Represent Yourself & Your Organisation Well With Voice Call Phone Etiquette (6.5 hrs)

• Recognise the importance of phone etiquette
• Demonstrate professionalism in phone conversations
• Manage difficult conversations

Part 1 : Asynchronous E-Learning

Unit 1: Phone Conversations Impact Customer Experience

• Demonstrate understanding of the importance of phone conversations and how it impacts customer experience. Coverage includes:
  – Channels
  – Touchpoints
  – Moments of Truth
  – Customer’s Expectations
  It discusses the communications channels, clarifies on touchpoints, and makes clear the significance of moments of truth. It shares about customer’s expectations, and therefore conveys why it is important for your organisation and yourself to do well during phone conversations.

Unit 2: Phone Conversations Go Wrong

• Demonstrate understanding of why phone conversations can go wrong. Coverage includes:
  – The Communication Model
  – Noise & Barriers
  – Outcome-first Attitude
  It discusses the Communication Model and clarifies the process of transmitting and understanding information from one person to another. It cautions about barriers to communication, and why it is important to be aware and actively manage these disruptions. It shares the importance to practise outcome-first attitude, and how it can steer a difficult phone conversation towards the right direction.

Unit 3: Phone Etiquette

• Practise phone etiquette competently. Coverage includes:
  – Tone of Voice
  – Choice of Words
  – Listening Skills
  – Probing Skills
  It discusses the elements of phone etiquette, namely tone of voice, choice of words, listening skills and probing skills. It advocates active practice of it to demonstrate one’s outcome-first attitude. It shares the importance of exhibiting qualities of responsiveness, accuracy, appropriateness, and accountability from the start to the end of a phone conversation.

Unit 4: Appropriate Phone Etiquette For Different Scenarios

• Sharpen practice of phone etiquette to manage varying situations. Coverage includes:
  – Delivering Bad News
  – Saying No
  – Conversing with Emotional Customers
  – Handling Complaints
  It highlights the barriers to communication in these challenging situations. It emphasises the practice of phone etiquette and outcome-first attitude to steer the difficult conversation towards a more productive one, with the aim to better manage these potentially negative moments of truth.

Part 2 : Classroom-based Learning or Online Learning

This segment aims to have participants practise the HOW, meaning sharpen their phone etiquette, demonstrate an outcome-first attitude and reinforce their organisation’s service philosophy, Vision, Mission, and Core Values in order to manage challenging phone conversations, particularly when customer’s desired solution cannot be offered.

This segment is designed using case studies and led by facilitator to enable contextualisation which is based on:

• Corporate client’s priorities / key performance indicators
• Real work context within prevailing policies, processes, structures, systems, etc
• Real work application / demonstration by participants within stipulated service standards and organisational practices

The scenarios for case studies are to be developed in consultation with the corporate client. Examples of guiding questions to elicit information from corporate client are:

• Describe the customers served via phone conversations
• Describe the purposes of customers’ calls
• What is the critical work performance, aka KPI, that must be attained during phone conversations?
• What is the service performance issue(s), aka gap in current performance?
• Describe the challenging phone conversations which require practice / sharpening of skills & know-how
• Provide samples of customer complaints
• Describe your organisation’s narrative / service promise of phone conversations as a channel of critical interactions
• Describe prevailing service standards, policies, SOPs pertaining to phone conversations
• Describe qualities of an ideal service professional who is competent in representing self and organisation during phone conversations
• Samples of customer compliments

Participants will undergo 3 hours of asynchronous e-learning and 3.5 hours of classroom-based learning or online learning.

Part 1 : Asynchronous E-Learning

• Self-directed with 24×7 access anytime, anywhere
• 4 standalone E-Learning units with learning outcomes and assessments
• The units must be completed prior to the delivery of the classroom-based learning or online learning
• Completion of the units need not be in any particular order
• Job aids are provided in the E-Learning
  – Learning points are cheatsheets in PDF format and are available for download / printing. This enables participants to refer and use it as job aids. A total of 15 job aids (in PDF format) for the 4 e-learning units, namely 1 for Unit 1, 3 for Unit 2, 2 for Unit 3 and 9 for Unit 4.

Part 2 : Classroom-based Learning or Online Learning

• Engaging interactive learning with discussions, problem-solving, peer practices and reflection.

This course is suitable for any personnel who needs to deliver good service and demonstrate professionalism over the telephone.

Duration : 3 Asynchronous E-Learning Hours + 3.5 Classroom-based Learning Hours or Online Learning Hours

With effect from 1 Jan 2024