Online Customer Interaction

Description

Today, the wealth of customer encounters take place online, which poses specific challenges on how we develop our relationship to customers.

The common problems of understanding and connecting to others during online collaboration are present also when we interact outside our organization. In sales and customer service, these problems of connection may be seen in negative customer experiences, lack of customer engagement and difficulties in correctly identifying and responding to customer needs.

The reasons for the challenges of online collaboration are becoming elucidated in contemporary science. Many arise from the architecture of our neural and psychophysiological interaction mechanisms, and how these mechanisms function (or don’t) online. Other challenges stem from the restrictions of our current interaction tools and how they are used in customer interaction.

This 2-day course is designed for professionals working in sales and customer service. The course will help you overcome restrictions of interaction technologies, create a better connection to your customers, and understand how to improve online interaction with customers also in the future.

Outcomes

After the course you will:

• Understand the neural mechanisms that help us connect, that generate trust and underlie successful negotiation, and how and why they are sometimes disturbed online
• Know how to develop skills that underlie forming a good connection to your customer in online environments
• Be able to choose the right technologies and human approaches for different interaction goals

Target group

Online Customer Interaction is designed for professionals who need to engage and collaborate with customers online. You can be for instance in sales, customer service, communication, and in any field of business, or from any type of organization. You can join the course as an individual, or as an entire team.

Course structure

Day 1. The neural basis of interaction, and the specific interaction requirements of sales and customer service

• The evolution and neuroscience of interaction
  • What is interaction on the level of the brain?
  • What skills are needed for trust, persuasion, negotiation, and positive customer experiences of interaction in general?
• From chatbots to cold calls - choosing the right media and technologies
  • How do different interaction tools support different goals in sales and customer service?
  • To what extent, and when can interaction be automated?

Day 2. Transforming online interaction

• The mechanisms of online interaction
  • Why is online interaction different from face-to-face encounters?
  • How do different interaction technologies allow or inhibit our interaction mechanisms?
• Mastering online encounters
  • Methods for deepening the sense of presence, trust and affiliation in different online settings (email, chat, phone, video meeting)

Methodology

Online Customer Interaction will take place over Zoom, and utilize our proprietary software for exercises. The two training days contain interactive sessions, short expert lectures and Q&As, as well as assignments for your team to complete.