Richard Grimes, MPA, C.P.T.

Course Overview

Many people have probably not considered what it is like (in the eyes of others) to work with them. Like the famous cartoon character, Popeye, they think, "I am what I am and that's all that I am..." and consider nothing more about it.

In reality, the experience of working with you can range from someone thinking, "What a jerk!" to "Wow! What a nice person. I'm glad I met him (her)!"

You may be asking yourself, "Why should I care what kind of an experience I create when working? I'm paid to work - not to create an experience."

In today's world, that may not be totally true. In fact, the more positive of an experience that you create when interacting with others may do wonders for your career or, at least, make your existing job create less wear-and-tear in your own life. This course will give you insight into specific things you can do TODAY to make your work life a lot more enjoyable and maybe expand your career opportunities, too.

This course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

Purchases of this course will learn:

• How to view their daily work from a customer service perspective;
• The three possible outcomes "customers" may experience from encounters with them;
• How to identify "moments of truth" in their daily work life;
• How to analyze their daily interactions for potential opportunities for change;
• The choices of reaction you have when working under stress;
• The messages we send to our customers before we say a single word;
• How to deal effectively with angry customers and still retain good will;
• How to identify your individual working style;
• How to identify the working styles of others;
• How to deal effectively with working styles other than your own;
• How to identify your "back up" working style and use it effectively; and
• Tips on saying "No" and retaining good will.
  

Intended Audience

The intended audience is anyone that wants to become as effective as possible in their interactions with others to enhance their career opportunities or simply make daily work life a little easier.

Benefit to Attendees

This course teaches the audience to consider their jobs as "service providers" and how to look at the world from that perspective. It provides insights into various tactics that are effective in any work place for people wanting to improve their career opportunities or simply make the "daily grind" a little easier.

They learn how to say "no" tactfully while retaining customer good will. They discover their personal working style and how to become flexible enough to deal with the other three effectively.

Skills taught here can be applied away from the workplace and make the user's life, in general, much easier and less stressful.

Course Introduction

This course will help the audience understand why there are some people with whom we get along easily and why others are more difficult. They will learn how to recognize the different working styles and adapt as needed to communicate effectively with them. This makes their interaction much more productive and less stressful.

Additionally, purchasers will learn how to say no while retaining good will and to analyze their typical interactions with others to determine opportunities for improvement.

Course Content

You need to open or download the above documents to study this course.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Creating an Experience of Working with You

Moments of Truth

Once Again… the Basics

Developing a Customer Friendly Attitude
Expanding Your Definition of Service
Reconsidering Who Your Customers Are
First Impressions
Visual Messages
Phone Tone & Other Behavior

Dealing with Angry Customers
"3 Strikes and You Are Out" Rule
Don't Help Them Get Angrier
Placing the Caller (internal or external) on "Hold"
Ending the Call Effectively

Relating to Your Customers

Self-Assessment Survey

Demonstrating Our Working Style

The Working Styles Grid

The Analytical Style
The Amiable Style
The Driver Style
The Expressive Style

Working Style Flexibility
Say "No" and Preserve Good Will

Avoiding a "Hard No"
Satisfied Customers Need More Than They Expected

Bouncing Back from Blunders

Specific Steps to Take

End Notes

Course Summary

Participants that complete this course will be more confident about their skills for:

• Determining their personal working style and the styles of others;
• Adapting their interactions with others for the most effective outcomes;
• Seeing their daily interactions as 'customer service' and analyzing their behavior as they seek opportunities for improvement; and
• Learning to say "no" while retaining the good will of others.
  
  

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.