Product Knowledge and Information

Access, and Telephone Operators

Skills Course
By Team One Consulting, LLC

Prepared Especially
for
PJ Enterprises

 2016 Team One Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Instructor Information.ii
Content Introduction ....ii
Course Objectives ....ii
Audience Information ..ii
Prerequisite .iii
Topics .iii
Timeline ..iii
Preparation Checklist ......iv
Icons Used in this Facilitator Guide ....... iv

Class Overview.......1
Lesson 1: Navigating the Database .......6
Introduction ..............6
Accessing the Database ........9
Searching for Product .....10

Lesson 2: Telephone Etiquette Training............12

Introduction ................................................................................12
Initiating the Conversation..14
Understanding the Customer Requirement.........16
Offering a Solution .................18
Handling Difficult Situations .....20
Ending the Call ...........27

Assessment....32

Facilitator Guide

Table of Contents

Page i

Instructor Information
Content Introduction
Team One Consulting, LLC has developed this guide to assist PJ Enterprises Customer
Service supervisors and telephone operators to seek and use product information from the
company database and provide proper customer service etiquette to the company's customers.
This guide is to be used in conjunction with the Product Knowledge and Information Access,
and Telephone Operators Skill Course for PJ Enterprises customer service employees.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course the supervisors and telephone operators will:

Navigate effectively through the product database.

Correctly locate products within the database with a special emphasis on seasonal items.
Demonstrate customer service skills on the phone with an emphasis on etiquette during:
o Greeting the customers.
o Engaging with customers; requests and concerns.
o Closing the call with the customer.
Incorporate customer service skills while engaging with challenging customers.
Demonstrate competent database usage skills while engaging with customers.

Audience Information
This course is prepared for the Customer Service Supervisors and Telephone Operators.
4 Customer Service Supervisors
25 Telephone Operators
Gender: Female (all members of the audience)
Age range: 18 to 60 years old
Average time with the company is 2 to 10 months
All are high school/equivalent graduates
Telephone Operators Experience: none to some with limited previous experience

Facilitator Guide

Instructor Information

ii

Prerequisite
Attendance and completion of the PJ Enterprises Customer Service Orientation Training for
new employees is a prerequisite for this training.

Topics
Course Introduction and Overview
Lesson 1: Using the Database Product Guide
Accessing the database
Searching in the database
Navigating the database
Utilizing the database creatively
Review and summary
Lesson 2: Telephone Etiquette Training
Initiating the conversation
Understanding the Customer Requirement
Offering a solution
Handling difficult situations
Ending the phone call

Questions
Assessment

Time-line
Time

Lesson 1
B.2.2 Accessing the Database
B2.3 Searching for Product

Start
Time

End
Time

20 min.
40 min.

Lesson 2
C.2 Initiating the Conversation
C.3. Understanding the Customer Requirement
C.4. Offering a Solution
C.5. Handling Difficult Situations
C.6. Ending the Call

10 min.
10 min.
15 min.
15 min.
10 min.

Assessment
Answer Customer Queries
Demonstrate handling 10 Situations on the System
Written Test
Assessment Review of Demonstrated and Written Responses

Facilitator Guide

Class Overview

10 min.
10 min.
20 min.
60 min.

Page iv

Preparation Checklist Instructor Information

Preparation Checklist
Approximately 10 to 14 Day Prior to Training
Review the facilitators guides
Confirm availability of classroom facilities
Confirm space for scenario training and assessment events
Confirm that the product database is updated
Coordinate for audio/visual and computer equipment availability and setup
Confirm customer service supervisors and telephone operators training schedule
No Later Than Three Days Prior to Training
Review final instructional materials:
o Student handouts and job aides
o Product guide/catalog
o Presentation slides
o Audio/visual media presentations and equipment
Facilitator guide
Review audio recordings in the SharePoint drive, Facilitator folder
List of attendee and when they will attend training
Reconfirm classroom availability
Review and confirm availability of student handouts and job aides
Review final assessment materials
Request refreshments

Icons Used in this Facilitator Guide

Icon

Use
Indicates participant exercise or activity
Indicates that the instructor will talk

Indicates participant introductions

Indicates time for discussion among all class participants or debrief

Indicates objectives for the lesson
Indicates small group discussions

Facilitator Guide

Instructor Information

iv

Class Overview
Time: 20 min.

Welcome the students to the

course. State that you are glad to
see everyone.

Go over the administrative details.

Highlight the exits in case of an
emergency.
Explain that there will be a break
between the two lessons. Also, tell
the class that anytime they have a
question during instruction, to
simply raise their hand.

Facilitator Guide

Welcome
Welcome to the PJ Enterprises Product Knowledge
and Information Access, and Telephone Operators
Skills Course.

Administrative Details
Your instructor will point out the location of the
restrooms and the exits should there be an emergency.
There is one scheduled break between the lessons. It
will be approximately 15 minutes.

Class Overview

Page 1

Present the purpose for the

training and ask if there are any
questions.
Expectation is that all attendees
will benefit from this instruction

Explain that all employees should

have attended and completed the
PJ Enterprises Customer Service
Orientation Training prior to
taking this course.

Purpose of Training
The purpose of this course is to improve the PJ
Enterprises telephone operators with the skills to
navigate the companys product database and to
provide superb customer service. Within this course
both supervisors and telephone operators will be
presented with the knowledge to increase their abilities
to service the companys clients and reach its annual
(and future) goals.

Pre-requisites of Training
Before taking this course, you all should have
completed the PJ Enterprises Customer Service
Orientation Training for new employees.

Note: This pre-requisite may be

waived or deferred by the
customer service manager

Facilitator Guide

Class Overview

Page 2

Present the objectives for this

course.
Expectation is that all attendees
will be able to perform these
functions.

Facilitator Guide

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course the supervisors and
telephone operators will:

Navigate effectively through the product

database.

Correctly locate products within the database

with a special emphasis on seasonal items.

Demonstrate customer service skills on the

phone with an emphasis on etiquette during:
o

Greeting the customers.

Engaging with customers; requests and

concerns.

Closing the call with the customer.

Incorporate customer service skills while

engaging with challenging customers.

Demonstrate competent database usage skills

while engaging with customers.

Class Overview

Page 3

Tell them how long this training

will last.

Duration of Training
There are two lessons in this training. Including the
break, this course will take approximately four hours to
complete.

Introduce yourself. Give your

name, position, and years and type
of experience.
Tell participants to introduce
themselves by giving the
information in their booklet.

Facilitator Guide

Introductions
Your instructor will introduce him/herself, after which
you will introduce yourself with the following
information:

Your name

Your background and experience

Your length of service at PJ Enterprises

One unique thing about yourself

Class Overview

Page 4

Ask if there are any questions

Questions
Before we get started, what questions do you have?

Facilitator Guide

Class Overview

Page 5

Lesson 1: Navigating the Database

Time: 60 min.

Introduction
Tell the learners what to expect in
the lesson

Introduction
This lesson is designed to introduce you to the new
product database. The new product database is
searchable, which will allow you to work more
efficiently. This lesson will conclude with database
search exercises.

Explain the importance of this

lesson.

Importance
It is imperative for you to understand, and to have a
strong comfort level with, the new searchable database.
Using the new database should greatly reduce product
search times, as well as assist you in making informed
product recommendations to customers.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 6

Go over the objectives

Objectives
In this lesson, youll:

Explain the two topics in this

lesson.

Locate and open the database

Use the advanced search feature

Locate specific products in the database

Review search results

Topics
This lesson includes the following topics:
Topic

Facilitator Guide

Page

1 Accessing the Database

2 Searching for Product

10

Lesson

Page 8

Accessing the Database

Explain where to locate the
database, and demonstrate how to
open/maximize the database.
First, find the Adobe Reader DC
icon on the computer menu toolbar
or desktop icon.

The product guide was converted into a searchable

PDF-format guide. This allows quicker and easier
access to products and product information. Please
watch the demonstration to find the location of the
database.

Then, click once to open/reveal the

database.

Practice: Allow students a chance

to practice locating and opening
the database.

Activity
To open the database, do the following:

Find the Adobe Reader DC icon on your

computer monitor.

Click it once to reveal or open the database.

Practice opening and closing the database at least

two times.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 9

Searching for Product

Explain how to search for
products using the advanced search
feature.
Demonstrate how to search for
products. You do this by pressing
Shift + CTRL + F and typing in a
product. Try typing in Red
Sweater as a search term and
review the results.

Searching for Product

You will use the advanced search feature to find the
products you are looking for. Please watch the
demonstration of the search.
Use Shift+CTRL+F key to open the advanced search.
When you are ready, take the next five minutes to use
advanced search. Practice looking for products you are
familiar with.

Practice: Allow learners to

practice searching for products for
approximately five minutes.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 10

Give the class time to complete

product search exercises.
Review and debrief each of the
exercise search criteria, before
moving to the next.
Discuss the results, and any
concerns the learners have
regarding the search feature.

Facilitator Guide

Exercise
We are going to work through an exercise to allow you
time to get comfortable navigating the database.
You will search for four different terms. They are:
Gucci handbag
Designer wristlet
Glass Mirror
New Products
Expand each item to learn more.
Write a brief description of what you learned about each
product.
Prepare to discuss your results with the class.

Lesson

Page 11

Lesson 2: Telephone Etiquette Training

Time: 60 min.

Introduction
Tell: Welcome back the learners in
the training.

Introduction
The intent of this training is to introduce you to some
effective telephone etiquette principles and practices.

Tell: them the purpose of this

training.

Importance
Effective communication over the phone is essential for
any organization today that relies on customer service
to grow or retain its customer base.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 12

Go over: the objectives for the

lesson.

Objectives
In this lesson, youll:

Go over: the topics covered in the

lesson.

Identify best practices to greet the customer

Demonstrate active listening skills and analyze

the requirement

Recommend appropriate products

Apply guidelines to tackle challenging

situations

Demonstrate best practices to close the calls

Topics
This lesson includes the following topics:
Topic

Facilitator Guide

Page

3 Initiating the Conversation

14

4 Understanding the Customer

Requirement

16

5 Offering a Solution

18

6 Handling Difficult Situations

20

7 Ending the Call

27

Lesson

Page 13

Initiating the Conversation

Explain: the importance of having
a polite greeting in a telephone
conversation.
Remind: that a good beginning
ensures a good ending.
Present: two dialog-based
scenarios; one with a positive start
and another with a dull start
Positive scenario: Thank you for
calling PJ Enterprises. This is
Amber, how may I help you?

Initiating the Conversation

Polite greetings when picking up the phone make the
whole call go much easier. Keep your tone of voice
pleasant and welcoming. Most other people will only be
inclined to listen to a pleasant tone.
Greet the caller with a "Hello". If you need to be more
professional, say something like "Good morning" or
"Good afternoon. Give your name and your work title
and/or the department you are in.
When you introduce yourself, you will stand out from
all the other people calling and you will likely make a
positive impression on the person answering the phone

Negative Scenario: PJ Enterprises.

May I know what you want?
Discuss: the impact of each
scenario

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 14

Tell: the purpose of the activity

Ask: to put their mobile phones on
silent mode.
Tell: to carefully listen to each
recording
Discuss: the strong and/or weak
points in each recording. These
include:

Call 1: there is a short, but

friendly greeting.

Call 2: this call has an

improper/short greeting

Call 3: this call has almost

no greeting and the TO is
very curt

Call 4: this is a proper

greeting

Exercise
Four recordings will be played, in which initial
conversation with the customer is recorded. After
listening to each call, you will be asked to identify the
strong and/or weak points in each conversation.

Reminder: Each recording is

located in the Facilitator folder on
the SharePoint drive. The folder
for this exercise is titled Initiating
the Conversation Exercise

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 15

Understanding the Requirement

Explain: the importance of active
listening

Understanding the requirement

Explain: the consequences of

interrupting the customer in
between

Listen politely and carefully to the caller's request.

During this fact-establishing moment, remain courteous
and don't interrupt. Listening is certainly our primary
non-verbal communication skill. Be an active listener to
fully capture the conveyed message.

Demonstrate: Poor listening skills

with the help of a scenario
Select any one participant. You
will play the role of the Telephone
operator and the participant will
play the role of a customer.
Participant will explain his/her
requirement and you will
demonstrate poor listening skills
by interrupting the participant. You
will make an incorrect assumption
about what the customer is calling
about. For instance, if they say
they are looking for oven mitts,
you can suggest kitchen towels.
This way, you can explain the
importance of active listening.

Facilitator Guide

Research says that 70 80 % of what is being said by

the speaker is being missed by the listener because they
are busy framing their own responses when an
individual is talking. Being an active listener is the first
step to communicate effectively.
Ask the right questions to understand the customer
needs and the challenges they are facing currently. This
will help you provide the best possible solution.

Lesson

Page 16

Select: Four participants from the

class

Activity

Divide: them into two groups

Role play activity

Scenario 1: Customer is in need of

jewelry items for a friends
wedding anniversary

Four learners will divide into two groups of two. One

being the customer and another being the telephone
operator. Given two scenarios, you will reenact the
scenarios.

Customer should say the

following, at a minimum:
Im looking a gift for my
friends wedding
anniversary
She likes swimming
She likes green and blue
Her favorite season is
winter
She wears earrings
It is her fourth anniversary
I think shed like jewelry

In this activity, you will be asked to identify how the

requirement was captured. The main objective of this
activity is to make the learner develop active listening
skills to understand what customer needs are.

Scenario 2: Customer wants a gift

for their sons birthday
Customer should say the
following, at a minimum:
Im looking for a gift for a
boy
Math is his favorite subject
He really likes basketball
Hes just outgrown most of
his pants
Its my sons birthday
Ask: these participants to enact the
scenarios
Give: participants 2 minutes to
prepare and 2 minutes to enact
Debrief: the conversation in 3
minutes

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 17

Offering a Solution
Explain: the importance of
leveraging the product knowledge
Present: the content with variety
of product images presented in the
database
Explain: the tips to offer a
solution.
A process can be:
1. Analyze the requirement/issue
2. Leverage product knowledge
4. Offer a solution

Offering a Solution
You should have adequate product knowledge to be
able to answer queries of the customers and provide
suitable recommendations. If you have enough
knowledge, you will be able to navigate faster through
the system and provide quicker solutions. This will help
in building trust among the customers.
Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or
approaches to problems.

5. Answer customer queries

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 18

Consider: one scenario from the

previous topic (customer
requirement)
Ask: for three learners to volunteer
to work through this exercise for
the class. If possible, they should
be different learners from the
previous exercise. Each learner
should talk through the process
they would take to offer a solution
to the customer.

Exercise
Based on the customer requirements stated in the
previous topic, offer a solution for one of the scenarios.
In this activity, you will be asked to discuss with the
facilitator the steps you would take to offer a solution.
You will be assessed by a facilitator to ensure you
understand how to offer a solution.

Evaluate: how each of the three

learners responds. Be sure the
learners mention at least two of the
following:

Understand the
requirement

Leverage product
knowledge

Offer products that may be

of interest to solve the
problem

Answer customer
questions

Provide: feedback. If the three

learners fail to mention all of the
evaluation criteria, make sure to
mention those that were missed.
Recap by restating all the steps a
TO can take to offer a solution.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 19

Handling Difficult Situations

Tell: even people who are polite,
courteous, and considerate under
normal circumstances can struggle
to maintain their composure in
situations where disagreement and
or dissatisfaction create strong
emotions. A set of guidelines will
help provide direction when faced
with difficult customer situations.

Facilitator Guide

Handling Difficult Situations

Up to this point we have covered best practices for
greeting customers, practiced active listening skills, and
recommending appropriate products. Now well move
on to a challenging aspect of telephone sales: how to
effectively deal with difficult situations. While there are
many ways of handling angry and abusive customers,
we will focus on using PJ Enterprises best practice
solutions.

Lesson

Page 20

Go over: PJ guidelines for

telephone operators when faced
with difficult customer situations.
Keep: a positive and enthusiastic
tone. Dont get drawn into
customer negativity. Choose your
attitude.

Guidelines
PJ guidelines for telephone operators when faced with
difficult customer situations are shown here. Follow
along as your instructor goes over them.

Stay: calm. Maintain perspective.

Dont be driven by your emotions.
Focus on serving the customer
rather than on yourself. Recognize
the customer is upset and that your
job is to help solve the problem.
Accept: your mistakes. No one is
perfect, and despite your best
efforts at times you will make
mistakes. Be honest, admit your
mistake, and apologize. Dont
focus on what you did wrong, but
on recovering customer confidence
and focusing on satisfying the
customer.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 21

Explain: participants that PJ has

adopted best practices for
telephone operators in challenging
customer situations.
Frame: your response positively
when you dont know the answer.
Reframe unknowns into a way to
offer additional help: Thats a
great question. Ill find out for
you.

Best Practices
To guide telephone operators in reaching PJ goals, a
number of best practices have been reviewed and five of
them approved. They are as follows:

Provide: a helpful explanation

when transferring a call is
necessary. Customers dread being
transferred. Instead of Please hold
while I transfer you say Lets get
this problem solved for you as
quickly as possible. Our customer
service supervisor specializes in
these situations, and she going to
help you out.
Offer: a winning alternative when
you cant bend the rules. Dont
leave a customer frustrated and
disappointed. If a defective product
is no longer being sold,
recommend one or more
alternative products.
Be: quick to empathize with an
unhappy customer. Dont tell a
customer to calm down. Instead,
show that you feel their pain:
Youre absolutely right to be
upset. Repeat customer concerns
to help demonstrate understanding.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 22

Ask: each participants to identify a

difficult customer situation they
have faced. In particular focus on
particularly difficult ones or ones
that have been recurring. Advise
them to be prepared to share their
experience with the class.
Remind: participants that the
purpose of this exercise is not to
evaluate performance, but to
provide realistic opportunities for
identifying how best practices
might be applied to the situations.

Activity
Think back on your experience as a telephone
operator. Identify in your mind either a particularly
difficult situation that happened to you or one
which has been recurring. Write down a few notes
and prepare to share with the group.

Give: participants time to reflect

and make notes

Ask: each participant to share their

experience. Record a summary of
each response on the training room
whiteboard.

Facilitator Guide

Sharing
Now that all of you have identified a difficult
situation, lets have each of you share what it is.
Who wants to go first?

Lesson

Page 23

Go over: what has been done and

indicate that two responses will be
chosen for further discussion.
Ask: the group to choose a
situation, and assist them to
establish a consensus.
Ask: participants to identify a best
practice that would apply to the
situation and explain why.
Facilitate: discussion with other
participants and instructor
concerning the suggested best
practice(s). Use your best
judgment in assisting participants
to arrive at appropriate application.

Exercise
We have all these responses listed on the board
representing difficult situations you have faced as
telephone sales operators. Now lets examine two of
them and consider which PJ best practices might best
assist one in dealing with that situation. Which one
would you like to consider first?
Group consensus situation one: what best practice(s)
would you apply to this?
Group consensus situation two: what best practice(s)
would you apply to this?

Repeat: the above three steps for

an additional situation.

Tell: participants that the

discussion has been helpful to gain
perspective on how best practices
can facilitate handling difficult
situations. However, the real test is
being able to apply best practices
in a real-life situation. While we
are not going to use live customer
calls for this purpose, we will
engage in role play simulation of a
challenging scenario.

Facilitator Guide

Transition
Weve discussed applying best practices to difficult
situations youve experienced. The next step is to
practice applying best practices in a challenging
scenario as represented in a role play setting.

Lesson

Page 24

Explain: that a facilitator will

serve as an unhappy customer
making a call to PJ. Each of you
will have a turn at being the
telephone operator taking the call.
The scenario will take about three
minutes.
Explain: that not everyone will be
able to participate at the same time.
Wait outside the training room
until you are invited in.

Role Play
A facilitator will function as an unhappy customer
calling PJ, and each of you will have opportunity to be
the telephone operator taking the customers call.
In the course of the conversation, apply PJ best
practices to your interaction with the customer. In case
you need a reminder, those practices are shown on the
projection screen.

Explain: the facilitator will use a

checklist prepared for the scenario.
Checklist items are to measure if:

you stay calm

you maintain a positive

tone

you change the customer

perspective about the
product

you implement best

practices
Ask: for a volunteer to go first

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 25

Offer: a summary statement about

the role play from your perspective
as facilitator.
Provide: feedback to each
participant as to your perception
how they did in the role play.
Ask: what was the easier part.
Ask: what was the most difficult.
Ask: how you see yourself
benefitting.

Debrief
What was the easiest part of this role play for you?
What was the most difficult?
How do you see yourself as benefitting?
Do you feel better prepared to handle difficult situations
as a telephone operator?
Do you have further questions or comments?

Ask: if you feel better prepared to

handle difficult situations.
Ask: for any further questions or
comments.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 26

Ending the Call

Tell: participants that ending a
sales call properly is important. An
effective close leaves a positive
image in the customers mind. That
satisfaction contributes to future
willingness to do business with PJ.
We will consider three steps to
properly ending a call.
Go over: the three key points in
closing a call. One is to introduce
new products to the customer. A
second is to invite the shopper to
shop again. And the third key point
is to ask for feedback on earlier
used products.

Emphasize: that simply going

through the three key points is not
the goal. The desired result in
closing is to end the call on a
positive note!

Facilitator Guide

Transition
Now that weve learned about effectively handling
difficult sales situations, lets move on to consider
how to properly end a sales call.

Key Points

Key Result

Lesson

Page 27

Explain: the process to be used for

participants to gain experience in
analyzing how well calls are
closed. A recording of a call
closure will be played. Each of you
are to identify mistakes done while
closing the call keeping in mind
the PJ key three points and key
result. Also seek to identify any
immediate impact of the mistake
on the customer relationship, or a
possible longer term impact. Use
the pen and paper provided to take
notes on both the mistakes and
their impact. After youve listened
to the recording and had time to
make notes, you will be divided
into two groups. A facilitator will
work with your group to evaluate
and discuss your findings.
Play: the recording

Exercise 1
Listen to the recording of a sales call being closed.
Carefully seek to identify mistakes made, keeping in
mind the three PJ key points and key result in closing
calls. In addition, try to identify any immediate impact
of the mistake on the customer relationship or a possible
long term impact. Use the provided pen and paper to
make notes. Youll be given time to make your notes.
Then you will be divided into two groups each led by a
facilitator. That person will lead and review and
discussion of your findings.

Give: participants time to make

their notes.
Reminder: Each recording is
located in the Facilitator folder on
the SharePoint drive. The folder
for this exercise is titled Ending
the Phone Call Exercise 1

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 28

Divide: participants into two

groups. Typically, this will be done
randomly, unless as facilitator you
have noted some dynamic that
would be better served by
intentionally selecting group
members.

Evaluate
When asked, share the potential mistakes youve noted,
along with their impacts. Be prepared to explain your
thinking as well as to be evaluated in light of the PJ key
points and result.

Ask: each participant to share their

findings.
Facilitate: a discussion between
yourself and group members.
Evaluate: point out the strengths
and weaknesses of each persons
findings in light of PJ key points
and result.
Look: Learners should notice if the
TO:

Introduced any new

products to the customer

Asked the customer to

shop with PJ Enterprises
again

Sought feedback regarding

their prior purchases

Initiate: discussion if the TO did

not do any one (or all) of these
things. Discuss how the TOs can
improve this call.
Explain: that the exercise will be
repeated using a different
recording of a call closing.
Play: the recording.
Give: participants time to make
their notes.

Exercise 2
Repeat the process of exercise 1 but with a
different recording.

Reminder: Each recording is

located in the Facilitator folder on
the SharePoint drive. The folder
for this exercise is titled Ending
the Phone Call Exercise 2

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 29

Divide: the participants into the

same groups as in exercise 1.

Evaluate

Ask: each participant to share their

findings.

Repeat the process of exercise 1.

Facilitate: a discussion between

yourself and group members.
Evaluate: point out the strengths
and weaknesses of each persons
findings in light of PJ key points
and result.
Look: Learners should notice if the
TO:

Introduced any new

products to the customer

Asked the customer to

shop with PJ Enterprises
again

Sought feedback regarding

their prior purchases

Initiate: discussion if the TO did

not do any one (or all) of these
things. Discuss how the TOs can
improve this call.

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

Page 30

Facilitate: a discussion about the

exercise process and outcomes.
Ask: what benefits they see.
Ask: if they found themselves
struggling at any point in the
process.

Debrief
Discuss as one group your thoughts and feelings in
regards to the exercise process and outcomes.
What benefits do you see from learning how to close
calls?
Did you find yourself struggling at any point in the
process?

Ask: what they felt during the

evaluation process.

What did you feel during the evaluation process?

Ask: if they feel more prepared to

close calls on a positive note?

Do you feel more prepared to close calls on a positive

note?

Ask: if they have any further

questions or comments.

Do you have further questions or comments?

Thank: them for their participation

and growth as telephone operators!

Facilitator Guide

Lesson

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Assessment
Searchable Database training
The idea is to test the learners knowledge based on accessing various products, applying appropriate
filters while searching for products, locating product information. Learners will be presented with
questions and will be asked to demonstrate the steps on their computer. This will be a time-bound
activity as one of the objectives of the training is to answer customer queries in less time. Learners will
be given 10 minutes to demonstrate 10 situations on the system. After 10 questions, the instructor will
review the answers. It would be shown on the big screen using the projector.
Question 1:
Find product XYZ in the database.
Question 2:
Customer ABC is asking for unique earrings. What products should you suggest to the customer?
Question 3:
Customer has asked to suggest new items that could be gifted on Thanksgiving. Which products will
you suggest?
Question 4:
Search the database for childrens shoes in the age group 2-10.
Question 5:
Customer XYZ wants to give a nostalgic gift to one of her friends. Her friend enjoys flowers and floral
prints. Which products would you suggest?
Question 6:
Access the database, by entering a search word to recommend three inspirational gifts for a co-worker.
Question 7:
Search the database and suggest two lamps appropriate for a bedroom nightstand.
Telephone Etiquettes training
Learners will be divided into 5 groups. Each group will have two members (One customer and one
Telephone operator). Each group will be given a scenario. They will be given 5 minutes for preparation,
3 minutes for demonstration. So, 5 + 3*5 = 20 minutes. Remaining 10 minutes will be utilized to debrief
the scenarios.
Role play scenario 1 for Group 1:

Facilitator Guide

Error! Reference source not found.

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Peter, a customer, purchased a sweater hes unhappy with. Peter wants to exchange the sweater for
another style. Hes asking for your recommendation. How would you make a recommendation to Peter?
Role play scenario 2 for Group 2:
You are having a bad morning. You had a flat tire on the way to work, making your kids late for school
and you late for work. When Kelly, the customer, calls in about receiving the wrong size dress pants,
shes taking her frustration out on you. How would you respond to Kelly? Why did you chose the
response you did?
Role play scenario 3 for Group 3:
Molly liked two jewelry items in the catalog. However, she has had poor experiences shopping with PJ
Enterprises in the past. When she calls you, how would you interact with Molly in order to retain her as
a customer? Which product would you suggest she order? How do you know which jewelry product she
may like better?
Role play scenario 4 for Group 4:
Sasha is the first time buyer at PJ Enterprises. She wants to buy Christmas gifts. How would you help
her get familiar with your offerings? What questions would you ask Sasha?
Role play scenario 5 for Group 5:
Sam wants to give a surprise gift to his wife on her birthday. He was thinking of giving her a necklace.
Sam has asked for different variety of necklaces, ranging from 50 to 300 dollars. You start searching for
the products and apply appropriate filters in the system. Unfortunately, the network is very slow and it
takes a lot of time to populate data in the system. Sam gets annoyed due to this. How would you handle
this situation?

Facilitator Guide

Assessment

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