Quality Customer Service
Key Terms and Concepts
|
|
Active listening
|
Conflict resolution techniques
|
Interpersonal skills
|
Quality service
|
Colleague
|
Customer
|
Needs, preferences and
expectations
|
Questioning techniques
|
Communication process
|
Customer service skills and
practices
|
Personal presentation
|
Service
|
Complaint handling
|
Effective communication
techniques
|
Product
|
Special needs
|
Complete the following tasks in your Entertainment workbook
Communication and listening skills
- Active
listening
- Non-verbal
communication
- Physical
appearance
Types of Customers
The
Entertainment industry is a wide and varied industry and attracts many
different types of customers.
- Industry
Colleagues
- Venue Hirers
- Event
organisers
- Theatre,
concert or cinema patrons
- Event and
festival patrons
Interpersonal Skills
To work
successfully in the Entertainment industry an employee must have strong
interpersonal skills.
- Language skills
- Cultural
sensitivity
- Managing
conflict
Quality Service
Without
customers, there is no reason to have a business. Some people in the
Entertainment Industry become so involved with the technical aspects of their
job that they forget about the customers. Customers are the reason businesses
exist so they must be treated as a valuable resource and looked after. Customers’ needs must be central
to any business’s policies. The Entertainment Industry is a very competitive
industry and businesses with excellent customer service will attract more
customers.
- Professionalism
- Communication
skills
- Customer
focused service
Good Customer Service Practices
A quality customer service employee needs to
demonstrate a number of skills and attributes to be effective in their job.
- Knowledge of
enterprise products/services and policies
- Customer
specific language
- A friendly and
courteous manner
- Positive
gestures and body language
- A prompt
response to resolve complaints
- A
solutions-oriented approach
Customers with Special Needs
Special needs
customers are just customers. You may require a little extra help and patience
when serving them, but, like any other customer, they wish to purchase a
product or service, and it is your job to serve them.
- Older customers
- Customers in
wheelchairs
- Customers with
hearing impairment
- Customers with
a sight impairment
- Customers with
an intellectual disability or speech difficulties
Procedures for Handling Customer Complaints
Customer
complaints are usually about poor service, faulty goods or goods that don’t
meet the customer’s needs. A skilled employee can turn a customer complaint
into a positive experience for the customer.
11. What are two
good customer service practices that can help resolve a complaint?
12. If you cannot
resolve a customer complaint what is the next step?
Complete the following activities and email the task to your teacher.
QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE ACTIVITIES
Activity 1 True or false
1. The correct
behaviour to follow if a customer walks into your shop and starts shouting at
you about the faulty product you sold is to shout back at them to show you are
not intimidated. True/False
2. A customer
complaint is usually related to poor service or goods not meeting expectations.
True/False
3. If a
customer is raising their voice and making a scene it is best that you talk to
them in front of the other customers so everyone can see how silly they look.
True/False
4. Learning the
greetings and farewells from other countries make customers feel valued.
True/False
5. As different
cultures have different perceptions of personal space let the customer
determine the personal space by how close they come to the
employee. True/False
6. Having some
basic skills and knowledge about other areas in the Entertainment Industry
makes you more employable and gives you a deeper insight into the entire
production process. True/False
7. When
referring a customer to a colleague or supervisor it is best not to give them
any details about the customer’s issue as it only causes
confusion. True/False
8. Addressing a
customer by name makes them feel uncomfortable. True/False
9. If a
customer asks for a light globe for their Par Can, explain to them and anybody
else who is listening that the correct term is lamp. That way they will know
the correct term to use next time. True/False
Activity
2 Customer Service Faults
Read the scenario
below, list the problems which could have led to customer complaint, and
explain how they could have been more appropriately handled.
(2 paragraphs)
The local
ballet teacher booked a club auditorium for her end of year ballet and
performing arts concert. This was a very important concert as it marked her
40th year of teaching ballet. The venue rules stated that if she wished for
audio and lighting support, she would have to use the club’s technicians. She
was not allowed to bring in her own. She would have rather used her regular
technicians as she knew they always did a good job, but was prepared to use the
club technicians if that was a requirement. She stipulated that she wanted them
there one hour prior to the performance as she wished to discuss her lighting and
audio requirements.
This particular
ballet teacher was very experienced and highly organised. She liaised with the
venue about table size and table layout options. She requested the tables be
set out in a certain layout and each table labelled with its number according
to her diagram. She had organised helpers to collect the tickets and to show
people to their tables. Unfortunately the tables were not set out in the layout
she had specified or labelled as requested, because a “more important” function
had subsequently been booked in the larger function room and they were using
the table numbers. Chaos reigned at the door as her poor volunteer helpers
tried to draw up a new seating plan diagram for the actual seating layout, and
show patrons to their seats.
Twenty minutes
before the concert was due to start, a well dressed, confident technician came
in, apologising for his lateness. He ascertained her requirements and started
setting up microphones where required. Five minutes later he brought an
unshaven scruffy looking technician to meet the ballet teacher and explained
that this was the actual technician who would be looking after her. The
confident technician was actually due to work at another venue, and had turned
up just to make sure that the duty technician was OK. He quickly told the duty
technician (the late, scruffy one) what the teacher’s requirements were. The
new scruffy technician apologised for being late but said that he had not been
to bed since Friday night (this was Sunday afternoon) and so he was a bit
tired. He also said that this was the first time he had worked in this venue,
but everything should be OK.
He brought a
big foldback wedge and put it into the middle of the stage. The ballet teacher,
who by this stage was very stressed told him to “get that thing off her stage
as the children would trip over it". He calmly explained that due to the
speaker placement in the venue, the children would not be able to hear the
music if the foldback was not used, but he could move it over to one corner.
The technician
then proceeded to tape the leads down for safety. The teacher then asked him to
play one of the CDs as she was concerned that the foldback could be too soft or
too loud. The foldback did not work! The technician tried different leads and different
desk settings. The concert was now late starting. The teacher insisted he fix
the problem because if she had to put up with a big speaker on stage it had
better work. The technician then mentioned to the ballet teacher that the other
technician doing the lighting hadn’t arrived yet so the concert couldn’t start
anyway. Then he made some desperate phone calls and found out that the reason
the foldback did not work was that the foldback amps were not turned on, and,
furthermore, the amps were locked up in cupboard behind the stage that he did
not know about. Luckily he discovered that he had the keys for the cupboard and
was able to get the foldback working.
Once the
lighting technician had arrived, the show was able to start only fifteen
minutes late. The lighting was atrocious as there were not any down lights or
side lights, two things that are critical for dance. There were a few colour
washes on the Front of House Bar, but they were not focussed properly, so the
lighting was uneven. As a result the photos and video were poor as there was
not enough light on stage for the cameras to work properly.
After the
concert, the ballet teacher demanded a refund for the technician fee and the
venue hire. She will not use that venue again.
Activity
3 Scenarios
Outline the
procedures you would follow in the circumstances below.
Use your 10 step plan as a guide to provide quality customer service.
a. An angry
customer comes into your shop, loudly telling all the customers in the shop
about the faulty product you sold them.
b. A customer
from a non English speaking background comes into your production company and
wants to hire lights for a family wedding.
c. A new
customer comes into your hire company and wants to hire a PA system for an
event they are organising. The customer reads brands of equipment from a list
that somebody else has written for them, and doesn’t appear to understand what
they are asking for.
Email your responses for activities 1 to 3 to your teacher at vetassess01@gmail.com
