| The Impact of Conflict Management Training on | | | | jukebox retrieve that particular record. You can even |
| Customer Service Delivery. This was the title of my | | | | watch it happen through the glass dome cover. It |
| case study in partial fulfillment of my doctoral degree | | | | places the record on the player, the needle drops, and |
| which I completed in 1996. More on this in a moment. | | | | the song begins. |
| Here it is 13 years later and… | | | | 1. No longer are you present to yourself or the |
| In a recent survey training participants were asked | | | | customer, you have been pulled by your history |
| what types of courses would greatly increase their | | | | toward an old event or feeling. |
| effectiveness at work, and the answers were: | | | | The first step back to the present is awareness. If |
| Leadership skills                     | | | | you are aware about something, you can assert |
| 56% | | | | control over it. Without awareness, it stays in the |
| Conflict resolution               | | | | unconscious or subconscious and you are at the |
| 53%Technical knowledge             47% | | | | mercy of whatever is happening. To strengthen your |
| Management skills                 43% | | | | awareness, pay attention to your feelings. If you |
| Communication skills             42% | | | | begin to feel antagonistic, take a moment, breathe, and |
| Project mgmt skills                41% | | | | look to see if it’s something in the present that |
| Critical thinking skills              40% | | | | bothers you or something ancient. Then choose |
| Innovative thinking skills        38% | | | | where to stay—in the present or in the past. |
| Negotiation skills                    | | | | The second step is to implement choices. Yes, you |
| 35% | | | | can always go to that old record and react rather than |
| Time management                35% | | | | respond. |
| Stress management              35% | | | | Now back to my case study. It took place at an all |
| Effective teamwork               33% | | | | electric utility company in their call center and, at their |
| Computer skills                      | | | | request, was focused on their longest and hardest |
| 33%    | | | | call—a complaint call—everyone’s longest and |
| Financial | | | | hardest call.  |
| skills                        23% | | | | The purpose of this study was to investigate the |
| None of the above                 1% | | | | impact of Conflict Management Training (CMT) on |
| Source: The Everything Disc Workplace Survey of | | | | customer service delivery. Specifically, it asked the |
| 5,945 Training Participants Nationwide by Inscape | | | | broad question:Â What impact does CMT have on job |
| Publishing ( July/August 2009, p 11) | | | | performance and customer satisfaction in the delivery |
| The source was surprised that dealing with conflict or | | | | of customer service? |
| difficult people was at 53%. | | | | This case study successfully proved that CMT |
| We’re not, are you? Today’s customers are | | | | reduced job tension, improved communications skills, |
| more sophisticated and have higher expectations. | | | | improved empathetic responsiveness, improved job |
| Calls coming into companies today are more complex, | | | | satisfaction and increased customer satisfaction, as |
| more complicated, and more accelerated before the | | | | well as significantly shortening call length. |
| phone is even answered. | | | | Specifically, CMT:Â |
| After all, if we could, as customers, handle most of our | | | | - Â Decreased job |
| questions, problems, concerns, etc. using self service | | | | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
| which is available 24/7, we would do so. But | | | | -  Increased communication skills |
| because self service isn’t what it should be, there is | | | | -  Increased empathetic responsiveness  |
| another step involved—call the company! At this | | | | -  Increased job performance |
| point, the customer could be frustrated, angry, upset, | | | | - Â Reduced the length of call by 22.3 seconds which |
| wasted time and/or got nowhere, impatient, all the way | | | | in this study representeda savings approximately |
| up to rage, and is ready to vent--and then the phone is | | | | $335,000 per year or 7 employees, and |
| answered. | | | | - Â Improved customer satisfaction 9.3% for High Bill |
| It makes perfect sense to me that people needs skills | | | | calls and 7% overall  |
| and techniques to deal with conflict and/or difficult | | | | Whether it’s 1996 or 2009, training is a necessity, |
| people. I think of customer service as like a | | | | not a choice, for positive impact on customer |
| jukebox. With an old fashioned jukebox, you select a | | | | satisfaction, employee improvement, and the bottom |
| record, push a button, and the inner workings of the | | | | line. |