Training puts customer service in the driving seat

Citation

(2007), "Training puts customer service in the driving seat", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 39 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2007.03739eab.005

Training puts customer service in the driving seat

Extra training requirements emerged when the special-products division of BOC Gases in the UK appointed transport and logistics companies TDG and GCA to deliver hazardous liquids to its aerosol and foam-product customers. Drivers from the two companies had to be trained in customer-service skills, and the drivers and their load and route planners had to be able to work seamlessly together.

Competency frameworks and service-level agreements spelt out the behavioural measures and objective outcomes that had to be achieved, but also needed was training to impart the necessary customer-service insights, knowledge and skills, and to create a “one team” mindset.

Rhema Group director William Burton carried out a fact-finding exercise. He then designed and delivered a workshop on excellence in customer service, which drivers and planners attended. The workshops, being run on an ongoing basis, cover the key issues of building positive relationships with customers, handling challenging situations and problems and creating new business opportunities.

“The drivers and planners are key to the successful delivery of customer service and, working together, can add a great deal of value to the customer relationship,” he commented. “By training them together we are able to break down internal barriers and build very powerful customer-service teams.”

Bob Girvan, project manager, special products, BOC Gases, said: “I am convinced that it is time and money well spent. I have heard nothing but favourable reports. I think we have laid the foundations of an excellent customer-service offering.”

Meanwhile, Rhema has also won a contract to train investment bankers at Los Angeles-based Trust Company of the West in communication skills to deal with sophisticated audiences, and so help to attract investments and increase assets under management.

Aware that standard presentation-skills training was not enough for investment bankers whose role is to structure and present collateralized debt obligations to clients, Trust Company of the West commissioned two days of intensive training, and one day of personal coaching, by Rhema communication-skill specialist Stephen Wilkinson-Carr. He focused on how to structure and deliver high-impact, compelling presentations to investors, using skills modelled on master presenters globally.

As a result of the training, the team of ten senior investment bankers has been able to improve its management of current investor relationships and attract substantial amounts of new business by presenting in a more advanced, professional and compelling way.

Stephen Wilkinson-Carr commented: “In the highly competitive world of investment banking, investor presentations still fail to connect because there continues to be far too much focus on the content of the presentation, yet research shows that this contributes only 7 per cent to the successful communication of key messages. The remaining 93 per cent is down to the structure of the presentation and the personal impact of those delivering it. The message is clear – investment bankers need to be world class in their communication skills.”

Vince Fiorillo, managing director from Trust Company of the West, said: “I have spent 30 years in front of different audiences, but the course helped me to formalize and deliver more efficiently my presentations.”

When asked what he will do differently in the future, his response was to the point: “Prepare better for meetings using the concepts imparted.”