Service Experience Essentials Training Course
Service Experience Essentials Course Introduction
New course for 2024!
The Service Experience Essentials course is a short (3-hour) course designed to instill a customer-first mindset in all of your employees, whether they are on the frontline working directly with customers or ‘behind the scenes’ in admin, on the road, warehouse, finance, marketing, human resources etc.
As whilst it is often a focus for customer service employees, the truth is that everyone in your business needs to have a customer-first mindset, whether they are dealing with internal or external customers.
This course first explains why customer service and the broader customer experience are critical for business success and then teaches your employees real-world, practical skills that can be implemented immediately following the session.
The course goes beyond traditional customer service training clichés such as ‘always have a smile in your voice’ and ‘use the customer’s name 2 or 3 times in a call’.
This program has been three decades in the making and is based on the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA) Quality Standards, leveraging the insights and assessment of more than 50,000 customer interactions to identify the five core competencies and 18 behaviours directly linked to positively impacting the customer experience.
Your employees will learn some best-practice techniques to improve customer service over the phone, in writing/emails and how to handle difficult customer situations – all designed to enable your employees to have better customer conversations to improve business outcomes.
In short, this course is designed to ‘shift the dial’ on putting customers first in your business and empower attendees with the knowledge and skills on how to do it!
Customer Service Training - Short but Sweet!
Simon provided the perfect balance to deliver an enjoyable but focused message that I think met the needs of our newer staff members as well as our more seasoned staff who live and breathe ‘customer service’.
Having a mixed audience from across our practices for these sessions was a great format, and Simon’s approach was very well received.
I am sure everyone learnt something to take back and hone to improve the service experience for our customers (internal and external), and even our social lives. Thank You Simon!
Customer Service Phone Essentials Course Fast Facts
Online or Onsite Options
As a short 3-hour course, the Service Experience Essentials training course can be delivered effectively either onsite or online.
Online/Virtual Training
The online/virtual training option enables a lot more flexibility in scheduling, as well as reduced costs as there is no travel required by our trainers.
The course is delivered virtually via Zoom, which is easily accessible to anyone with an internet browser so your employees can join when working from the office or from home.
Our customer review scores
Onsite Training
Whilst there are many benefits to online training, we understand that some people have a preference for onsite/in-person training.
Onsite training is delivered directly at your workplace to reduce costs and the impact on your operations. Please note, however, that there are some additional costs for on-site delivery, as we need to physically allow time for our trainer to travel to and from your business.
Regardless of your preferences, at just three hours long, you can be assured your employees will enjoy a great session with high engagement and tangible learning outcomes.
Who is this course suitable for?
The Service Experience Essentials course has been designed for any employee who deals with either internal or external customers (or both!).
The customer service skills we teach are applicable to all industries, products and services and are suitable for employees of all ages.
Whether your employees have never received any formal customer service training, you’ve got new employees that you want to equip with professional skills right from the start, employees who are a little stale, or you’re trying to shift the mindset and ‘get everyone on the same page’ about the importance of customer service, this course is for you!
This course is designed to help improve the customer service focus for all roles, including:
- All employees (customer service, marketing, admin, warehouse, finance, sales etc.)
- Team Leaders & Supervisors
- Managers
- Executives
What your employees will learn:
The Service Experience Essentials course, delivered either online or onsite, is a three-hour course that will explain why customer service is intrinsically linked to business success and teach your staff the skills that the most successful customer service employees worldwide use to deliver superior customer experiences and efficient first-contact resolution.
The skills taught are aligned with the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, consisting of five core competencies and 18 behaviours that have been proven to enable great customer service over the phone and in writing, whether they are working in the office or working from home.
Centred on empathy, action, and energy, your employees will learn to be more confident, efficient, and effective in every customer interaction without any scripts, providing a natural and engaging experience.
The training consists of powerful demonstrations and practice in the essential behaviours across three core modules and ten micro sessions.
Module One
1. Key Service Principles
Set the scene by introducing and exploring the key service principles for organisational success including Ownership; Management of Expectations; Proactivity; Clarity & Consistency.
2. The Psychology of Customer Service
A short exploration of what all customers want (Internal or External) when they reach out for support and what they need from you, based on decades of research.
Reveals the core theory that drives positive Customer Service Experiences consisting of Fundamentals & Differentiators.
3. The Service Experience Method
An introduction to the five core competencies behind the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA) Service Standards and how they enable more effective sales & service delivery and enhanced customer experiences for internal and external customers
4. How to Engage (Phone)
Your staff will learn how to show a desire to help over the phone to trigger the right emotional response that builds trust and confidence in the customer.
A range of customer service and sales simulations will be used to practice with participants the key skills and behaviours learnt to better engage customers for strong first impressions with structure, not scripts.
Companies that prioritise CX experience an impressive 80% increase in revenue. (Zippia)
Module Two
5. How to Engage (Written)
Your staff will learn how to write impactful opening paragraphs that restate key needs, demonstrates appreciation and empathy, takes ownership and manages expectations around the response and information provided.
6. How to Close any Call or Interaction
Employees will learn and practice how to better control and transform the end of their calls, meetings, coaching conversations etc. to avoid those often awkward, clunky finishes through a simple method of strong final checks, expressions of gratitude and thanks in a warm farewell.
7. How to Close (Written)
Your staff will learn how to write strong closes to their written communication that confirms timeframes, thanks them and encourages further contact if needed.
8. Dealing with More Difficult Customers
Participants will learn (and practice!) a powerful three-step method for dealing with more challenging customer types and situations and how to use the most appropriate language, empathy techniques and actions to enable better call outcomes.
52% of customers will switch to a competitor after one poor interaction (Zendesk)
Module Three
9. Better Conversations
Fun and engaging demonstration in the use of key discovery techniques (as used by the FBI) to enhance conversations that reveal better insights, quicker.
A great set of skills for life which will also help staff be more effective at identifying customer needs to help them deliver more tailored and personalised solutions.
10. Presentation Skills
Whether it’s communicating key information to customers or presenting to staff, the critical communication techniques to enhance vocal and physical delivery are revealed, demonstrated and practiced with the group.
Dynamic Delivery; Vocal Projection; Body Language; Pausing; and checks for questions and confirmation are the key techniques covered.
The modules are designed to have an immediate impact – delivering improved customer service outcomes for your business and providing improved confidence for your employees when interacting with customers over the phone.
About Your Trainer
The reason for our consistenly high customer review scores is because we (1) teach content that actually makes a difference, (2) we make sure all our training sessions are interactive and fun and (3) we only use proven industry experts not trainers just reading off a powerpoint deck.
For this Service Experience Essentials course, we use one of two expert trainers who are both renowned for high-energy and engaging training, backed by extensive industry knowledge and experience.
Simon has trained thousands of employees in Australia in a career spanning over 30 years and he’s recognised as one of Australia’s leading customer service trainers, providing high-energy, fun and interactive training sessions that deliver immediate results!
Simon is a father of 4 and lives in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. His twin girls keep him busy running around following their footy careers (one is an AFLW footballer with Collingwood) and he has a great love of music.
He does land the odd corporate or private gig around town as an acoustic guitarist and singer belting out rock and pop classics.
He has great adventures with his partner Ines, loves the North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team and every now and then escapes into other worlds when playing Dungeon & Dragons with his mates. He likes to call himself a ‘cool nerd’.
While some may recognise Nathan Burke for his extensive AFL career (18 years as a player, Director at the St.Kilda FC, Coach of the Bulldogs AFLW team etc. and an inductee into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2021), outside of the footy world, Nathan has also forged an extensive career in education.
Since retiring in 2003, Nathan has been applying his years of experience working in human performance in the fields of education, business and sport (Including Chief Operating Officer at a 1,300 seat contact centre) helping people to achieve their best.
A highly engaging presenter, Nathan leaves a lasting impression by connecting through relevant stories of his time as an elite athlete, teacher, business owner and executive, combined with leading practices in customer service and high-performance leadership.
Recent Service Experience Essentials Course Testimonials
What makes the CX Skills courses stand out from the pack is the quality of our trainers, who are all industry experts, not just trainers reading off templated course guides.
Our trainers live and breathe in the industry and it’s the reason behind our exceptional customer testimonials and ratings, a sample of which you can read below for this particular course.
Click here to view all our customer testimonials as well as a view a list of our customers covering a wide range of industry sectors.
Good Theory and Practice
Really enjoyable session, feel like a good use of time. The session felt like 40min as opposed to the full three hour block!
The focus on structure and technic meant that the content was well conveyed and practiced in the session.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Carlos, glad you enjoyed the session!
Great info, needed more time for practice
We found the information very useful, and there was great examples and knowledge imparted in the training.
The changes in techniques and updates to some of the techniques I had been taught previously were appreciated.
I wished there had been more time to do role plays to practice the techniques more, so the team could have felt more comfortable with them.
However, the introduction to the trainer was too long winded. I would rather the presentation of the material follow the call flow, as for newer staff we jumped around and lot.
The material sent after the course was greatly appreciated and I have some of the pages displayed on my wall to assist me to use the techniques.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Michelle, agreed – as this is the ‘Essentials’ course there is only so much we can cram in. Our ‘PRO’ courses provide a lot more time to cover each skill and a lot more time to role play and build confidence in applying them. Appreciate the feedback on the intro and flow and we will take that onboard!
A crack-up 🙂
Simon thank you for making the training enjoyable and engaging. I have walked away with a lot of useful tips on dealing with difficult calls.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Minnie, and yes Simon is know for delivering a few laughs throughout the session 🙂
There's something about Simon!
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, I am here to say yes it is possible.
Simon is the perfect training partner for the job, as we all know we are never too old or too young to learn new techniques, even though we may be set in our ways.
Simon was able to gently implement new methods in ways that felt comfortable and natural.
I believe this service would be very beneficial for all areas of customer service and the results to your business is paramount in an ever changing landscape.
Thanks once again Simon.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Julie for the wonderful, made us laugh! And we agree, Simon is great at putting everyone at ease and having an enjoyable training session with plenty of laughs 🙂
EFFECTIVE AND FUN
Simon is an engaging and experienced trainer who taps into your customer service skills. He recognises the issues on the personal level and gives advice that caters to each issue. Very helpful and glad I have the chance to attend his sessions.
Response from CX Skills
Thank you Ching Shuh for kind review and glad you enjoyed the session.
Customer Service Phone Essentials course
Training was just the right length in duration. Was to the point and enjoyable . Definitely not boring or long winded. Would certainly recommend.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Leeanne for your review, and glad you found the timing and content just right!
Some Great Helpful Tips!
Very interesting, learnt some helpful tips on customer service! It would be great to learn more on dealing with conflict or emotions as we get a few emotional patients and family members.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Nikki, glad you picked up some great tips! With regards to dealing with conflict, unfortunately, there’s only so much we can cram into a 3-hour session! We’ve got an 8-hour course on Managing Difficult Customers as well as some other longer customer service courses which allow us some more time to go into a bit more depth if it’s something you’d like to explore further!
Well Run
Simon helps make a somewhat painful process both instructive and even a little enjoyable. Clear structure to information helps make it easy to understand.
About CX Skills
CX Skills is a specialist training business that only delivers customer service, customer experience (CX), contact centre, workforce optimisation (WFM/WFO) and workplace wellness courses designed and facilitated exclusively by industry professionals.
We're the official training partner of the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA), and we are proudly Australian-owned and operated.
We’re grateful to have been trusted by hundreds of customers, and we’re proud of the amazing customer testimonials we’ve received, so you can rest assured that when you book a training course with CX Skills, your training is in good hands.
Our Recent Customers Include:
We're grateful to the following companies who have trusted CX Skills with their training. View our full customer list here >
Course Takeaway/Handbook Included!
We cram a lot into this 3-hour workshop, so we want to ensure that your employees can continue to learn even after the course has been completed.
Each employee will be provided with an electronic workbook they can download in PDF format that contains an overview of the key principles they learned, along with handy phrases and tips they can refer to as needed.
The workbook also includes some easily printable pages that can be stuck up on the wall, workstation etc as a permanent reminder your employees can reference during a customer interaction to ensure they put their learnings into practice.
We’ll even co-brand the workbook with your logo, and you can include an intro page/forward by your CEO etc. to reinforce your customer service focus, key goals, metrics etc.
Pricing and Payment Options
We believe in open and transparent pricing so can plan your training with confidence.
The Service Experience Essentials course is $288 per employee ex GST for three hours of live, online/virtual facilitated learning and a course workbook with generous discounts available for larger group sizes/whole of business.
Please note that additional costs will apply for onsite delivery – please contact us for more information.
Our invoice can be paid by credit card or direct deposit and payment must be made prior to the course commencing.
Available discounts:
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- We offer discounts for bookings for ten or more employees!
- ACXPA Members save 25% off all CX Skills courses for 12 months. Learn More >
Want to Save 25% off ALL CX Skills Courses and gain access to industry best practices?
Members of the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA) save a massive 25% off ALL CX Skills courses for a full 12 months!
With annual memberships starting from just $35 per employee, it can be a great way to save money immediately on your training, plus, you'll gain access to a vast array of best-practice resources to improve your customer experience.
Common FAQs
What are the minimum numbers required?
We require a minimum of six employees per session. If you have fewer numbers, we encourage you to view one of our alternative upcoming public courses, where you can purchase as little as one ticket.
What dates and times can the training be conducted?
We’ll work with you to find the most suitable time to minimise the impact on your business.
Want a morning session? Out of business hours? Only on Wednesdays? Whatever your requirements, we’ll do our best to accommodate!
Online/virtual sessions provide the most flexibility as we don’t need to allow for travel time to and from your business.
What is the maximum number of employees per session?
Typically, we aim to keep group sizes to under 14 to ensure the best training experience.
What is the maximum number of employees you can train?
The course is designed to train all your employees in your business whether they work directly with customers, are in the office, on the road etc. To date, the largest number of employees we have trained for one business is just over 350 (across approx 25 different sessions).
For onsite training, can you do multiple sessions in one day?
Yes, we find most businesses aim for an AM and PM session to minimise business disruption.
What are the costs for onsite training?
Currently, both our trainers are based in Melbourne, so we need to allow for travel time to and from your workplace. For interstate bookings, if it’s only one session, we’d suggest online/virtual would be a more cost-effective alternative.
However, if you have a larger number of employees who would like to complete the training, we’ll work with you to make it an attractive proposition.
Can we include our own products/services/scenarios in the training?
Our trainers are skilled at enabling your employees to talk about their experiences during training. However, we can also customise the training to incorporate specific examples if required.
Can we customise the training?
Yes! We’ve designed the course content/modules to provide the best outcomes for most businesses, but should you need something else or would like to tweak a few modules to align more closely with your objectives, please contact us to discuss!
We also have a range of pre-built specialised courses if there is a specific skill you need to enhance.
Do employees receive a certificate?
Yes, all employees who complete the training are provided with a certificate of completion.
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