What does word customer
service mean to you? Does it bring to mind Burger King's "have it your way?"
Or maybe those people who wave at you when you walk into Walmart? In any event,
we tend to think of customer service as the way we are treated in stores and
restaurants, but not necessarily by our co-workers.
Last August, over 80 people learned a new way of thinking about
customer service during the pilot Customer Service Training program
initiated by the ARD Training group. "Customer service also means
your interactions with the people you see on a day to day basis-you
need something from them, they need something from you, so its
customer service," says Cheryl Liberatore of the Registrar's office.
The ARD Training group focused on the notion that if we approach
people who need service as customers we might be able to improve our
interactions between people both outside of university and inside the
university. For example, customers don't always know what they want;
they rely on your expertise to help them define and articulate their
questions. In thinking about other people as customers, we may be
more inclined to slow down and listen, and to really think about what
the customer needs.
During the program, which was conducted by HR Alternatives, employees
from the Registrar, Purchasing, Financial Aid, and other departments
engaged in a variety of activities that encouraged them to think
about perception, communication, problem solving, and conflict
resolution. Many of the participants found strengths in different
activities. Fred Smith, for example, recognized how often competition
plays a role in our interactions: "With competition there's only one
winner, but if you put your ego aside to reach a compromise you have
two winners." For Karen Delaney, the opportunity for evaluation was
helpful in that it provided a way to identify strengths and
weaknesses, as well as some tactics for working through those weak
spots.
Overall, participants like Karen, Cheryl and Fred agreed that now,
almost seven months later, they still detect the training's positive
influence: a little more patience, a little more reflectiveness and a
little more understanding of where people are coming from."In some
respects the program was successful beyond our hopes," notes Forrest
Speck, chair of the ARD Training Group. "I think we developed an
attitude and a spirit that was as valuable as the training itself."
- - By Ellen Evans