1999)
Customer Care has become a workplace buzzword; yet satisfying customers remains a sought-after goal, often with mystifying outcomes. Superior customer service derives from more than well-intentioned workers, smiling staff, and motivational clichés. Superior customer service depends on well-supported staff members who are both willing and able to meet customer expectations.
Drawing on research from such disciplines as organizational change, marketing, organizational communication, management, emotional intelligence, and social behavior, this seminar addresses the most pressing problems of customer satisfaction: providing support for internal customers. Skills will be practiced in the context of participants’ own work challenges. This seminar is designed for 20-30 minute participant phone interviews before the session for course customization; for some groups, a sampling of participants for interviews may be appropriate.
Who should take this seminar?
Individuals providing customer service, individuals providing support to customer service, managers of customer service as well as managers of support functions, individuals interested in improving customer service
In this seminar, you will learn specifics:
• Competing multidisciplinary work values, along with where and why they clash
• Skills for addressing work tensions (it’s not the good guys versus the bad guys)
• Tools for evaluating your customer service program
• Techniques for promoting organizational change, even if you’re not the boss
• Ways to promote internal customer satisfaction within your organization
You will receive concepts, application, and practice:
1-day seminar suggested for up to 25 participants (ideal for mixed service/support functions)
