In preparation for an impressive series of events, celebrations and launch of many new amazing visitor attractions planned for 2012, South Eastern Regional College (SERC) has been providing world class customer service training for local businesses.
These high profile events will put Northern Ireland in the global spotlight and present a unique opportunity for business in the hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors to showcase the best of what we have to offer.
To help local businesses prepare and take advantage of this unique opportunity, SERC have hosted a range of Worldhost customer service training programmes to help give them a competitive edge in customer service. To offer assistance to meet the cost of this training the programme is offered in partnership with the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), The Northern Ireland Tourist Board and People 1st with a charge of only £20 per person*.
Since March, over fifty participants have attended SERC’s Bangor Campus to complete the training, which is aimed at enhancing the quality of customer service skills for local businesses to assist with their growth and success.
Lisa McKelvey, SERC Worldhost Trainer, explains: “2012 promises to attract thousands of visitors to the province. Making this training available through the College has given small to medium sized businesses access to world class training ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to deliver the highest levels of customer service. If businesses wish is to capitalise on this unique opportunity then delivering excellent, internationally recognised levels of customer service is crucial.
“At SERC we are committed to the local economy and a great part of this is encouraging skills development which will in the longer term generate jobs and long term careers.”
Pamela Withers, Front of House Manager for The Salty Dog Bangor explains: “I decided to go on the course as we are passionate about improving customer service and sales. I found the course really enjoyable. The trainers were very passionate and the content and delivery was very relevant. I now have a qualification to showcase our commitment to customer service and I feel I have the skills and confidence to excel at customer service.”
The programme has provided training to a wide range of local clients such as Frankie's Coffee House, The Old Inn, Crawfordburn, Bangor Marina, The Salty Dog and Fifty Two Bistro which will put our local economy on the road to providing the industry with the much needed skills.
WorldHost is currently being used to train thousands of tourism staff, volunteers and contractors involved in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics. This unique customer service qualification was originally developed in Canada where it was used to train 39,000 staff and volunteers in the run up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and is was widely perceived as the global leader for customer service – WorldHost also has a track record of being used to support other world-class events.
To make a booking, arrange a course or for more information about Worldhost customer service training at SERC please contact Nicola Johnston at 028 91276781 or email Lisa McKelvey at LMcKelvey@serc.ac.uk.