Propane Council Available Now

Comprehensive Online CSR Propane Training Program Launched by the Propane Council Available Now

Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are on the front lines every day, often the first point of contact with the customer and integral to communicating guidance on propane safety and information about your company to the customer.

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has launched a new comprehensive Customer Service Representative FREE online training program that covers both safety and sales training. It is now available from on the Learning Center at propane.com.

The interactive course is self-paced, and CSRs can stop and start as needed and even log in on another day to resume where they left off.

The program provides an overview of key concepts for office personnel when handling safety related calls or sales calls for residential properties. Having the skill set for both types of customer interactions can help mitigate risk, as well as facilitate a sale.

The training is broken up into three different interactive modules: Office Personne – Safety Basics, Handling Safety – Related Phone Calls, and Expanding Residential Sales Through Customer Service. The first two training modules are much like the Propane Council of Texas (ProCOT)’s First Contact Safety Training for CSRs, just in a digital online training format.

Office Personnel – Safety

Basics Introduction: When a customer calls with a safety concern, do your employees know how to properly handle it? In this course, CSRs will learn their critical role in a company both in safety as well as customer satisfaction, what types of customer calls they will receive, gain a basic understanding of the fundamentals of propane (including parts of propane tank and system), and understand how to satisfy customers requests while resolving safety issues. This 15-minute course is a quick introduction to the concepts of safety that is suitable for any person who answers the phone.

Handling Safety – Relat

ed Phone Calls: This hourlong course is intended for CSRs who will be responsible for handling calls from customers with safety concerns. In this course, several different types of issues are modeled to distinguish between correct and incorrect ways of resolving safety concerns. These issues include: • General information about gas leaks • Recognize how to handle gas odor complaint calls and produce instructions to be given during a gas leak • Recognize how to handle Carbon Monoxide (CO) calls • Out of Gas calls • Demonstrate procedure for interruption of service • Describe measures for uncontrolled release of propane gas • How to work with your company policies for pilot lights • Demonstrate how to handle service and maintenance calls • Importance of call documentation

Training participants will even be able to engage in mock calls.

Expanding Residential Sales Through Customer Service:

This well-done interactive e-learning experience gives CSRs or anyone who answers the phone at your propane company a new outlook on their role, being an ambassador for the company and how they can contribute to sales for the company.

It helps sharpen CSRs with both propane-specific information like mitigating price inquiries, as well as crucial customer service tips like how to handle calls to cancel propane service and customer complaint calls.

The training talks about different opportunities for growth with new customers, existing customers and even lost customers.

Training course participants will also learn to understand the residential market opportunity in your area and how you can use propane as a whole home solution. PERC reports that on average existing homes have 1.6 propane appliances while new homes have 3.1 propane appliances. There is an opportunity for growth within existing homes.

The training gives propane appliance selling points, current stats on cost saving with individual appliances as well as how to tout propane over electric.

The training includes role playing and includes a downloadable 25-page book that covers items with scripts for the following • Keeping a customer – competitor comparison • Will call to automatic • Keep a customer – price negotiation • Outbound will call to automatic • Win back lost customer and other very useful information

To access the full training program, visit propane.com and select the Learning Center tab at the top of the page. Log in or create a new account to start using the PERC Online Learning Center.

Once Logged in, you should see The Office Personnel: Safety and Sales for CSRs in the featured tile. Click on Launch to start the courses. You can also find the courses by doing a simple search of CSR in the Search Bar.

Having trouble or need help? Please call (800) 757-1554 or email PERC at learning@propane.com for assistance.