Customer Service and Sales Training Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday February 7 – May 24

1. Customer Service and Sales Training Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday February 7 – May 24 12:45- 2:45 p.m. (90 Hours) Cathy Quam - Instructor

2. Goals Of This Course Prepare participants for the sales and service industry Concentration in retail sales Complete a professional workforce portfolio

3. Objectives Of This Course Handle entry level retail or sales position Communicate effectively, using strategies for listening, speaking and observing critically Use interpersonal skills to guide others and work cooperatively

4. Objectives Of This Course - Cont. Apply customer service skills at home and in the community, as well as at work Reflect, evaluate and assess your abilities and adjust strategies as necessary to become more effective at what you do

5. Benefits of Completing This Course • Retail Sales Certificate - To help get a job or transfer from one job to another • The Portfolio - Documentation that shows evidence of skills and knowledge to be used in an interview • National Certification in Sales and Service - To prepare students to successfully pass the test that is recognized from state to state

6. How to Get Started Instructor must complete the NRF Foundation Sales and Service Learning – Train the Trainer Instructor follows a prescribed curriculum laid out by the NRF Foundation Originally developed as a welfare to work program it was decided to combine the Equipped for the Future (EFF) standards with the National Retail Standards which lead to the development of the EFF/Retail sales course

7. Philosophy of the Course Specific retail skills are taught based on the belief that participants need to be taught how to learn and reflect on their learning and then transfer what they have learned from one situation to the next. The EFF skills are based on the belief that participants need to learn how to learn from past experience – whether positive or negative.

8. The Intent of the Course To help participants progress from learning about themselves to learning how to relate to their classmates as their internal customers To then transfer these skills to relate to actual customers

9. The Equipped For The Future Skills WheelThe 16 EFF Content Standards

10. Who is Eligible to Take this Course Do not need a high school diploma Must be 16 years of age Need a minimum of a 6th grade reading level (I would recommend an 8th or 9th grade level)

11. Assessing Student’s Needs Students are assessed by using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) - Reading Test Learning styles inventory – Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic http://www.howtolearn.com/learning%20styles-quiz http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences- learning-styles-quiz

12. Assessing Student's Needs – Cont. http://www.aultmancollege.edu/Files/Understanding-Learning-Styles.pdf Personality Inventory – Introvert or Extrovert http://www.personalitytype.com/career_quiz/ Sixteen Personality Types http://www.personalitypage.com/high-level.html

13. Key Elements • EFF Framework • Speak so Others Can Understand • Listen Actively • Observe Critically • Guide Others • Cooperate with others • Reflect and Evaluate • Sales and Service Standards • Customer Service • Sales • Inventory

14. Interactive Curriculum • Thought for the Day • Students set Ground Rules • Setting SMART Goals • Action Plan to Manage Barriers • Examine Roles as Worker, Parent/Family, Community Member • Mystery Shopper • Store Scenario - mental math exercises - counting back change - figuring percents off running cash register • Good/Bad Customer Service • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRJW6qZZ3uQ

15. Portfolio • Workforce • Initial Goal Plan – Worker-Community-Family • Resume • Reference List • Workbook Assessments • Store Scenario Forms • Follow-up Goal Plan • Certificate of Completion • Items for Use on the Job • Formal and Informal Greetings • List of open-ended questions • Reflections on Thought for the Day • Hints for dealing with difficult situations • Hints for handling two customers at a time • Tips to handle angry customers

16. National Professional Certification in Customer Service Assessment consisting of 75 questions – 90 minutes (accommodations are available - must be applied for 30 days prior to test date) Covers Four different work functions Given on computer at an approved testing site (Rochester) Testing fee is $75.00 Sample test questions website: https://www.castleworldwide.com/castleweb/candidates/sample-tests/nrf-customer-service.aspx

17. Demographics of the Class • Two American men • Five women representing the following countries: • Ethiopia • Haiti • Mexico • Somalia • The Philippines • (Age range from the 20’s – 50’s)

18. Student Feedback Positive experience Learned many things they could use not only in the workplace, but also in their everyday lives Liked the time and length of the course Two American men passed the NRF Certification Test ESL women passed two of the four sections of the test (they had double the time to take the test) Lina’s story

19. Teacher Observations Literacy level of 6th Grade is high enough to handle the course work Literacy level needs to be higher then 6th grade to pass the test There is now an ESL version of this course