When you’re in dialogue with someone face to face, body language and facial expression do a lot of the communicating. That key information can be lost if the contact has to be by phone or email.
But now a new training programme for BT Wholesale’s Customer Management Centre (CMC) teams is helping to replace those missing essentials. It’s part of the drive to improve the customer experience through better customer service – as Alison Munn, our Head of Learning and Development, explains: “It’s all about developing our people’s skills and knowledge to take a broader view – and broader ownership – when a customer reports a service fault or a problem with an order. The course inspires and equips everyone to think differently by putting themselves into the customer’s shoes – and into the shoes of the end-customer – to gain a clearer understanding of the impact of the problem from their perspective.”
“And it’s also about asking the right questions and appreciating not only what’s being said but also how it’s being said – interpreting the tone of voice, for example” Alison adds “and using that extra insight to take personal ownership of tackling and solving the issue to each customer’s satisfaction.”
We’ve been piloting the new training at our CMC in Wolverhampton since April 2009. Following its success with our customers there, we’re rolling it out between now and March 2010 to the teams responsible for Private Circuit service and provisioning at our other CMCs. Specially designed to meet the practical day-to-day needs of a CMC, it takes a steer from a similar programme welcomed by our broadband customers last year when we ran it with their service support teams.
Contact your BT Wholesale service management team if you’d like to know more about this initiative.
