This August, I had the opportunity to take HDI's Support Center Analyst course. This course was geared toward teaching support center processes, tools, and problem-solving techniques to anyone working in a support center/client services role. HDI uses real-world examples while demonstrating different ways to deliver excellent customer service, create customer rapport, and problem solve on the spot. Rae Ann Bruno was the course instructor, and over a two day span I had the chance to learn from her along with my colleagues!
I have been working for over a decade, and the majority of the jobs I've been a part of have involved some level of customer service. From working in retail stores, to working directly with patients, and even now with assisting my clients with their technological needs, I feel as though taking a step back to look at human behavior and practice real-world scenarios is crucial in future-growth. Its very easy to get caught up in your work and day-to-day life where everything starts to blend and the days seem all too similar. Living in the South doesn't help when its hot and humid every day, so the movie Groundhog Day feels all too real.
Now, I will say, a lot of this course felt common sense. From a curriculum standpoint, the importance of a strong foundation is crucial when designing a course, but I felt as though some of the material could have been trimmed down. That might not be the case for someone in a different company or role, but for me, my biggest takeaways from this course were customer service techniques, knowledge management, and the live scenarios.
When going over customer service techniques, I think its important to understand that some of our natural behaviors or tendencies when working with clients/customers/individuals are already positive. Reinforcing those good habits can lead to a better workplace environment and less stress overall. HDI's model on Knowledge Management was very insightful. Seeing both sides of a good and bad knowledge management system - and learning ways to turn bad into good and good into better - was eye-opening for my current position. Lastly, I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy live-scenarios. Having a sports medicine background helps me recognize the importance of practicing those uncomfortable situations or unpredictable moments. Getting the change to rehearse stressful scenarios in a low-pressure environment makes it much easier to perform effectively and efficiently when a high-stress incident occurs.
Again, I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to take this course and to learn from such a wonderful instructor who was down-to-earth and quick on her feet, especially when working with some of the less common systems at my current job. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open for future course opportunities!
~ Ben Paquette