3 minute read
Creating a Culture of Customer Service
Creating a Culture of Customer Service
Shep Hyken, a customer service expert, accurately observed,
In the early stages of the pandemic, leadership within the NICC Business and Community Solutions division noticed that remote work was negatively impacting internal communication. It was evident that processes needed to be reviewed and service standards defined in order to maintain customer relationships and live a culture of service. A secret shopper project was conducted to gather baseline data of customer experiences with front line staff. This data helped guide the direction of the customer service project and define areas for improvement.
The division took inspiration from Shep Hyken to launch the “It’s the Little Things…Be Amazing” initiative to be 1% better each day with the goal of encouraging teamwork, communicating in a positive and professional manner (both internally and externally) and providing a supportive work environment. The team created a Customer Service Agreement that defined service expectations for all employees and included standards for phone usage, email and chat, plus calendars and meeting guidelines.
While implementing this project, the leadership team participated in a training series focused on topics such as customer service, resiliency, change and leadership to ensure everyone understood the goal, could properly role model expectations for staff and live the customer service model daily.
“Our amazing team of directors worked hard to implement a robust customer service model including a customer service agreement, assessment and training for approximately 100 staff, with a goal of increasing our customer service by 1% daily to ensure our services are above our competition,” said Wendy Mihm-Herold, Vice President of Business and Community Solutions. To date, the initiative has several positive results.
Improved internal communication allowed customers to connect with a live person to quickly and efficiently answer any questions. In addition, staff were able to handle more than 90% of calls without transferring to another department or staff member. More than 210 customers responded to a customer service survey with overall positive comments about our communication, follow-up and patience in allowing time for questions. As a result, class evaluation quality scores rose from 4.5 to 4.75 and the division has an incredible 51% repeat customer rate.
The initiative was recognized nationally, winning an international award in lifelong learning for Best Management Practice by the Learning Resources Network (LERN), the largest association in continuing education in the world. “With more than 100 award nominations every year, gaining an international award is an outstanding achievement,” noted William Draves, LERN President.
The initiative is ongoing and the newly formed Quality Assurance Team will be reviewing data and looking for areas of improvement; for instance, adding Google Reviews and social media into customer feedback collection.
What started in the Business and Community Solutions division has now been implemented across the entire College. It can be duplicated for your business or organization as well. If your business or organization is experiencing challenges with customer service or other operational areas, the College is here to help. Our experts will partner with you to create a plan, and guide you through the development and execution of action items to improve performance. To learn more about customized solutions, have your questions answered or to contact a sales team member to get started, visit www.nicc.edu/customized-solutions.
