The objective of this program is to provide customer service skills and computer skills to enable persons in the community employment within the customer service/ administrative/ order desk/ call center environment.
Our primary mandate is promoting consumer/ survivors by empowering them through skills enhancement and employment. This entails identifying and removing perceived and real barriers to the workplace. This is achieved by bringing local employers in and having them participate in the process through guest presentations in the classroom, submissions of course content and the option of hiring graduates of the program.
The program itself is designed with local community businesses input and consultation. Working with community partners, agencies and service providers, this program will provide the technical abilities and customer service skills necessary for the graduates to obtain and retain gainful employment in today’s marketplace. Skills obtained from the program will be directly related to the skills that businesses are looking for in new recruits. We will maintain constant contact with area employers and will modify specifics to suit their needs on an ongoing basis.
We will provide participants with customer service skills that will enable the graduates to relate to customers and clients on behalf of the company. A strong emphasis will be placed on customer relations, as this is what companies have expressed as their strongest trait that they look for in new employees. Letter writing, job interviews, resume preparation and communication skills will be addressed during this program.
Program Content
During the
Personal Development section of this program content will cover,
- Goal setting and achieving
- Stress and stress management
- Self-esteem
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Anger
- Conflict Resolution
- Time Management
- Four easy steps to self-improvement
During the customer service section of the program participants will learn,
- Identifying and coping with challenging customers
- The four communication styles and how to communicate with customers in their style
- Effective listening skills
- Internal/external customers
- Communicating with customers, co-workers and supervisors
- Telephone techniques including simulated calls
During the Sales section of the program participants will learn,
- Personal selling
- How customers make buying decisions
- The customer value
- Buyer action theory
- Product features, benefits and bridge statements
- Value added
- Methods of closing the sale (trial, summary-of-benefits, assumption, special concession, direct appeal)
- Retailing
- Telephone greetings that clients, prospects and employees respect
- Developing long-term customers
- Qualities of a professional sales person
During the computer fundamentals section of this program, participants, regardless of their current level of computer skills, will be guided through extensive computer skills development.
Curriculum will cover,
- Hardware fundamentals
- Diagnostics and repair of common glitches
- Operating systems
- File management
- Data Entry
- The Internet
- Understanding how the Internet works
- Accessing the Internet
- Internet Browsers
- Email
During the MS Office section of the program participants will develop the necessary skills to successfully use MS Office including:
- MS Word
- MS Excel
- MS Access
- MS PowerPoint
- MS Outlook
During the Professional Development section of this program content will cover,
- Resumes
- Cover letters
- Writing techniques
- The job interview
- Great answers for tough interview questions
- Dressing for interview success
- Mock interviews
- Networking
- Teamwork
- Handshakes
- First impressions
We accept continual referrals to our program which is 100% facilitator lead. Programs run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday to Friday. Participants have a one hour lunch and a morning and afternoon break.
When participants have successfully completed this program, they will possess all the personal, professional and technical skills necessary to move into the workforce. They will have the ability to succeed and excel at their chosen employment. We have approached area employers and provided information sessions to allow them to become familiar with all aspects of our program Continual employer contact allows for ongoing curriculum development.
We have implemented a Mentoring Society for the program. It is imperative that the participants have a support mechanism in place. Through this program initiative, graduates build a solid network between themselves and the program. This allows for professional and personal growth. With continually increasing membership, as programs proceed, the amount of internal and external supports grows. The mentoring society comes into the classroom to facilitate the tutoring of students. As well, mentoring occurs on-the-job as new graduates begin their employment, past graduates will assist in their workplace requirements.
We emphasize and encourage the abilities of the graduates through accomplishments, pride, learning and self-sufficiency.