Sales and customer service training on a budget. Many companies are facing challenges at the moment as economic conditions across the world worsen.

There is still the need to develop your staff and teams of course. But there is little money available to pay for it. Sound familiar?

Is this your training budget?

Many companies are in this situation and therefore many managers and company owners want to motivate their teams and help them develop new skills in both customer service and sales, but on limited or non-existent budgets. Many companies are forced to do some form of training, but using in-house staff and materials. However if the training is to be effective it is important to gather new ideas from other sources. Gleaned from the experts. The type of people who’ve been there, bought the t-shirt etc.

We can help, honestly. We provide a range of easily affordable audio CDs packed with top tips, years of experience and plain old good common sense. Our CDs and tips booklets are based around a number of key growth areas ;

• Customer Service
• Telephone sales
• Self-development

With prices starting from £34.99 for one audio CD, and packages of 3 for less than £70, you wouldn’t need many good ideas to make it self-financing would you?

All our products are supplied with a full money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the product. If you’re in the UK, simply return the  product for a refund of your purchase price. http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/products.asp is the link that will take you straight to our products page. You can buy all our products online, with payment by credit card or directly through PayPal.

Associated Learning Systems is a UK, Midlands based company specialising in products for the development of customer service, telesales and telemarketing skills.

Customer Service training is undoubtedly very important to all organisations – all the more so currently. Globally people have less available to spend on the products and services they need. With the rise of the internet, you can get almost anything from anywhere. Research shows that 80% of buying decisions are based on the service.

Improving customer service will put you ahead of the competition

The customer service module takes around 3 hours on a standard 2 day To Market customer service and telephone communications training course. Here we’ve had it distilled down into around 45 minutes of the key extracts and tips. Some of the top customer service tips here have been collected from the customer service personnel (agents) who have attended the courses. And they are the professionals of course – so they should know.

In this customer service audio CD you will hear why exceptional customer service matters to the progress of any organisation, the 4 point customer development mantra – the 4 key fundamental cornerstones why in the long run professional customer service is a MUST HAVE. Andrew Seaward will guide you through some commercial realities to customer service. Then he finishes with the 15 key points which make up effective customer service – and give your customers the service they deserve. And that’s without having to go the extra mile.   Click here   http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=27 to find out more about the CD and with a couple of clicks it is easy to buy through PayPal or by using your credit card.

Customer Service training with free training CDs to revisit the message. We’ve teamed up with the customer service training company To Market who are running a 2 day customer service training course next month in South Leicestershire on Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th May 2010.

For any one who books on the course we will supply the set of 3 customer service training CDs for no charge – absolutely free. Follow the link   http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=17   to see the triple pack. Individually these 3 CDs are £34.99 each, and even with the bundle pack this means you save £70.

You can view more about this customer service training programme at the To Market blog   http://www.tomarket.co.uk/blog/   where it tells you a little more about what it covers.

Customer Service training - Leicester & Northampton

But mention this article and after you’ve attended the course, they will give you the 3 CDs to help revisit the training messages about exceptional customer service as many times as you want. These 3 CDs cover the 10 major issues your customers are looking for when dealing with you. Understand the 10 key factors and you’ll be delivering the type of customer service your customers deserve and you’ll know how to exceed their expectations.

To find out more call To Market on 01858 461148.

Developing in-house training material for customer service and telesales is important for you and your company if you still have restricted training budgets at the moment. The temptation is to cut costs and look for increasing ways of being self-sufficient.

You recognise that training is important – perhaps MORE important than it’s ever been, but you’ve not got money to throw at it. Perhaps you’re reading this looking for some new ideas and new material.

A few people have been asking us recently if we have an audio CD available yet on To Market’s customer service module which is titled Pacifics www.tomarket.co.uk The answer is that it will be added early next year in 2009. You will be able to find it in the http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=CUSTOMER%20SERVICE%20SKILLS section.

But the whole idea here is to offer tips so what is today’s tip ? Today’s top tip is to consider what is really important to you when you’re a customer and you’re at the cinema, at a restaurant, in Currys or Sainsbury or wherever. And if you’re reading this as the head of a customer service team, set up a short session with your team in an office with a flipchart. Simply put up 2 lists side by side and ask the team to talk about the things they like and dislike about how they’re treated when they’re customers. Chances are you’ll have a lively discussion and people will tell you about how they’ve got on recently with Orange, Virgin mobile, Sky or whoever.

If you simply write up the things these businesses are doing well and badly, you’ll have a great template for the customer service YOU should be offering YOUR customers ! Because of course, the things you like and dislike will be exactly the same things your customers like and dislike.  

I worked with Steve Ponsonby on a transport and distribution customer service course which took place in Nottingham.  

He gives some good advice on trusting your customer, and how one supplier has turned this to their advantage.   “In my local pub, when people order food at the bar, the landlord will say “don’t pay me now, run a tab and pay me at the end of the evening, and you don’t have to leave any debit / credit card details with me.” This serves two purposes.

1) the diner thinks that he is being trusted and can enjoy his meal

2) the landlord thinks that he may be able to persuade them to have a dessert, so increasing the bill !”  

Good and effective customer service is partly about treating the customer with respect as we cover on the green and red list exercise which is featured in the Fundamentals of Communication CD product http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=20