customer service week
National Customer Service Week: Day Two
A brief recap from yesterday’s great presentation from the General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, Darryll Adams:
There were a lot of takeaways from Adams’ presentation, but perhaps the most valuable element he brought was opening up the floor for questions and comments. For City workers, having an opportunity to ask a question to an expert outside of the public sector is incredibly valuable. Granted, not everything relates between the two, but the fundamental principles of customer service are universal. Adams pointed out that his employees—no matter if they are on or off the clock—are instilled with a customer-centered attitude. Even when we are not at work our friends, family, and neighbors know that we are city employees, therefore, our actions and attitude should reflect that in our day-to-day lives.
For many departments, customer service is not the highest priority, and that’s why workshops like Darryll’s are important; they are geared towards training and development of the every day heroes. These City employees came out to discuss the importance of quality customer service because they believe in their calling. Getting employees invested in your mission is directly connected to your efficiency. In a cyclical way, when your employees are invested and believe in what they are doing they provide better services and the customer satisfaction rate increases dramatically.
In the private sector, companies compete for customers. The choice of service provider helps keep companies working to improve their services. The customers of the City have their families here. People who choose to work for local government have decided to participate in the civic responsibilities of this city. That is an admirable commitment. Our motivations in the public sector are driven, not by competition, but by the desire to help build a better city for all of us. We want our customers to keep coming back to Philadelphia. As a place to live, start a new business, or to visit and enjoy.
You Got Served! The City of Philadelphia Celebrates Customer Service Week
In the words of Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin, “Well done is better than well said.”
The idea of customer service is often reserved to describe interaction with stores, restaurants, and other organizations in the private sector. Rarely do we hear people say “Wow, that city government has great customer service.” Those outside of government might be surprised at how seriously customer service is taken in the public sector. In fact, Customer Service Week was created by the 1992 by the President of the United States, citing the value of service excellence in a free market economy. The proclamation said:
A business will do a better job of providing high quality goods and services by listening to its employees and by empowering them with opportunities to make a difference. Customer service professionals work in the front lines where a firm meets its customers; where supply meets demand. With responsive policies and procedures and with simple courtesy, customer service professionals can go a long way toward ensuring customer satisfaction and eliciting the next round of orders and purchases.
(Read the Presidential Proclamation here)
Fortunately, the Philadelphia City government has made customer service a priority. From the City’s Strategic Goal 5 of “ Philadelphia government works efficiently and effectively, with integrity and responsiveness—to the award-winning Philly311 non-emergency contact center—to city-wide departments and agencies using social media and other innovative approaches to engage citizens, customer service is not a stranger to Philadelphia’s public servants. For this year’s Customer Service Week, the City’s Customer Service Officers briefed Managing Director Rich Negrin and his senior staff on their departmental customer service plans. These efforts are part of the City of Philadelphia’s Customer Service Officer’s program—a way to implement meaningful, measurable and sustainable customer service initiatives within the City’s key infrastructure departments. Our City’s Customer Service Officers are made up of a remarkable group of committed employees who have conducted internal and external focus groups, determined customer service metrics and developed a scalable customer service plan with the support of myself, the City’s performance management team and Managing Director Rich Negrin who defines customer service as “meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of the customer as defined by the customer.”
Take a look at the CSO Program’s introductory video:
For this year’s Customer Service Week, we’re making Benjamin Franklin proud by not just talking about customer service—but actually doing something (many things actually) to make sure our customers are properly “served.” Happy Customer Service Week everyone!
Rosetta Carrington Lue is the Chief Customer Service Officer and Senior Advisor to the City of Philadelphia’s Managing Director. Follow Rosetta on Twitter @Rosettalue or visit her blog at www.rosettacarringtonlue.com
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