Each of the new interactive online courses lasts around thirty minutes and features three or four short videos that demonstrate the learning points using the humorous Video Arts “wrong way, right way” approach. The courses also include the theory behind the learning; activities to help learners reflect on their own experience; practise questions to check their understanding; summaries of the key learning points; and comprehensive support materials to help L&D teams and line managers integrate the courses with face-to-face training.

"Customer-service training needs to be quick, engaging, and effective so that people can learn the necessary skills without being off-the-job for too long," said Martin Addison, CEO of Video Arts. "Our new eLearning courses are specifically designed to meet this need and to help people deal more effectively with difficult customers. The characters, scenarios, and humour in the courses all combine to get learners emotionally involved. This means they’ll not only enjoy the content, they’ll be able to remember and apply what they’ve learned."

The 32 bite-sized videos that feature in the ten eLearning courses are available separately in a new Customer Service Essentials series. These complement the Management Essentials and Workplace Essentials resources launched last year by Video Arts. In total, Video Arts now has 103 videos and 32 online courses in its Essentials range. 

"We now have a complete collection of bite-sized videos and eLearning courses covering the essential management, workplace, and customer-service skills," said Martin Addison. "We also have our classics library of video and eLearning resources, so we can offer the flexibility that organisations need in order to provide the right learning content for every employee and support informal learning."

The ten new customer service eLearning courses are Customer Types; First Impressions; Communicating Effectively; Advising the Customer; Customers on the Phone; Online Customers; The Power of Behaviour; Service for Sales; After Sales; and When Things Go Wrong. Featuring Mark Heap, Tom Bennett, and others, the courses are available online in a responsive design format - for any PC, tablet or smartphone - as well as offline via an app for iOS and Android devices.

The Video Arts Management Essentials resources cover issues such as leadership, teamwork, discipline, motivation, performance reviews, and recruitment. The Workplace Essentials resources cover key skills such as self management, communication, dealing with stress, negotiation, and presentations.