© Boardworks Ltd 20081 of 13

2.2 Appropriate Presentation and Interpersonal Skills Unit 2: Developing Customer Relations

Unit 2: Developing Customer Relations

© Boardworks Ltd 20081 of 13

2.2 Appropriate Presentation and Interpersonal Skills

© Boardworks Ltd 20082 of 13

ContentsLearning objectivesContents

Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page

Flash activity (these activities are not editable) Extension activity Web addresses

Printable activity

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

© Boardworks Ltd 20082 of 13

© Boardworks Ltd 20083 of 13

Interpersonal skills

In this section, you will consider appropriate interpersonal skills for customer service situations.

Attitude

Behaviour

First impressions

© Boardworks Ltd 20083 of 13

Customer behaviour

Tact and efficiency

© Boardworks Ltd 20084 of 13

Positive and negative attitudes

© Boardworks Ltd 20085 of 13

Attitude

It is important to remember that people’s attitudes can change and that even the most positive people can have bad days.

A professional customer service approach is to recognize this fact, but try to always act positively, even if it’s the last thing you feel like doing!

Can you think of any examples of occasions when you might feel particularly bad or negative?

© Boardworks Ltd 20086 of 13

Behaviour

© Boardworks Ltd 20087 of 13

Greeting customers

The way an organization greets its customers is of huge importance in effective customer service. After all, you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

Some organizations will have formal policies in place to try and improve customers’ first impressions of their company, for example, by agreeing set greeting procedures.

How else might organizations try and create good first impressions?

© Boardworks Ltd 20088 of 13

Procedures for greeting customers

The procedures an organization puts in place for greeting its customers might be through oral or written communication,or both.Usually an organization will have a standard greeting, which staff must use when addressing customers.

What greeting might be appropriate in these situations?

© Boardworks Ltd 20089 of 13

Essential interpersonal skills

© Boardworks Ltd 200810 of 13

Customer behaviour

Just as our own attitude and behaviour can be influenced by various factors, so customer behaviour can vary for different reasons.

A customer’s mood – and the way he or she behaves as a result – can be the result of many factors, such as:

lack of timestresslack of confidence

Using their interpersonal skills, customer service staff need to be able to recognize different signs of customer behaviour and respond in the most appropriate way.

lack of funds

illness.

© Boardworks Ltd 200811 of 13

Customer behaviour

© Boardworks Ltd 200812 of 13

Tact and efficiency

Customer service staff must often deal with difficult or confused customers. In these situations, two essential skills they must use are tact and efficiency.

Tact means not causing offence either deliberately or inadvertently. This often means being patient when a customer just wants to have a chat.

Efficiency means dealing with customers quickly but accurately.

Dealing with customers efficiently is often a balancing act with dealing with customers tactfully.

Why do you think tact and efficiency are often in conflict with each other?

© Boardworks Ltd 200813 of 13

Tact and efficiency