Design Document for

PJ Enterprises Customer Service and Catalog

Database Training
By: Project Managers to the Rescue

Document Description
The purpose of the design document is to provide PJ Enterprises with a blueprint of the Customer
Service and Catalog Database Training to be delivered in September, 2016. This document
provides further course detail, including the overall learning approach, instructional media
choices, major course objectives, and a description of course activities.

Purpose of the Course

The purpose of the course is to train current telephone operators on both customer service skills
and technical skills required to interact with customers while using the electronic product catalog
database. After the completion of the course, it is expected that PJ Enterprises will see
improvements in their customer service scores by decreasing high call times and increasing the
accessibility of product information through the use of a categorized electronic product database.
The training is also expected to decrease customer service complaints resulting from transferred
calls to supervisors from customers demanding additional information.

Audience Description
The audience for the course will be current telephone operators:

PJ Enterprises catalog division presently employs fifty people. Forty staff members are employed
on a full-time basis. Included in the number of employees are twenty-five telephone operators.
Four of the full-time phone operators are considered to be leads/champions.
On average, the telephone operators have been with the organization between 2-10 months.
100% of telephone operators are female. Telephone operators range from 18 years old, straight out
of high school, to women in their 60s with the smallest number in the 33-55 range.
Some of the telephone operators have prior telephone experience, but for many, this is their first
job.
Four of the telephone operators are on the night shift, 11 on the day shift, and 10 on the evening
shift.
All telephone operators have completed a high school diploma or GED. A few have some college,
but there are no operators with college degrees.

Course Description
This course includes all tasks customer service telephone operators must carry out in their jobs
on a daily basis in the areas of customer service and using the product catalog database. This
course has three separate modules, the first to learn customer service skills, the second to
include product catalog database skills, and the third to put the skills learned in the first two
Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

models together in role playing exercises. The course provides the customer service telephone
operators with real-life scenarios that could be encountered on the job at any given time. The
course is flexible in nature and can be customized to the needs of the telephone operators. If
there is a particular area the agents are struggling with, the course can be customized to focus
more time in that particular area.

Course Seat Time

This course will have an 8 hour of seat time.

Instructional Architecture/Strategy for Course

The overall architecture for the course is directive. Telephone operators will receive
knowledge and information on customer service skills and the product database in a variety of
methods, including a PowerPoint presentation, hands on activities and role play exercises.
The purpose of this architecture is to allow the operators to build associations and learn skills
to be applied on the job. The instruction will chunk the knowledge and allow telephone
operators to frequently practice these skills in a variety of role playing and practice exercises.
Learners will receive immediate feedback on their performance.

Major Course Objectives

At the end of this course, telephone operators will be able to:

Utilize proper telephone etiquette while taking customer calls

Recite a standard greeting when answering calls
Resolve common customer requests while taking customer calls
Handle common customer complaints while taking calls without the need to transfer calls to a
supervisor
Resolve common customer issues without the need to transfer calls to a supervisor
Recite a standard call closing when concluding a customer call
Launch the product guide database
Navigate the product guide database screens
Search for products within the product guide database
Access product information quickly within the product guide database
Utilize customer service skills and product guide database to handle various customer service
situations

Learning Assessment for Course

There will be no formal assessment for this course, however, the trainees will participate in
many role play scenarios and practice exercises throughout the training, and will receive
immediate feedback provided by the instructor. This will confirm that the employees will be
able to perform and apply their newly acquired skills while in the call center.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Course Outline
I.

Course Overview
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

II.

Introduction
Importance
Course Objectives
Introduce Modules
General Information

Module 1: Providing Extraordinary Customer Service

A.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
B.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
C.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
D.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

III.

Module Introduction
Lesson 1: Using Proper Telephone Etiquette & Greeting the Customer
Lesson Introduction
Utilizing Telephone Etiquette
Greeting the Customer - Script
Practice Exercise
Review
Lesson 2: Handling Customer Requests
Lesson Introduction
Common Customer Requests
How to Handle Customer Requests
Practice Exercise
Review
Lesson 3: Addressing Customer Complaints and Concerns & Providing Issue Resolution
Lesson Introduction
Common Customer Complaints and Concerns
How to Handle Customer Complaints
Applying Guidelines for Issue Resolution
Practice Exercise
Review
Lesson 4: Closing the Call
Lesson Introduction
Asking if there are Additional Questions or Concerns
Thanking the Customer
Practice Exercise
Review
Cumulative Practice Exercise
Module Review and Summary

Module 2: Utilizing the Catalog Database to Answer Product Questions

A.
1.
2.
3.
4.
B.

Module Introduction
Lesson 1: Accessing the Catalog Database
Lesson Introduction
Launching the Catalog Database
Practice Exercise
Review
Lesson 2: Looking Up Product Information in the Catalog Database

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
C.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

IV.
A.
1.
2.
3.
4.

V.
A.
B.
C.

Lesson Introduction
Exploring the Screen Layout
Navigating the Database
How to Search for Products Using the Database
Practice Exercise
Review
Lesson 3: Accessing Product Attributes
Lesson Introduction
Accessing Main Product Information
Accessing Product Costs, Care Instructions and Other Features
Practice Exercise
Review
Cumulative Practice Exercise
Review and Summary

Module 3: Putting it Together: Providing Efficient Customer Service while Utilizing the Catalog
Database
Module Introduction
Lesson 1: Working Through On-the-Job Scenarios
Lesson Introduction
Working Through Common On-the-Job Scenarios
Working Through Difficult Customer Service Scenarios
Review
Mixed Role Play Exercises
Review and Summary

Course Summary
Content Review
Questions
Closing Summary Statements

Media
The main media being used for this course will be realistic photos of catalog items and other
navigational screenshots of the catalog database, as well as the instructor computer, telephone
operator workstations in the training room and the instructor. Slides will be used throughout,
as appropriate. The course may contain video and audio of customer service scenarios, as
appropriate.

Development Tools
This course will be developed using Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat for job aids and
PowerPoint for the presentation slides. In addition, audio recording and editing software may
be used to prepare good and bad examples of customer service, especially verbal exchanges.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Development Time
Project Managers to the Rescue will require an estimated 344 hours for development of
training. These hours include any already used in the initial assessment for the project.

Support requirements
For successful completion of the course, Project Managers to the Rescue will require PJ
Enterprises to provide support for development and actual training delivery by supplying the
following items:

The support of the PJ Enterprises IT department for database programming implementation, as

well as appropriate internet access.
Descriptive listing of all new and existing catalog items included for the upcoming launch,
including pictures of the products.
Adequate SMEs in each area to help develop and validate content.
Complete review of materials, ensuring training content is accurate and sign-off on all documents
in a timely manner.
Printing and assembling necessary course materials, including job aids, participant guides and
facilitator guides.
Paper and writing utensils for the trainees.
Establishing a rollout schedule to train all current telephone operators on new material.
Setting up operator workstations and instructor workstation/projector in the training room.
Providing quality headsets to all telephone operators.
Removing any SMEs time constraints to ensure their ability to consult with Project Managers to
the Rescue.
Complete change requests, should a need to change the course design or direction arise.

Ownership
Project managers to the Rescue will maintain all training materials developed for PJ
Enterprises through the final evaluation period, scheduled for 12 months after the Customer
Service and Catalog Database Training. After this initial period, ownership will be turned
over to PJ Enterprises to maintain all database and training materials at project completion.
Please note that maintaining the training materials does not include the updating of new
catalog items, unless PJ Enterprises would like to have Project Managers to the Rescue
provide a proposal for the scope and cost of maintenance services for an additional time
period.

Project Sign-off
Please sign below indicating agreement with the proposed course plan and approving start-up
of the development phases.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

______________________________________________
Instructional Designer
______________________________________________
Project Manager/Sponsor

_________________
Date
__________________
Date

Appendix A: Job Task Analysis

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Appendix B: Detailed Course Outline

I
A,
B
&C

II
C

Min.

Task / Topic /
Key Concept

5
Min.

Course
Introduction

N/A

Presentation of
facts and
information

N/A

N/A

Slides with
welcome m
informatio
importance
learner, an
objectives

35
Min.

Applying the
Guidelines
for Issue
Resolution Listen,
Sympathize,
Pause,
Empathize, &
Show
Gratitude

Given a common
customer
complaint,
telephone
operators will be
able to follow and
apply
recommended
guidelines to
resolve the issue
and attempt to
appease the
customer as
deemed
appropriate by the
instructor, after
referencing
checklist.

Demonstrate
rules and
principles

Practice or
demonstrate
task with role
play.

Learners will
demonstrate their
knowledge of
guidelines by
performing a role
play wherein a
customer has a
complaint. The
learner will apply
the guidelines
learned in order
to appease the
customer with
immediate
feedback being
provided by the
instructor.

A job aid t
depicts the
for respond
customer
complaints

Navigation in
the Product
Database

Using the product

database on their
workstations,
learners will be
able to use the
navigation
functions to access
the different pages,
tables and views
within the database
with no errors.

Demonstrate
task using
procedural
steps

Practice task
using
procedural steps
to demonstrate
proficiency
with task

Learners will be
given a list of
tasks to perform
using the
navigation
functions. They
will accurately
navigate between
pages, tables and
views within the
database.

List of ste
slide and

Searching the
Product
Database

Using the product

database on their
workstations and a
list of three
products, learners
will be able to
search for products
using key word,

Demonstrate
task using
procedural
steps

Practice task
using
procedural steps
to demonstrate
proficiency
with task

Learners will be
given a list of
three products to
find within the
product database.
They will
accurately locate
the items using

List of ste
slide and

III
B

10
Min.

III
B

15
Min.

Document2

Objective

Instructional
Method

Assessment
Method

Instructor will
use checklist to
identify use of
guidelines
while observing
a role play.
(Checklist shown
in Appendix C
and attached as a
separate file.)

Assessment
Description

Visuals
Sup

(Job aid sh
Appendix
attached as
separate fil

Visuals o
navigatio
functions
Appendix

Visuals o
functions

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

product ID or
product name with
no errors.

Document2

the search
function.

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Appendix C: Final Assessment

There will be no formal assessment for this course, however, the trainees will participate in many role play scenarios
and practice exercises throughout the training. This will be instructor-observed, and confirm that the employees will
be able to perform and apply their newly acquired skills while in the call center.
The checklist below is provided so that the instructor may give immediate feedback on Module 1, Lesson 3, Topic 4 Applying Guidelines for Issue Resolution.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Appendix D: Job Aid for Issue Resolution and Database Images for Training

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Document2

Customer Service and Catalog Database Training Design Document, contd.

Document2