Customer Service - Retail
Customer Service:
"Customer service is assistance and other resources that a company provides to the
people who buy or use its products or services."(Dictionary.com)
Customer service is important because this is the contacts the organization makes to the public through there employees. The first contact a customer has with he organization will either make or break the customers view of the organization. This is why it is critical to have staff trained to there maximum ability when it comes to customer service.
Customer Conflict:
Customer conflict is something that happens in the work place that is inevitable but can be dealt with. It is something that steams from some sort of negative experience with an organization.
“…several studies have shown that the friendliness, enthusiasm and attentiveness of contact[customer service] employees positively affect customers’ perception of service quality”(Hartline and Ferrell 53) Therefore anger, fatigue and boredom provides a less positive environment for customers.
Interview
With Geri-Lynn Ryan (Manager Learning and Development)
What do you believe are the best training methods?
What is your most memorable training experience?
There are a number of training methods that can be very effective and they depend on the learners, the material and the context in which the training is occurring. Some examples include classroom training, online / virtual learning, on-the-job training and self-guided / self-study. I am an advocate of online / virtual training as I believe that it can be highly engaging and offers the learner the opportunity to learn in any location and at the most convenient time. I also believe that experiential learning and constructivism are very important learning theories / approaches.
What are your thoughts on training and development? Such as: how important do you feel training is? What skills can it help?
I really enjoyed the ST. FX University Diploma in Adult Education program. It was a very interactive / experiential program that included 5 different 3-day modules. The lessons mirrored the theories / strategies being taught so the learning felt effortless. The program also involved group work and sharing so it created lots of opportunities to create knowledge from your fellow learners.
What tools have you found to be the most effective when training different generations? (baby boomers, younger generation, etc.)
How do you accommodate those with disabilities when having a training?
Training to me is critically important. In today’s knowledge-based economies, technology and information are the most valuable commodities. Teaching students to become lifelong learners, problem solvers, technology gurus and effective communicators are skills that can be accomplished through training. Continued growth and development are also drivers of employee engagement and challenging the development of new skills, knowledge and abilities is very rewarding.
Providing training opportunities that are engaging, interactive, fun and meaningful to the learner are the most effective training tools. For younger generations, the integration of technology is effective but that should not be restricted to a specific generation. Many more experienced learners enjoy technology as well. The key is to present the material in a method that the students can relate to and apply to their personal lives.
Our training facilities can physically accommodate learners with disabilities. For those with an identified learning disability, we provide alternate methods of teaching and testing so that the learner can retain and absorb the material in the most comfortable way. For example, we would test a learner verbally if that was a more comfortable approach.
Work Cited
"customer-service." Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Dictionary.com, LLC. 12 Nov. 2015. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/customer-service>.
Hartline, Michael D., and O. C. Ferrell. “The Management of Customer-contact Service Employees: An Empirical Investigation”. Journal of Marketing 60.4 (1996): 52– 70. Web...