Customer Services
Training Exercises and Resources

This activity helps delegates understand the difference between open and closed questions. It is a rather simple exercise however if executed well it can lead to a profound insight. Those people who tend to ask closed questions too often would benefit the most as they can see that they would get a lot more information if they focused on asking open questions. Before going through this activity, you will need to cover what open and closed questions are. Here are some quick examples:

Example of a closed question:

• “Did you book the flight ticket for me?”

Example of an open question:

• “When is the flight ticket booked for?”

Note that both types are useful; open questions are useful for information gathering while closed questions are good for fact checking. The main point to focus on in this exercise is that open questions lead to more information.

This is an entertaining and educational exercise for teaching languages. It sets the context for one of the most useful and essential needs when using a new language; ordering food. While the exercise is designed to cover different aspects of food ordering, it is also set in a realistic context that people can immediately associate with or experience themselves in during a trip. The exercise focuses on ordering from a famous restaurant chain available in around 100 countries; Subway.

When making a call, it is important to formulate an objective before making the call. This allows you to focus on what you want and not to get side-tracked. In this exercise, delegates can practice sales skills and learn how to make effective call objectives.

This is a quick exercise in getting the delegates to think about the “benefits” of a product for a particular feature. The emphasis is to quickly convert a feature to several benefits on the fly and learn to do this effortlessly. Benefits are free of jargon and are centred around the customer so they are always better understood.

This exercise is ideal for delegates in sales and marketing roles where they have to describe a product to a customer.

This is a simple exercise designed to help the delegates see the positive aspects of their roles and organisation and define actions that can further boost the output of the organisation. This exercise is ideal for delegates that come from the same organisation. It can also be used in team building and leadership courses.

This exercise helps delegate to practice understanding the difference between benefits and features. It is an efficient exercise to encourage sales and marketing people to use “benefits” when describing products rather than complicated “features” full of jargon that customer may not fully understand.

This is an engaging exercise for those who work in marketing, sales or customer services. It allows them to see their organisation from the customer’s point of view. They can then use this knowledge to formulate strategies that improve their sales and customer services. This exercise is ideal for delegates from the same organisation.

Knowing how to talk on the phone is critical these days as a lot of communication takes place on the phone. Many times, you may need to respond to unusual requests or remarks and think on the spot so you can respond as diplomatically as possible. For example, how would you answer if someone asks you for a favour that you feel you cannot provide while not wanting to appear difficult or cold. As an example for the business world, suppose a customer wants something you don’t have or offer, how can you reply in a positive way to preserve the customer and not disappoint them.

In this exercise, delegates will go through a number of roleplays to practice challenging scenarios.

This activity highlights individual’s ability to recognise objects by hearing their visual characteristics and illustrates the importance of perception and attention to detail in gathering information.

This effective exercise helps the delegates to understand how critical it is to listen before they talk in conversations. Most people simply talk from their own point of view and pay little attention to the other. This exercise helps the delegates to understand the need and the mental shift they need to go through to become better listeners.