As the saying goes, "You can't create the house before you build the foundation." That's why the first course in this customer service series focuses on building the foundation of excellent service. The goals are to: Explore the basic concept of corporate culture.Recognise how culture directly impacts service. Identify barriers to service excellence.Strengthening your internal environment impacts your external customer service as well. When workplace bonds grow, so do customer relationships. The result is better performance, productivity, and increased success.If you think your goal in giving good customer service is satisfying the customer, think again. The slogan "Satisfaction Guaranteed" just isn't enough in today's highly competitive marketplace.This course focuses on how the customer service game has changed and how you can become a much better player. Today, customer satisfaction is worth relatively little, but customer loyalty is priceless. And loyalty requires excellence. This course will: give you a new perspective on the meaning of service, offer guidelines for setting service standards, provide strategies for excellence from service stars.Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton said it best. "There is only one boss--the customer. And he can fire anybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."Buying into the power of the customer is an important step to developing service excellence. But how can you help your organization grow if the power base is elsewhere? You'll learn to hear "the customer's voice" by: Recognizing and anticipating customer expectations.Focusing on the five primary service factors.Another area of importance is how to collect information about the customer. You don't have to be a secret agent like James Bond to "gather intelligence" on clients. By completing this course, you'll master methods of compiling customer data and feedback.The final lesson in "hearing" your customer is creating compatibility. Identify how to align your services with each customer, and gain lasting commitment.You've worked so hard to achieve service excellence, and now you are ready to pick up the pace to make you a service leader.In this course, advancing your service skills is the focus. You'll put the phrase "going above and beyond the call of duty" into action.There are four major components in this course to move you up a notch to a new level of customer service. Think of them as ACTIONS you'll be incorporating into your daily work behaviors. You'll be: Setting the bar for over-the-top service.Capturing customer commitment face-to-face.Answering the call for great phone service.Making e-mail memorable.How often do you wake up and say, "I hope all my customers are nice today."? That's because it is easy to be nice to nice customers. The challenge is in providing service to customers who are not happy, whatever the reason.The only thing that can torpedo your day more than a confrontational customer is not knowing how to handle one. "Handle" means to get to the root of the problem, fix it, and create good customers out of conflict situations. In this course you'll explore: How to create a confrontational customer.How to communicate with difficult customers.Handling conflict and complaints face-to-face.Handling conflict and complaints over the phone.Rebuilding customer relationships during and after conflict.There will be customers in your life that you politely refer to as problem customers. One such customer consistently hurls challenges your way. Another type is so aggressive that one situation alone is enough to earn him the distinction.This course is designed to give you the skills to make problem customers some of your best. Now that's not as crazy as it sounds. Here's why. If you have the ability to turn a difficult situation into a positive outcome, that's memorable service.