Bus 140 Customer Relations         5 Credits

          Instructor:  James Braden       Office: 206-524-8464                            

Please call if you have questions or concerns. I'm generally in my home office, unless teaching courses on different campuses.  If you get voice mail, I generally return calls immediately or within a few hours. Be sure to leave your name, the time you called, your question, and the best time to reach you.

Email all your papers and assignments to bradenconsulting@comcast.net 

Attention!    A completed bio with your photo is necessary before financial aid is notified. 

Course Description                     

Develops skills to identify and resolve internal and external customer complaints, handle difficult customers, and utilize effective verbal and nonverbal communication methods. Teaches students how to contribute positively to the service culture of an organization. Emphasizes importance of effective customer service for business success. Examines future trends and changes in work environments.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. To identify internal and external customers and their roles in business processes.

2. To communicate with customers in person by using effective verbal and nonverbal skills.

3. To learn the strengths and weaknesses of various electronic media to resolve customer problems.

4. Learn negotiation, time management and goal setting skills for dealing with customer complaints.

5. To recognize the importance of good business practices and maintaining high ethical standards.

6. To build leadership skills for self motivation and taking personal initiative to resolve problems.

7. To learn practical techniques and useful responses for dealing with customer demands.

North Seattle CC  Essential learning Outcomes that relate to class assignments.

Critical thinking and problem solving.
Communication and Self Expression.
Collaboration: Group and Team Work.

Academic Integrity

    Education, and distance learning in particular, assumes a high level of trust between the instructor and students. I expect honesty from all my students. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated and could mean a failing grade for the assignment. All students are expected to do their own work, except where group activities specifically require collaborative efforts.
     If any situation interferes with your efforts to carry out the requirements of this course, please let the instructor know as soon as you are aware of these circumstances.  You are expected to communicate with other class members and the instructor in a professional and respectful manner. I trust that all work submitted will be the product of your own efforts and if you are referencing outside sources, you will cite all appropriate sources in your work.

    All written assignments will be graded for use college level English so be certain to run spelling, grammar and style checks on all papers. For those students needing assistance with writing please contact The Loft, upstairs in the campus library. What I'm looking for in your papers.

If you have a disability that will affect your performance in this class, please let me know. Students with disabilities are encouraged to use Disability Services for support in implementing reasonable accommodations for their disabilities

Profile of a successful online student

Textbook:  Customer Service-Career Success Through Customer Loyalty – 5th Ed.     Paul R. Timm , 2011

Week 1     April  2-6

     Chapter 1   Know Why Service Matters

* If you are comfortable with Instant Messaging you may want to include that information in your biography.

* Review the biographies/photos of the other students on the class roster and contact the persons you would like to work with to say hello. It's expected that you will use the first weeks of the quarter establishing good working relationships with at least one or two other students during this time of no assignments. There will be little time for this bonding later on when the assignments are due.You are expected to maintain communication with your team throughout the quarter, not a few days before an assignment is due. You do not have to stay with the same team all quarter. 

* You may use Angel Chat, or any other Instant Messaging system for your group work, send regular email, or simply pick up the telephone to speak with your fellow students. To video CAM in groups, you may want to explore this software   http://oovoo.com

* PRINT A HARD COPY of this syllabus for later reference, just in case the servers are down when you have a question about assignments. It's also helpful to save the class website  to your favorites list by copying this link     http://facweb.northseattle.edu/bradenco/bus140jb     and pasting it into your browser so you can go directly to the website outside of Angel.

Week 2     April  9-13

     Chapter 2   Use Behaviors That Engage Your Customers

Keirsey Internet Exercise             *See instructions below on this page

                              Submit to Instructor by Noon on April 16

Not required, but you might find this article interesting and can add anything you learned about yourself to your Keirsey paper. 
   "What Money Type Are you?"  Money Magazine   Aug, 2005

A fun exercise. Do your vision/brain results support your Keirsey results? 

Week 3     April  16-20

     Chapter 3  Listen to your Customer

     Chapter 4  Use the Telephone Well for Good Service

How Are Your Phone Usage Skills and Attitudes?     Page 57 in textbook

- Write 1-2  page paper describing specific goals for any areas where you need to make improvements (the circled letters in the two right columns).  If you are doing everything right and did not circle anything in the two right columns then describe exactly what you are doing correctly for all 10 statements. (i.e.  for statement #1, tell me how your returning a call in a timely manner made a customer happy or "saved the day" for you.)   Examples of a good paper

                                 - Submit paper to instructor by Noon on April 23

Week 4     April  23-27

     Chapter 5  Use Friendly Websites and Electronic Communication

TEAM:    Compare and Evaluate Websites  -- Go to these two websites www.mountaindew.com   and www.rainforestcafe.com   Compare how well the sites use the Web to present their messages? (Do they enhance customer awareness, are they graphically pleasing, easy to navigate, useful to the target market, load quickly, accelerate the repurchase of products?)  Then contact your team mates to compare your evaluations.   *See instructions below.

                                     -Submit to instructor by  Noon on  April 30

Week 5     April 30-May 4

     Chapter 6  Recognize and Deal With Customer Turnoffs

Mystery Shopping Activity   Pages 98-99 in textbook.   When you have gathered your data from 3 businesses of the same type (retailer, restaurant, banks, car dealers, etc.), write a 1-2 page report on what you found. If you owned this type of business what would you do to improve the service?  Be specific. If you have visited multiple locations of the same business, like different Fred Meyer stores, then compare the differences in service between stores.             Example of a good paper

                                            - Submit to instructor by Noon on May 7

Week 6     May  7-11

     Chapter 7  Insight into Emerging Trends in Customer Service

Week 7     May  14-18

     Chapter 8  Get Customer Feedback

Understand Your Feedback Receptiveness Attitude       Page 123 of textbook.  Write a 1-2 page paper.

 Think back to a time when you received criticism from someone else. Recall a specific event or situation. Describe how you:    1. Avoided being defensive,    2. Asked for more information,    3. Expressed an honest reaction,    4. Thanked the person for providing feedback..  Then summarize by answering the question..... "Overall how would you rate your attitude when you are given feedback? What might you change, if anything?" 

Example of a good paper

                                            Submit to instructor by Noon on May 21

Week 8     May  21-25

     Chapter 9  Recover the Potentially Lost Customer

     Chapter 10  Exceed Expectations with Value

TEAM:  Evaluate Website for customer friendliness and usefulness.

- Go to www.niketown.com . Evaluate this site for good customer service. Click on  the NIKEiD button and build a shoe that fits your style. If you’re in the middle of your shoe design and have questions about what to do next, where can you go on the site for help?  Do you think it reaches its target market? Does Nike invite comments from visitors to this website? How does it attempt to build positive relationships with it’s customers?  Then contact your team mates to compare your evaluations

                              - Submit to instructor by Noon on May 28

Week 9     May 28 - June 1

     Chapter 11  Exceed Customer Expectations with Information

TEAM   Identify the Errors in Garth’s Call.    Page 71 in textbook.  List your own 4 or more ideas about Garths telephone problems then contact your team mates to compare your ideas. See if you can agree on what was wrong with the call and put those ideas into one paper.

                                     Submit to instructor by Noon on June 4

Week 10     June 4-8

     Chapter 12  Exceed Customer Expectations with Convenience and Timing

     Chapter 13  Dealing with Emotional Labor

TEAM   Consider this case - Birgit Goes Bananas    P. 203  in textbook. Answer the three questions associated with this case, then discuss them with your team mates.

                             - Submit to instructor by Noon on June 11

Week 11     June 11-15

     Chapter 14  Get Employees to Give Great Service

FINAL EXAM:   An open book, 50 question, two hour, True/False-Multiple Choice Exam.   Log on to Angel  any time from Friday, June 8 at 5pm to the evening of June 17 at 10pm.

FINAL EXAM   100 points.  A Combination of True/False/Multiple Choice or Essay questions based on text and any assigned readings listed in the syllabus.

***  KEIRSEY CHARACTER SORTER PAPER       1-2 pages          30 points

Sometimes understanding differences in employees’ personalities helps managers understand how to motivate them.  Find out about your personality by going to the Keirsey Character Sorter Web site   http://www.keirsey.com.

*  Click on the FOUR TEMPERAMENTS on the task bar, near the top of the home page, to review the different temperament TYPES. There are four different personalities described under each TYPE.  This makes a total of 16 possible personality descriptions. You will return to this section after completing the questionnaire. You may be able to guess your temperament and personality by reading the different personality descriptions.

*  Locate the icon labeled "Take the KTS - II"  to complete the questionnaire. 

*  Answer as you Typically or Usually behave. Press Score.

The test identifies four temperament types:  Guardian, Artisan, Idealist, and Rational. (Disclaimer: The Keirsey Temperament Sorter like all personality tests, is only a preliminary and rough indicator of personality.)

1.  Read the 4 personality descriptions associated with your TEMPERAMENT.  For example, a GUARDIAN TEMPERAMENT can be either a Supervisor, Protector, Provider, or Inspector personality.

2.  Choose the Personality description under your Temperament TYPE that you feel fits you the best.  Read the corresponding  description. How well or how poorly does this portrait describe you?

3.  Sometimes the test does not accurately identify your personality, but it may give you a place to start looking for a Personality description that fits. After you have chosen your Personality description, ask a good friend or relative which of the 4 personality descriptions under YOUR TEMPERAMENT TYPE that best describes you, without telling them what you have already selected. See if they choose the same description.  Do they agree or disagree with your choice? Then write about what they told you.  Discuss what you learned about yourself. Examples of good papers.

(For those interested in learning their Exact 4 Letter Type, contact me for further information or purchase the book Please Understand Me by David Keirsey)

* TEAM/CASE  ANALYSIS   (80 points total---20 points per case)     1-2   Single spaced pages per case. 

    Scores are not routinely sent out, only upon request by student.    Spelling and Grammar will not be checked on this activity, since you are grading yourself.

     Select 1 or more classmates to work with as a team (3 in a team is ideal) via discussion chat/email/phone/face to face contact.  If, for any reason, a student chooses to turn in their own answers without team interaction they receive half credit for that team exercise.  A person may be a member of only one team per exercise, with no overlapping teams. All members must claim each other as a part of the same team. You do not have to stay with the same team all quarter.

      Students should, individually, answer all questions accompanying each team activity listed on the syllabus, then SHARE their answers with other team members.  The results of your discussions should be compiled into a SINGLE PAPER.  All members of the same team must submit an IDENTICAL copy of this paper to me by email. This will verify all have actually worked together. (However, if any student has opinions which differ from those of their fellow team members they may include them as an addition on their copy.)  All papers will be emailed to me by the due dates stated in the syllabus.

     These papers should show EVIDENCE of an exchange of ideas. Each student is expected to make an honest contribution to the discussion. Do not be overly concerned if you don't share the same ideas.  Students will be expected to read the material and put in sufficient "thought time" to make meaningful Critical Thinking contributions to their group discussions.  The idea behind this exercise is that you have a continuing exchange of information with your team mates throughout the quarter which would be similar to exchanges in an on campus class. Please do not wait until the last minute to make contacts.

     Each student paper should contain a self rating of their own efforts AND a rating of fellow group members.  Each student assigns themselves and the others a score from 0 to 20 points.  Students should list those points after their own name and the names of fellow group members at the top of paper to be emailed to the instructor. Points roughly correspond to   20 = A      16 = B      12 = C      8 = D      0 = No preparation.

     The average of a students self rating and that of their fellow group members will be each students grade for the activity.  (For example: John Smith submits a Rating of 19 for himself and his 2 fellow group members rate him a 15 and 11. The total is 45 points and his average is 15. This is John's score for the activity.)

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Grading

Please note

*Tips for writing good papers.  Give yourself plenty of time! Write your paper, then let it sit overnight. You will be amazed at the errors you catch the next day.  Read it aloud to yourself, your ears will catch mistakes that your eyes do not. Or read it aloud to a friend, or better yet, an enemy! If they say, HUH?, what do you mean by that, they have done you a favor. Your paper should be self explanatory to anyone reading it or listening to you read it.  By doing any one of these things, or all of them, you will produce your best work.

* All written assignments need  to use college level English so be certain to run spelling, grammar and style checks on all papers. For those students needing assistance with writing please contact The Loft, upstairs in the campus library

* All assignments are due on dates specified in the syllabus.  Late assignments may be penalized, at the discretion of instructor, unless student has contacted instructor for an extension.

* Any grading system is subject to human error, so please contact me if there are questions.

*  Final grades are assigned according to published grading standards for the course.

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