Customer Sales and Service Representative (CSSR)

Hours: 450 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

This coursed is designed to prepare you to successfully working in the sales and marketing industry. Topics will include sales strategies and best practices, marketing strategies and best practices, understanding the customer, producing, marketing, and sales off goods and services, and the global marketplace.

The customer service representative plays an essential role in an organization's success through providing product and service information and resolving product and service problems. In this course, you will learn about the various duties and responsibilities of the customer service provider, and you will practice these using a variety of exercises, hypothetical interactions, and assignments. The goal of this course is to prepare you to be an outstanding, reliable, and successful customer service representative in a business or other organization. In addition to providing students with a comprehensive education in customer service, this course will also prepare students to take nationally recognized customer service certification exams, including, but not limited to, the HDI Customer Service Representative Certification Exam.

This course prepares students to take the HDI Customer Service Representative (HDI-CSR) certification exam.

Students will:

• Review and comprehend the fundamentals of marketing and analyze how it has evolved over time
• Comprehend factors that influence buyer and seller decisions
• Develop marketing and pricing strategies through the creation of a marketing plan
• Describe and learn various marketing channels that can be used to sell goods and/or services
• Create solid pricing strategies and implement those while engaging customers through advertising and promotional campaigns
• Examine ways marketing can be extended outside of a local or regional market segment
• Describe the concept of sustainable marketing and social responsibilities marketing professionals must adhere to so their actions are ethical and proper

Course Outline:

Sales and Marketing Professional Curriculum:

Lesson 1: Initiating The Marketing Process

What is the true purpose of marketing? That's a question a lot of people may find hard to comprehend or truly understand. If one is wanting to become a professional in this industry, however, they will need to fundamentally know what this is. This lesson covers marketing and its main purpose: creating customer value and engagement. Additionally, the authors will provide reasoning as to why one should have a marketing strategy so that any marketing effort created is sustainable for some period of time.

Lesson 2: Understanding the Market Environment

Once a sales and marketing professional has fundamental understanding as to what marketing is, the next step in their knowledge journey is to gain comprehension in what the environment may be for their specific product and or service. Learners in this lesson will gain valuable knowledge as to how to analyze the marketing environment and take the information gathered to gain customer insights.

Lesson 3: Understanding Buyers

The customer or client one markets is the primary reason a company is in business. Without them, there truly is nobody to sell to other than oneself. Having an awareness of how consumers behave and the markets they are associated with is the primary topic of this lesson. Students will also gain knowledge as to businesses behave as well. Note that businesses and consumers often behave differently and hence, require different marketing strategies.

Lesson 4: Marketing Strategies

Theoretically speaking, one may have an idea, product, or service that they want to sell to the masses. However, how are they going to achieve that, in truth? They have to develop a marketing plan in order to succeed and have a strategy to do such. The fourth lesson of the course reviews the most commonly-used marketing strategies to create and build value for the customers or clients one serve. Additionally, in this lesson, learners will gain knowledge as to how to develop additional projects to capture customer value for the people they serve.

Lesson 5: Pricing Strategies

Up to this point, the marketing plan has been developed to the point someone has an understanding of the markets they are serving and have an idea that as to what they want to sell consumers. But at what price? The fifth lesson of the course reviews the concept of pricing. Students will not only gain an understanding as to how to capture value but other considerations (e.g. margin) so that the pricing accurately reflects the cost of the product but also gains value for the business generating revenue from it.

Lesson 6: Marketing Channels

Marketing professions are much like a Swiss army knife: they have to be knowledgeable in a number of different subjects in order to be successful in their roles. As time has progressed, the number of marketing channels one can sell through has increased several times. This lesson of the course reviews different ways marketing professionals can deliver value for their clients or customers and reasons why one should choose over another.

Lesson 7: Customer Engagement

Defining what a customer is or isn't can be difficult if one strictly deals with consumers or business alone or a combination of the two. For the purpose of this lesson, students will gain an understanding of how retailing and wholesaling works. Other topics that are discussed here include how to engage customers and communicate value through relevant marketing strategies.

Lesson 8: Advertising and Promotion

Marketing is more than just price and the product itself. In the eighth lesson of the course, students will learn the concept of advertising and public relations and how it applies to marketing goods and services to others. Advertising is more than just billboards and flashy radio or television commercials. The lesson concludes with a comprehensive overview of different ways one can sell - specifically in-person and online.

Lesson 9: Competitive Advantages & Global Marketing

The final lesson of the course reviews the future of marketing and professionals can create a competitive advantage that is both local and globally-focused. Gone are the days were products and services are often sold to customers in-person and in with new ways and approaches which can be done anytime, anywhere. The authors provide an understanding of the global marketplace and how businesses can remain sustainable in an environment like this. Conclusively, being socially responsible and ethical are topics that round out the course in this lesson which every professional must adhere to regardless of what area of marketing they decide to go in.

Customer Service Representative (CSR) Curriculum:

Lesson 1: What is Customer Service

In this lesson, we will define customer service and discuss its importance in an organization's success.  In addition, we will explore customer needs, the benefits gained through meeting those needs, and the role of the customer service representative in this process. We will also discuss the concept of social customers.

Lesson 2: The Global Customer

Best-in-class global service is all about delivering the right information in context to optimize business processes, applications, and activities that support service.  In this lesson, we will discuss ways that the CSR can best serve the global customer. 

Lesson 3: Exceptional Customer Service

According to a study by RightNow Technologies, 73 percent of customers leave because of poor customer service. In this lesson, we will discuss ways that organizations can understand, meet, and exceed customer expectations through exceptional customer service. 

Lesson 4: Customer Service Strategy

Most organizations are made of people and customers; therefore, having a strategy for delivering consistently excellent customer service is essential.  In this lesson we will discuss building a customer service strategy in a way that encourages quality service resulting in customer satisfaction. 

Lesson 5: Critical Workplace Skills

Every organization has expectations of its employees.  In customer service, meeting these expectations is extremely important, as it affects the customers' experience and the health of the business.  In this lesson, we will discuss workplace skills that are critical in customer service.  In addition, we will discuss balancing those skills, setting realistic goals, and how to maximize those skills.

Lesson 6: Problem Solving

In this lesson, we will discuss the importance of the Customer Service Representative in problem solving, resolving conflict, and winning back business through excellent customer service. 

Lesson 7: Extreme Customers and Customer Retention

Every business will encounter challenging situations and difficult customers from time to time.  In this lesson we will discuss approaches for handling challenges and dealing with difficult customers.

Lesson 8: Managing Customer Service

In this lesson, we will discuss effective approaches for managing customer services representatives, such as the provision of training, team-building, a positive environment, and clear expectations. 

Lesson 9: Communication Essentials

In this lesson, we will explore communication styles, discuss the basics of written and verbal communication, and become familiar with the characteristics of effective communication. 

Lesson 10: Customer-Focused Listening

In this lesson, we will discuss effective listening and listening habits along with roadblocks to effective communication. 

Lesson 11: Nonverbal Communication, Dress, and Manners

In this lesson, we will focus on the use of Nonverbal Communication, Dress, and Manners in the best way during interactions with customers. Whether individuals are face-to-face or at a distance from each other, how either party respects and makes the other person feel can manifest in an exciting beginning or an unfortunate ending to a service relationship.

Lesson 12: Telephone and Digital Communication

In this lesson, we will discuss various forms of digital and telephone communication, including web chat, VoIP, telephone service, inbound customer service calls, and outbound telemarketing.

All necessary materials are included.

Certification(s):

This course prepares students to take the HDI Customer Service Representative (HDI-CSR) certification exam.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.