Customers With A Difference

Part of the Just a Call Away Series on telephone skills.

Encourage your telephone customer service agents to take up the challenge and stretch their comfort zone when dealing with customers who have a different cultural background or first language.

Taylor works for an international freight company. One of her customers, Ruzita, is trying to send a parcel to her mother in Malaysia. Taylor is also trying to organize travel arrangements for her own mother to fly overseas.

Our story, one that is played out every day all over the world, follows the challenge of being both a service provider and a customer, when dealing with cultural differences and language barriers. Taylor complains about the treatment she receives at the hands of the foreign visa department; however, when faced with a similar situation in her own work her reactions are not dissimilar.

After learning some valuable practical skills, Taylor has a pleasant, productive exchange with Ruzita and the urgent parcel is sent to Malaysia.

Viewers of Customers With a Difference will learn to:

• Give instructions in a logical order
• Repeat information without sounding annoyed
• Avoid jargon and use simple language
• Show sensitivity and understanding
• Never be, or sound patronizing

Languages Available (sold separately): English