Instilling Service Excellence: the EXCEL Acronym

Overview/Description
 In advancing to new levels of customer service commitment, it's helpful to have an easy way to remember additional concepts that can make you a service superstar. Since the goal is customer service excellence, this course uses the word E-X-C-E-L as an acronym for five important behaviors that impact the service mindset. It might surprise you, but seeking help and knowing where to find it can improve your service abilities. That's why E, for "Enlist Help", is the first concept in the EXCEL acronym. X is for X-Ray questions, developing the skills to "read" your customers by asking the right questions in the right way. It's a great relief to be able to say, "Case Closed" when there's a problem area with a customer. But it takes planning and proactive thinking to stay ahead of trouble-spots, and in the "C" topic, this course gives you the steps to close off problematic customer issues by anticipating them. The next letter is "E" for EMPOWER YOURSELF, one of the most crucial concepts to being a great service provider. This lesson establishes the steps to taking ownership of your own personal service philosophy. That brings us to the last letter, "L", which issues a challenge. In "Learn to be Flexible", you must come up with a plan to increase your flexibility one day at a time. These guidelines will instill a customer service mentality, and instill a spirit of commitment to service far beyond the workplace norm.

Target Audience
 Front line staff, team leaders, supervisors

Expected Duration
7.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

E: Enlist Help

  • recognize the benefits of enlisting and offering help.
  • integrate the customers' desires for consistency and dependability with your company's ability to deliver it.
  • identify those issues that make it difficult for you to ask for help.
  • classify the areas where you have consistent challenges.
  • construct a list of resources that are available.
  • define a process for sharing what you learn from customers with others in the organization.

    • X: X-ray Questions

  • recognize the value of good questions in handling customer service issues.
  • recognize that customers have the answers if you ask the right questions.
  • use the appropriate questions to avoid putting a customer on the defensive, in a given scenario.
  • use active listening skills, in a given scenario.
  • determine whether to turn a problem resolution into a sales opportunity, based on a given scenario.

    • C: Close the Case on Problem Areas

  • recognize the value of anticipating potential customer problems before they occur.
  • apply the techniques to meet the customers' expectations, in a given scenario.
  • use essential tools and resources to provide the type of service your customer desires, in a given scenario.
  • effectively deliver bad news to a client, in a given scenario.

    • E: Empower Yourself

  • recognize the powerful impact an individual can have on customer service.
  • describe how deepened knowledge increases judgment.
  • define ways to clarify with your managers the level of decision-making you have.
  • use strategies that would exemplify an effective rapid response system, in a given scenario.
  • describe ways to be a continuous learner in the "soft skills."

    • L: Learn to be Flexible

  • recognize that flexibility is a powerful concept in achieving customer service excellence.
  • use the appropriate actions to handle various customer types, in a given scenario.
  • apply the necessary actions to help move through change, in a given scenario.
  • create a plan for doing one thing differently each day to practice flexibility.

    • Course Number: CUST0107