Creating a Customer Service Officers Program

Posted on April 29, 2013 Updated on September 10, 2019

When trying to implement a customer service transformational strategy across an organization, you can expect a number of hurdles to arise which could slow down its implementation at various levels within the organization. Some examples of these hurdles are departmental processes, individual leaders or a change-adverse culture. Thus, in order for a strategy to be completely adopted, you need to elicit stakeholders to push it forward.

That is why I created the Customer Service Officers program within the City of Philadelphia’s customer service initiative. The primary responsibilities of the Customer Service Officer’s role are to:

• Support departments to achieve their respective customer goals and key performance objectives
• Implement appropriate actions towards improvement in their departments

Including departmental Customer Service Officers (CSO) within a strategic initiative not only offers a specified liaison between the Chief Customer Service Officer and the department but it also provides the initiative with an “expert” in specific departments. With this model, each CSO can bring insight and make recommendations that will help the initiative survive in individual departments.

In the City of Philadelphia Customer Service Officers Program, CSO’s create the following materials which are unique to their department:

• Vision and Mission Statements for Customer Service
• “Voice of the Customer Program” Process to Identify and Prioritize Customers’ Needs and Wants to Improve Service Quality
• Customer Service Training Program
• Customer Feedback and Engagement

While it might seem that this approach will create a fragmented customer service initiative across our organization, it is my responsibility as a Chief Customer Service Officer to make sure these deliverables are consistent with the higher-level plan. This approach, however, provides the overall effort with a department-level expert in the planning stage and a liaison throughout its implementation.

What programs do you currently have in place to ensure the organization is executing your customer service plans and initiatives? Help Rosetta out by leaving your suggestions in the comments below and the best answer will be rewarded with a $5 Starbucks gift card.