Procedure
1. To introduce the lesson, ask students, “What factors contribute to a business being perceived as having good customer service?” During discussion, ask students to consider their own experiences as a customer and their expectations while comparing this with those of adults that they know. Have students discuss ways customer service expectations differ from one person to the next.
2. Review several workplace expectation and customer service skills that both business owners and their employees need. This should be a short review in whole group discussion during which students share both the term and definition with the class. Students should be able to share terms such as active listening, audience awareness, tone, collaboration, ethical behaviors, empathy, effective questioning, patience, adaptability, body language, and any other relevant terms/skills.
- Be sure to discuss how these skills can directly or indirectly influence the financial health of a business. For example, effective questioning can lead to a better understanding of customer needs, resulting in higher sales and repeat business.
3. Provide students with a copy of the case study, “Is the Customer Really Always Right,” (See CPALMS Resource ID #215719). Set the purpose by explaining to students that they will be evaluating how Mark and Rene, two characters in the case study, utilize workplace communication and customer service skills.
- As students read the case study, instruct them to annotate their page, including underlining or highlighting important information showing where Mark or Rene effectively used workplace communication or customer service skills, or where they needed to use effective workplace communication or customer service skills, but failed to do so.
- Ask students to keep in mind how these successes or failures might affect the business’s financial health.
4. Facilitate a whole group discussion using the following questions after the case study is read:
- How should Mark identify and evaluate the customer needs reflected in the feedback about Rene?
- What steps can Rene take better understand and meet customer needs despite her personal challenges?
- How can active listening help Rene and Patrick better address customer needs in their interactions?
- How should Mark balance addressing the needs of his customers with supporting his employees’ well-being?
- What strategies can Mark use to provide constructive feedback to Rene that aligns with customer needs and expectations?
- How can effective communication between employees and management help in accurately identifying and addressing customer needs?
- In what ways can Mark use customer feedback to create a more responsive and customer-focused work environment?
5. Divide the class into groups of no more than four students each. Distribute a copy of the Research Notes handout (see attachments) to each student to record their research notes.
- Explain to students that their first task will be to decide as a group which workplace or customer service skill is most important to the success of a business, in their opinion.
- Next, have students utilize a search engine and explore “companies with poor customer service”. Have students choose a reputable website and find an example of a company listed as having poor customer service. Instruct students to list the workplace communication or customer service skills mentioned in their research on their handout.
- Ask students to also note any financial impacts mentioned in the research, such as lost revenue or costs associated with correcting the customer service issues.
6. As each group finishes, assign them one of the customer service complaints found in the case study. Have students annotate on their copy of the case study what could have been done differently to lessen or prevent the chance of the customer complaint from occurring. Students should also describe or predict how addressing the complaints effectively could improve the business’s financial health.
7. To bring the lesson to a close, have students journal or free write their answer to the following questions:
- Now that you have completed your research, would you change the workplace communication or customer service skill your group chose as being most important to the success of a business? Why or why not?
- How did researching a real-world example help you understand the importance of workplace communication and customer service skills to the success of a business?
- How can you use or apply the workplace skills you learned about every day in the classroom?