Customer Service Training for I.T. Professionals

Seminar Description

How to Combine Technical Knowledge and Human Relations Skills to Deliver Exceptional End-User Support

Watch the video at the right to learn about the other skill set required for success in I.T.

Today’s IT professional must master two skill families in order to be successful. The first is technical skills and knowledge. That’s obvious. Without a solid technical understanding, you simply can’t do the job. The second is how to improve customer service. That means developing an ability to understand, get along with, and influence people. Even though our jobs are indeed technical in nature, the human component is always present and it’s often the most challenging part of our jobs. We may have the technical knowledge to help an end-user, but if they’re angry, frustrated, or otherwise upset, it’s our people skills that allow us first to manage the situation successfully. Then we use our technical skills to solve the technical problem. This is where tech support training for customer service improvement can really make a difference.

Not only do our people skills help us in our one-on-one interactions with our end-users, they also help us deal with organizational politics: how we interact with other people, both individually and in groups. By mastering people skills, we can learn to successfully navigate the political landscape in the office to gain credibility with our co-workers, our end-users, and our bosses and, most importantly, gain their support behind our backs.

Tech training is not just about technology training anymore. Whether it's IT customer service training for your entire IT staff or just IT help desk training, in this one-day seminar we’ll help your staff work to improve customer service skills to deliver outstanding customer service for your end-users. Just fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch with all the details.

Bring IT Customer Service Training Onsite to Your Location

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Course Objectives

At the end of this technical support training, you'll be able to understand:

The benefits of delivering outstanding customer service
The four traits of the customer service masters
The importance of maintaining a positive, optimistic attitude when dealing with end-users and co-workers
How to use "emotional intelligence" to provide better customer service and manage your stress
Ways to deal with angry customers (rude or abusive end-users) for positive results
The keys to effective communication with end users
Know how to overcome barriers to communication when using the telephone or chat
Know how to say "no" without alienating the end user
Identify keys to dealing positively with the stress of the help desk position

Who should attend?

The target audience consists of IT support professionals who provide end-user helpdesk support, IT managers, network administrators, help desk technician or anyone involved in supporting end users. All IT staff can benefit from tech support classes such as this.

Course Outline

Module One: The Foundations of Service

Watch the video at right to learn the four traits of the customer service masters, presented by author Don R. Crawley, the speaker for soundtraining.net's help desk classes and IT customer service classes.

Within most organizations, there are some people who simply "get it". They seem like they were born to provide outstanding customer service. In this module, you'll examine the intrinsic characteristics of people who were "born to serve".

Empathy
Compassion
Listening
Respect

Module Two: The Challenge of Different Generations

Today's workplace has greater diversity among its employees than at any other time in our history. Just recently, it seemed as though we managed a fairly homogeneous group of people, meaning they were all about the same age and sex with similar racial/ethnic backgrounds and they all came from equally similar socio/cultural environments. It required only a few tools and just a moderate understanding of these issues to manage a workforce. But today the situation is radically changed: The workgroup you manage is very likely composed of men and women of all age groups with differing racial/ethnic backgrounds as well as widely ranging socio/economic backgrounds. Much has been written about these differences in all areas except age. Generational differences are often the least understood of these topics. In this session you will examine the way people of different age groups look at the world, the workplace, and technology.

What are the four generational groups at work?
How have world and national events shaped their view of the workplace?
Where do the loyalties of each group lie?
To which group do the IT managers belong?
Who are the Help Desk professionals?
What are the potential pitfalls dealing with each group?

Module Three: Practical Emotional Intelligence

Watch the video to right to learn about emotional intelligence in the workplace, presented by author Don R. Crawley, the speaker for this seminar.

Emotional intelligence includes the ability to identify and use emotions (both yours' and those of other people) to produce successful outcomes in your dealings with other people. In this module, you'll learn:

How to identify emotions
How emotions affect thinking
How to label and analyze emotions
Positive ways to react to various emotions
How to use emotional intelligence for positive personal growth

Module Four: What to Do When the User Isn't Right

We've all heard the saying, "The customer is always right." The problem is that they're not always right and sometimes they're just downright rude or even abusive. It?s a little known fact that 70% of customer loss is due to perceived indifference. In this session, you'll learn five valuable techniques for disarming unreasonable or abusive end-users (angry customers).

It's not about you, it's about their problem
What to do with the "know it all"
Finding the problem, providing the solution
Partnering with the caller
Diffusing the irate caller
What to do with the belligerent caller

Module Five: The Art of Listening Well

The objective of listening is to achieve understanding. When we listen to understand, we are better able to truly help our end-user. In this module, you'll learn how to move from "pretend" listening to truly "empathic" listening--listening to understand.

The five levels of listening
How to achieve empathic listening
Ten keys to being a good listener

Module Six: Making Sure They Know You Care

The most effective way to communicate is face-to-face, because then you have the words, tone-of-voice, and body language. It's a common misconception that the help desk staffer usually has only words and tone-of-voice as communication tools. In this session, you'll learn valuable tools for making sure that your helpful attitude comes across, even when you can't be seen. We?ll also cover the biggest end-user turn-offs, including some innocent but emotionally loaded phrases, words and actions. Simple tools that can make a huge difference.

The three components of communication
How to avoid conversation breakdown
Keeping the call positive
Why you must remain positive and upbeat
Tips and tricks to convey optimism

Module Seven: Communicating through email, texting, and instant messaging

Customer and end-user support takes place in person, on the phone, through email, texting, and instant messaging. Regardless of the communications medium, the objective is always to have satisfied end-users. In this module, you'll see practical examples of how to make non-traditional communications methods work successfully.

Communicating through email
Communicating via texting
Communicating via instant messaging

Module Eight: How to say no without alienating the end user

Sometimes, what the end-user wants simply can't be done. When that happens, the skillful desktop support staffer delivers the news in a way that is clear, yet non-offensive. Alternatives, when available, may be offered, but the key lies in finding a way to say no without leaving the end-user feeling neglected or ignored.

The art of no
Dealing with the unsolvable problem
Getting end-user buy-in
What to do when you don't know or can't find the answer

Module Nine: Stress Management

Watch the video at right to learn about using gratitude to relieve stress.

Let's face it: End-user desktop support can be one of the most stressful positions in all of IT. In this session, you'll learn practical, down-to-earth techniques for dealing positively with the inevitable stress of a desktop support position.

The impact of stress
The stress management equation
What is in your control and what is not
Personal stress activators
You can influence the stress outcome

Would you like a preview of this seminar?

soundtraining.net's president, Don R. Crawley, was invited to present an abbreivated version of this seminar in a TrainSignal webinar. It runs about an hour and you can watch it here.

Prerequisites

Prospective attendees should possess basic knowledge of the Windows operating system combined with a sincere desire to improve skills as a help desk engineer or technician and a willingness to apply the methods learned.

Schedule and Registration

One day

Registration: 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Morning session: 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Lunch (on your own): 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Afternoon session: 12:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Bring Technical Support Classes Onsite to Your Location