| Game |  Opener |
Team-building |
| Categories: | Energizer |
Review |
 Communication |
Topical: Customer Service |
Purpose: To sensitize front-line employees to the importance of solid customer service, problem-solving, and telephone skills.
Time Required: 15 minutes per day during a multi-day workshop on customer service skills.
Size of Group: Unlimited.
Materials Required: None.
The Exercise in Action: “Mystery shopping” and “mystery calling” activities help focus customer service training, according to Helen Socha, vice president at Worth Bank & Trust, Worth, IL. The following two activities teach front-line employees—especially new-hires—the difference between good and poor customer service skills, problem-solving skills, and telephone techniques by putting them in the customers’ shoes.
For the mystery shopping exercise, Socha sends pairs of participants to “shop” at a local mall with a checklist of good and bad customer service behaviors to watch for. As mystery shoppers, they observe and record the clerks’ customer service skills at a fast-food restaurant, specialty store, or department store. The teams present their experiences back in class. Socha then leads a discussion about their experiences by asking: What were the differences in service between stores? Among service representatives? Was service adequate, above average, or excellent? Why?
Participants are sent to “mystery shop” at retail stores instead of competitor banks, Socha says, to keep participants from clouding the service issue by comparing products and equipment instead of representatives’ behaviors.
For the mystery calling activity, Socha gives each participant a list of businesses and shops to call about their products or services. She then conducts a discussion of the differences among the representatives at each of the businesses, using the same line of questioning and discussion as with the mystery shopping activity.