When you think of workplace attitudes you must ask yourself the simple question: would you want an employee who is extremely good at his or her job but has a bad attitude or an average employee who has a positive attitude? I believe the overwhelming response would be for the later because we all have learned the hard way that bad attitudes can reduce the effectiveness of ones organization. The fact is that skills can be taught but an attitude is often difficult to change. The question often asked is what is an attitude? To some it's a mindset, a way of thinking but that's only partly right. The bigger picture is that an attitude is a habit of thought. It defines how one looks at their world and workplace. What employers want are people with attitudes that think "I can," not "I can't." This one day seminar is devoted to the building blocks that lead to positive attitudes. Our trainer will show participants how to find, keep and maintain an approach that leads to a positive outlook. This highly interactive course includes interactive session as well as self evaluations to help individuals create an open mind and heart to developing a more productive, meaningful work life. This session will look at:

• How does one understand the importance of having a positive attitude
• How to develop and maintain positive feelings and thoughts in the workplace
• How a positive attitude leads to more productivity and a commitment to doing things right
• How attitudes impact and influence those around us
• The relationship between positive attitudes and internal and external customer satisfaction
• Identifying personality and attitudes - our true "colors"
• Creating personality matrix-the value of it
• Emotions and attitudes
• Anger-when, why, how, who
• Attitude "revamp", a process and project

Companies in the U.S. lose more than $1 billion per year in uncollected funds. If this is an issue facing your organization then this course will be of benefit. The course is designed specifically for employees and supervisors with responsibility for collections and particularly those who pursue, or are interested in pursuing, former customers who have moved away while owing a debt to the organization. Participants will gain valuable insight into the process of "skip tracing" which is the process of gathering information on the location of debtors. This course covers the four major topics involved with this process: segmenting debtors for efficient tracing, legal guidelines and restrictions, current resources, and statistics regarding tracing performance. Employing an effective skip tracing procedure will help in reducing losses, particularly those that result from customers who do not pay their final bills after discontinuing service or being disconnected. Additional topics to be covered include:

• An overview of efficient options for conducting traces
• An understanding of the most effective skip tracing tools for specific situations, based on the debtor information available, and
• The information they need to immediately begin finding debtors who were previously considered "lost"

Few would ague that life and work are hard enough without the complications surrounding self-defeating emotions, behaviors, and habits. The multiple forces that bear down on us every day can eventually take their toll. No wonder people often feel anxious, resentful, taken advantage of and even trapped. This one-day seminar is intended to help participants understand how to stay focused on their goals, whether work or personal, while ups and downs occur around them. Participants will gain insight into developing ‘personal' flexibility to deal with uncertainty and to find meaning in what they are doing. This seminar will focus on the important personal skill of emotional self-control. Participants will learn about what role emotions play in their life, the ways they are expressed, how to manage emotional ups and downs, to deal with stress and how to handle crisis situations. Over the course of the day, the class will learn how to make ‘better' choices at work and elsewhere, how to practice self-discipline, and control emotionally difficult situations. In addition, others issues to be covered include:

• Build confidence by learning to respond correctly to difficult situations and people
• Explore ones attitudes and how to use anger constructively
• Control how one reacts to emotional situations presented by other people
• Embrace how to ‘let go' of the old and accept change
• Learn to eliminate habits that tend to pull you down and work against you.

This two-day course is designed as a comprehensive introduction to the principles of effective customer service and the role communication plays in how customers evaluate service quality and delivery. The course will cover areas such as knowing what customers expect, assessing the 'personality types' of customers, how to control problem situations, creating a 'positive image' for customers, effective phone and e-mail communications. This program offers ample opportunity for participants to practice verbal skills in successfully handling a variety of recurring issues such as bill inquiries and the occasional upset/irate customer. Learning outcomes in this program include:

• The ABC's of effective customer communication
• The four universal customer expectations
• How customers "keep score" on your performance
• The "communication cycle" and how to use it
• Nine "scripts" to avoid and what to say instead
• Five critical steps for handling stressful customer situations
• The eight most effective things we can say to (and do for) our customers

This one-day seminar is designed to provide an introduction to the Spanish language as a means of helping develop the skills necessary to provide enhanced service for Hispanic customers. This highly interactive course will focus on relevant scenarios, basic conversation, and proper pronunciation. Each participant will receive a Spanish/English manual© and quick reference guide for use on the job. Previous experience with the Spanish language is not necessary. Some of the course highlights include:

• Learning basic pronouns and greetings, days, time, and currency
• Learn how to question the customer regarding problems and others service difficulties
• Practice pronunciation with a partner
• Learn how to communicate billing problems and payment issues

This course is designed for anyone who may find themselves on the receiving end of hostile, aggressive, or manipulative behavior from customers. The course is designed to help employees effectively manage intensively emotional customer interactions. Participants will gain insight into various patterns and dynamics of behavior. Additional topics covered include:

• An exploration of the dynamics of emotional behavior
• The various patterns of aggressive/assertive behavior
• How to use word-choice techniques to help defuse tension or hostility

This course is designed to provide employees the basic skills for 'assisting' customers in making purchase or participation choices. Unlike the typical "sales" training program, the emphasis here is customer-focused rather than "commission" focused. Participants in this one day seminar will learn about customer purchase choice process, the features/benefits relationship, and an introduction to using persuasive communication skills. Topics to be covered include:

• Learning to distinguish the 'two' categories of buyers
• Understanding the PDM (Purchase Decision Making) process and how to use it effectively with your customers
• Learning to use the 5-Step customer focused selling model
• Understanding how to create and use a 'features-benefits' checklist for selling products or services.

Customers have made it clear that they have specific standards of performance for those with whom they spend their money. This program is designed to provide a basic understanding of fundamental customer expectations regarding routine business transactions, dissemination of information, and performance results. Participants will gain an understanding of what are customer service standards and what an organization must be able to do to deliver customer service effectively. The course will provide insight into how standards of service provide a framework within which an organization and its people address issues relating to customer service. Further, once formulated, how they should be implemented and reviewed periodically to ensure that they continue to reflect the very latest thinking about what makes for excellent customer service. Issues relating to the language and structure of the standards, and of the related professional qualifications, will also be considered. Learning outcomes include:

• The value/cost dilemma
• The four fundamental customer expectations
• The three fundamental expectations of organizational results performance
• The three fundamental expectations of information
• Specific actions which tend to exceed customer expectations

This one-day course is intended to provide participants with an understanding of how to achieve service excellence when conducting business transactions via telephone. Through class discussion and interactive exercises, participants will develop and enhance their phone skills for dealing with customers in scenarios such as product sales, technical supports, and billing concerns. The skills learned in this program serve to enhance the performance of all employees who interact with customers via phone with an end result of reduced stress, more efficient utilization of transaction time, and improved customer satisfaction. Schedule of topics covered:

• Understanding fundamental customer expectations
• The basics of business telephone etiquette
• Strategies and skills for effectively managing telephone traffic
• Learning how to responding appropriately to customers

This course is designed for individuals with administrative responsibility for customers, to help increase cooperation and productivity. Topics covered include the bases of organizational power and how to effectively use each to accomplish challenging tasks and meet critical deadlines. Topics to be covered include:

• Understanding the bases of power and influence
• Levels of professional independence
• Principles of "followership"

Learning to communicate effectively with customers can sometimes be like walking on eggshells due to the sensitive nature of some business transactions. This one-day program focuses on the most frequent communication problems committed by personnel and how to alter a customer's negative interpretation. Emphasis in this program is on proper message construction when dealing with emotional situations. Topics to be covered include:

• The four basic customer expectations
• The communication cycle and it's role in avoiding conflict
• The primary causes and "triggers" of emotional behavior
• How to avoid the "nine most misunderstood things" that contribute poor customer service

This course is designed to help employees identify and understand their own behavior patterns and how it effects their interaction with their customers. Participants will gain insight into various behavior styles and learn how to adapt effective styles when relating to customers. The training session will assist participants in becoming more aware of how to improve professionalism through the development of improved attitudes and teamwork. The course will covered such important issues as:

• How to manage special situations to meet customer needs
• Understanding and employing various customer service strategies
• How to plan effective approaches for different situations that arise
• How to strengthen win-win relationships by exceeding customer expectations