Portfolio Example: Customer Service Course 1

Nicole Allen

Portfolio Example Version: SSSO130C Professionalism | Customer Service for SSSO Part 1

This is an introductory course for professionalism in customer service, geared primarily to phone interactions. It is designed to be completed as a part of the SSSO101P Customer Service for SSSO program, but you can also come back to this course on its own if you want to refresh your skills in professionalism and customer service. Work through the following modules, including video, audio, and interactive elements, to get a better understanding of the role of professionalism while speaking with students, faculty, and staff on the phone, as well as how you can improve your own professionalism.

The SSSO101P Customer Service for SSSO program will contain an additional 13 learning modules, and the entire program should be spread out over the course of 4-8 weeks (or as directed by your trainers/leadership). You should not complete more than 3 modules in one day.

Time estimated to complete this course: 20-25 minutes.

Learning Objectives

Intro to Professionalism

Professionalism and Customer Service

Assessment

Optional Additional Content for Professionalism

To complete this course

Lesson 1 of 6

Learning Objectives Nicole Allen

Professionalism

Upon completing this course you will be able to:

Address students, faculty, and staff with professionalism

Use a proper call greeting

Utilize a professional and calm demeanor for all calls

Provide clear expectations and follow-through

Empathize in negative situations while using positive language

Use professional language and demeanor when utilizing holds and transferring calls

Click to get s tarted !

Lesson 2 of 6

Intro to Professionalism Nicole Allen

"Technical skills are vital, but if you can't be professional, friendly, and provide quality customer service, it doesn't matter how technical you are."

-Fancy Mills-Knebel

Companion Worksheet Below is a link to download a companion worksheet for this and the remaining courses in the program. This is a tool for you to apply what you learn in this training program. You will not need to turn this worksheet in as proof of completion. Please use this to the extent that you find the need, filling in as much or as little as you like.

As you work through each of the 14 courses in the Customer Service training program, use this worksheet to record what you learned, set some goals, and reflect on those goals.

Saving and/or Printing the Worksheet Before continuing with this course, Click on the download button fro the pdf file below 'Takeaways Worksheet' below. This will open the file in a new tab on your browser.

Save a copy of this document to your desktop. You can then print it to fill out by hand, or open the digital file and type in your responses.

This file will be used in all of the courses of this program.

Takeaways Worksheet for SSSO101P - CS for SSSO.pdf 325.2 KB

Complete the content above before moving on.

"Professionalism is the foundation that guides customer service and communication with customers as well."

-Fancy Mills-Knebel

C O NT I NU E

Watch the following video and think about how you can apply these basic elements of professionalism to your own calls. Please watch the entire video before clicking the 'Continue' bar. Captions can be viewed by clicking on the 'CC' icon in the bottom right hand of the video screen.

LEARNING

Understanding common etiquette practic…

LEARNING

This video is no longer available Get business, technology, and creative skills you need with expert-led online courses on LinkedIn Learning.

Go to LinkedIn Learning

Complete the content above before moving on.

Professionalism is defined as:

Being courteous Being honest Using good judgment Displaying professional behavior as someone who has been trained to deliver a job well

Professional customer service skills include:

Patience Empathy Positive language Conflict resolution Assertiveness Taking responsibility

C l i c k h e r e t o l e a r n m o r e a b o u t pr o fe s s i o n a l i s m

Lesson 3 of 6

Professionalism and Customer Service Nicole Allen

Elements of Customer Service Professionalism

Expectations: The International Customer Management Institute, ICMI, has found that there are 10 expectations customers have of service interactions, which are given below.

Be accessible.

Treat me courteously Be responsive to, and ideally anticipate, what I need and want Do what I ask promptly Provide well-trained employees Tell me what to expect Meet your commitments and keep your promises Do it right the first time Follow-up Be socially responsible and ethical.

Which of these items do you think you have control over while you are speaking with students? Can you improve in any of these areas?

C O NT I NU E

Call Greeting From the moment you answer the call, our students should feel comfortable and confident that you will be able to provide them with the support that they need. An appropriate call greeting sets the tone for the call and also puts the student at ease before they begin to explain their reason for calling. Every part of your call greeting should serve to assure the student and set them up to feel comfortable in communicating with you.

A proper call greeting should include the following:

Appreciation. Thank the student for contacting us.

Identification. Include both the University name and the name of your department. This reassures the student that they have reached the correct department, and gives them the opportunity to ask for a different department if they have misdialed.

Introduction. Include your first name. You do not need to include any other identifying information about yourself.

Invitation. Invite the student to share with you the reason for calling. Without this invitation, a student might not know when to begin talking. If you do not include an invitation, the student will likely feel awkward about what to do next. Avoid using

negative framing that may set a negative tone for the call such as 'what is your issue' or 'what is the problem'?

A good example: "Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services, my name is Mark. How can I help you today?"

A less than ideal example: "Hello, you've reached Student Support Services, this is Mark."

Image of a question mark inside a speech bubble.

Reflection Question Can you see how each of the above examples are different?

Can you imagine how the second example might cause confusion for the student?

C O NT I NU E

Knowledge Check Demonstrate your understanding of a proper call greeting by answering the following knowledge check questions:

Select the elements that make up a proper call greeting (Select all that apply):

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Thank you for calling"

"How can I help you today?"

"Our hours of operation are..."

"this is Mary"

"this is Mary Grant"

".... WGU Assessment Services Department"

SUBMIT

Complete the content above before moving on.

Sometimes our students will experience long wait times before you answer.

If you know that there is a long call queue, and you see that a student has waited in the phone queue for more than 5 minutes, what should you do?

Ignore the wait time, and keep your call greeting the same as with any other call.

Acknowledge the wait time and apologize for the inconvenience as part of your greeting.

SUBMIT

Complete the content above before moving on.

Professional Phone Skills To learn more about professional phone skills, click the Play button in the following video. Please watch the entire video before clicking the 'Continue' bar. Captions can be viewed by clicking on the 'CC' icon in the bottom right hand of the video screen.

Complete the content above before moving on.

Professionalism while using holds and transfers.

When transferring calls to other departments, and placing students on hold, you should use professional language in the same way you did for the greeting. You should strive to provide the student with assurance before placing them on hold or transferring any calls.

More information about this topic will be covered in a future module.

Complete the content above before moving on.

Learn more about Providing Clear Expectations Learn more about providing clear expectations by clicking on the following flashcards. Review them all to proceed.

Clearly and simply describe any policies to students.

What do they need to know?

Feel free to email them links to applicable Student Handbook articles.

Will the student need to complete any steps? Will What do they need to do?

you complete any steps after the call? Be clear on what you expect the studnet to do, and what you will do.

Feel free to reiterate any instructions or policies to a Reiterate

student to ensure they understand it. Keep it clear and concise.

Complete the content above before moving on.

“Professional quality customer service skills are skills that must be learned and practiced daily until they become [an] ingrained part of your skillset, just like technical skills.

Taking the time to learn and hone customer service skills is just as important, if not more important, than technical skills.”

- Fancy Mills-Knebel

Click h ere to co n tin u e

Lesson 4 of 6

Assessment Nicole Allen

Now that you have learned about Professionalism, let's check your understanding.

You must earn 80% or better on the assessment. Multiple attempts on the assessment will be permitted.

Question

01/05

Below is a list of possible call greetings. Please select the best option.

“Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services, my name is Erika, how can I help you today?”

“Thank you for calling, this is Erika.”

“You’ve reached Student Support Services, what is the issue you are having today?”

“Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services, my name is Erika Williams.”

Question

02/05

Below is a list of responses to a student's concern. Which option best demonstrates positive wording?

“I am sorry to hear that you had difficulty. Let’s see what I can do to make things better for you.”

“I totally agree, the proctors can be really difficult to communicate with sometimes.”

“Sometimes instructors are difficult to work with, I can see your frustration.”

Question

03/05

Below are some examples of responses you could give a student. Please select the options that demonstrate the use of positive language. (Select all that apply).

“I understand that must have been frustrating for you. Let me see how I can help.”

“Those teams are very hard to reach, so you are justified in being upset.”

“That sounds like it was stressful for you. Can I ask you some questions to get a better picture of the situation?”

Question

04/05

Scenario: It is a busy day on the phones, and there has been a long phone queue for the last hour.

Before you answer your next call, you notice that the student has been on hold for 10 minutes.

What is the best way to greet the student?

“Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services. I apologize for that wait. My name is Cameron, how can I help you today?”

“Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services. My name is Cameron, how can I help you today?”

“Thank you for calling WGU Student Support Services. I apologize for that long wait, we’ve had some major issues with our systems and IT have been slow to fix them. How can I help you today?”

Question

05/05

Scenario: You need to transfer a student to another department.

Which of the following phrases would BEST ensure the student is confident that they will get the support they need? (Select only 2)

“I don’t know how to troubleshoot your internet. I need to transfer you to IT.”

“Our Writing Center have excellent resources to help you with getting your sources cited correctly. You can set an appointment with them through your portal, or I can transfer you to them now. Which would you prefer?”

“We have a department here that are experts in your issue. They will be able to best assist you. Can you hold one moment while I get them on the line and explain your situation?”

“I’m going to transfer you to Financial Services.”

Lesson 5 of 6

Optional Additional Content for Professionalism Nicole Allen

Want to Learn More?

Are you interested in learning more about Professionalism? Below is a list of optional additional training materials on this topic. They are not required to complete this course but are available for you to explore if you are interested. To complete the course without exploring these options, simply click the 'Continue' button below.

*Note: You may need to log in to view the courses through LinkedIn. For instructions on logging in to LinkedIn Learning, go to the KB article LinkedIn Learning: WGU Employee Access (opens in new window).

Click on the following links to access more courses, videos, and content in Bridge:

Customer Service Professionalism LinkedIn Learning video by Fancy Mills-Knebel. Time 6:36 GO TO VIDEO

Business Etiquette: Phone, Email, and Text LinkedIn Learning course by Suzanna Kaye. Time 58 minutes.

GO TO COURSE

C O NT I NU E

Lesson 6 of 6

To complete this course Nicole Allen

You've nished learning about professionalism and customer service.

To complete the course, click on the button below to return to Bridge.

Click on the button to the right to exit the course and return to Bridge.

EXIT COURSE