Every now and again we are surprised with what a customer request us to do. The Applied Innovation Centre offers the standard Customer Service training courses. One of our clients however requested that we conduct a program to improve customer service throughout all their business units.

Before beginning the program, we ascertained the current level of customer service comparing it against Best Practice Guidelines ascertained by the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF) and the International Customer Service Standards (ICSS). The result of this review quantified the gap that existed between the current state of affairs and customer service best practice.

The Applied Innovation Centre was appointed to design and deliver this training, which involved the delivery of full day workshops with each business unit throughout the organisation. The program was rolled out throughout the entire workforce in metropolitan and regional locations during a 12-month period. Thirty-seven facilitated sessions were conducted in all and approximately 713 people participated in the program.

Through the facilitated workshops, each branch/business unit:

• Received training on customer service principles
• Identified and classified their internal and external customers and received face-to-face feedback from a selected panel comprising both internal and external customers.
• Each team explored areas for improvement and key actions were identified.
• These actions were then developed and documented into specific action plans for each business unit.

It was agreed that a formal evaluation of the program would be conducted six months after each workshop.

It is interesting to note that client staff overall perceived their service delivery to be significantly lower than did their customers.

An evaluation program was established and consisted of three parts:

1. Opinions of Clients staff at the conclusion of each workshop

An interesting first reaction reported by many participants at the end of the workshops (and later confirmed by managers during the interviews) was that, contrary to their expectations, the experience was surprisingly pleasant.

2. Opinions of Branch Managers six months after each workshop

Branch managers described the workshops as a positive experience that gave them more insight into their customers’ needs and their role as a Branch.

Branch Managers also reported that the program had a strong teambuilding effect. The initiative was perceived as having a high ROI even though managers were not able to quantify this.

Based on the comments of managers during the evaluation, it appears that significant individual learning (IL) and organisational learning (OL) occurred as a result of the initiative.

3. Opinions of customers (both internal and external) six months after each workshop.

During the workshop both the business unit staff and their key customers were asked to give a score as to their perception of customer service i.e. workshop participants rated how they perceived the selected customers would rate them on a scale 1-10, and customers were asked to rate customer service on the same scale.

staff was 6.72 whereas the customer rating was 7.56.

A customer approval rating of 75.6% is considered a high base from which to improve customer relationships and confirmed the previous research by the client that generally good customer service/relationships existed prior to the Customer Service Awareness Program.

Evaluation Results

A questionnaire was sent to customers who attended the workshops to determine whether they had noticed any improvement in customer service. Of the 111 questionnaires sent to customers (internal and external) forty-four (44) responses were received.

Responses to the questionnaire revealed the following outcomes:

•          67% of external Customers and 61% of internal customers reported an improvement in customer relationships

•           17% of external customers and 31% of internal customers reported no change

•          83% of external customers and 97% of internal customers indicated that they believed participating in the workshops was worthwhile.

•          83% of external customers and 81% of internal customers reported a preparedness to participate in future workshops

When considering the above results, it is worth exploring the base from which improvement in relationships is measured. The average acceptance rating by customers at the workshops was 75.6%. Yet a majority of the customers reported significant increases in customer relationships in the period following the sessions. A number of customers who reported “no change” commented that the service level before and after was very high.

Additional Program Benefits

In addition to the above outcomes both managers and staff reported a number of ancillary benefits.

Team Development

The key elements of this program that made the difference were:

• The positive experience of attending the program with the rest of the Branch (together as an entire team/unit);
• Personally, meeting some of their key customers (some of which they had heard about, or spoken to on the telephone many times previously, but never met face-to-face);
• Receiving direct feedback from customers; and
• Getting things done (developing an action plan) together while having fun.

 Understanding

The cycle of questions and responses generated during the workshop enabled individual and interpersonal understanding of collective actions.

Cultural Change

Attitudinal or behavioural changes implemented by managers, as minor or insignificant as they might appear to be, are essential building blocks for a wider organisational cultural change advancing progress towards the desired future state of the organisation.

Customer Service Awareness

The program has introduced a new perspective into the organisation, with many managers indicating that the program has been a catalyst for a change in perception of the true nature and purpose of customer service. Some described the process as a 'tipping point' that has allowed employees to be more open to customer issues in their day-to-day business.

Reality Check

Various managers reported their staff’s belief before the workshops that their Branch was doing well with customer service. However, these managers and their staff members began to recognise through the feedback from the panel members that perhaps there was room for improvement. No participant indicated that s/he thought that the Branch was doing poorly before the workshops.

Customer Perceptions

Ultimately, any customer service change process will undoubtedly be judged by the customer. Customer responses to the evaluation questionnaire with more than 60 per cent of internal and external customers saying that customer service had improved. This is considered an exceptional result considering the high approval rating provided by customers prior to the program.

 

Conclusions

This unique initiative allowed the clients workforce to translate the organisation's value of "extraordinary customer service" into action by working together to implement a number of strategies that allowed their customers to provide input and be involved in their projects.

In addition to the improvements in customer service, other benefits of this initiative included team building for each branch in an atmosphere of fun and positivity, systematic review of current operational plans, empowerment of staff, beginning new partnerships with some of the external customers, and general alignment of the workforce with the organisation’s strategic plan and vision.   

If you would like the Applied Innovation Centre to assist your organisation in a similar customer service exercise, contact us here.