Total Quality Customer Service focuses on understanding one's role and how to best serve customers. It discusses determining one's job responsibilities, knowing oneself, understanding different types of customers and their needs, effective communication skills, and how to handle difficult customers. The goal is to provide remarkable service through empathy, fairness, responsiveness and ensuring customer satisfaction.

1. Total Quality Customer Service:Total Quality Customer Service:
“But, that’s not MY job!”“But, that’s not MY job!”
Understanding, Developing, &
Enhancing Your Customer Service
Skills In CUSD 220
Christopher D. Mitchell, MTS, MPH, CVA

3. Why are We Here TodayWhy are We Here Today
• “Getting to Know You….”
• Determining what YOUR job really is all
about….
• “Know Thyself…and Be True”
• Understanding your “Customers”….
• “I can’t get no satisfaction….”
• The Bottom Line!

4. ““Getting to Know You….”Getting to Know You….”
You have been hired by the Creative
Classroom Company to illustrate a poster to
help children learn their ABCs in District
220’s Kindergartens. You and your first
name are the subject (what are the
chances?)!

5. ““Getting to Know You….”Getting to Know You….”
 Write your first name vertically down the left side
of the paper.
 Choose a word for each letter of your name, to
describe something about you. Write those words
across the paper, using the letters of your name as
the first letter of each descriptive word. You can
include a simple picture or symbol if you choose.

6. Determining what YOUR jobDetermining what YOUR job
really is all about….really is all about….
• Think about what you spend the majority of
your time doing in your job each day
• What determines if you do your job
correctly?
• Are you good at your job?
• Why does your job matter?
• Is your job a piece of a larger task ?

7. ““Know Thyself…and Be True”Know Thyself…and Be True”
To thine own-self be true;
And it must follow, as the night
the day.
Thou can'st not then be false to
any customer.
Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 3, Shakespeare

8. ““Know Thyself…and Be True”Know Thyself…and Be True”
Look well into thyself; there is a source
of strength which will always spring
up if thou wilt always look there.
Marcus Aurelius

9. ““Know Thyself…and Be True”Know Thyself…and Be True”
Seek out that particular mental attribute which
makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along
with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This
is the real me,' and when you have found that
attitude, follow it.
William James

10. Understanding your “Customers”….Understanding your “Customers”….
• What is a “Customer” ?
• Who is your “Customer” ?
• Can you have more than one at a time?
• How do you know what the “Customer”
wants or really needs?
Please note: Your actual mileage may vary according to your driving habits, caffeine intake, donut choices left
when you get there, and available options at your local dealer. The customer is NOT always right; however, he
or she is ALWAYS the customer!

11. Understanding your “Customers”….Understanding your “Customers”….
 What are some ways to get to know your
customers?
Ask questions.
Empathize.
Switch Places.
Listen.
Understand the context.
Other Ideas?

12. “There is only one boss, and whether a person
shines shoes for a living, or heads up the biggest
corporation in the world, the boss remains the
same. It is the customer! The customer pays
everyone’s salary and who decides whether a
business is going to succeed or fail…. Literally,
everything we do, every concept perceived, every
technology developed and associate employed, is
directed with this one objective clearly in mind—
pleasing the customer.”
Sam Walton, Founder

13. “That's what it's all about, being in front there and smiling and just
making everybody happy. That's the whole thing of it.”
Ed Trinka
Photo: Neville Elder (Corbis)

14. The Magic Lamp: Three WishesThe Magic Lamp: Three Wishes
• The Genie grants you the miraculous power
to make three changes at work
• You can change yourself, your boss, your
job, your coworkers, etc.
• Determine your three changes and report
them back to whole group

15. NAESP, Communicator, PR Primer, Feb 200
Red Carpet Schools Award:Red Carpet Schools Award:
S.C. Customer Service ProgramS.C. Customer Service Program
• Friendliness: Customers need to receive polite &
courteous treatment
• Understanding & Empathy: Customers need to believe
you understand
• Fairness: Customers need to feel they will be treated
justly and impartially
• Control: Customers need to feel they can have an impact
on results
• Options & Alternatives: Customers need to feel there are
different ways to handle problems
• Information: Customers need to know and understand
school policies and procedures

16. Joel Spolsky, 2.19.07 joelonsoftware.com
Seven Steps to RemarkableSeven Steps to Remarkable
Customer ServiceCustomer Service
1. Fix everything two ways
2. Suggest “blowing out the dust”
3. Make customers into fans
4. Take the blame
5. Memorize awkward phrases
6. Practice puppetry
7. Greed will get you nowhere

17. PerspectivesPerspectives
Customer complaints are the schoolbooks
from which we learn.
Unknown
Customer service is awareness of needs,
problems, fears and aspirations.
Unknown

18. PerspectivesPerspectives
The longer you wait, the harder it is to
produce outstanding customer service.
William H. Davidow
The customer’s perception is your reality.
Kate Zabriskie

19. Academy for Educational Development 200
Customer Service FundamentalsCustomer Service Fundamentals
1. Expand your idea of “service” in the
context of a public school.
2. Consider or reconsider who are your
customers.
3. Develop customer friendly service
techniques and systems.

20. Self-EvaluationSelf-Evaluation
• Ten questions to measure your level of
customer service
• Objectively assess yourself for strengths
and areas to devote some attention
• Scoring Key: Rarely = 0 Sometimes = 1
Often = 2 Almost Always = 3

21. My Customer Service StyleMy Customer Service Style
• No right or wrong answers
• Base your answers on how you do your job
now, not how you plan to in the future
• Choose the ONE best answer
• Matrix scoring on Working Styles Grid

22. The 10 Golden Rules for Complaint Resolut
Handling Customer ComplaintsHandling Customer Complaints
1. Express Appreciation
2. Show Empathy
3. Apologize
4. Have a Sense of Urgency
5. Ask for Necessary Info
6. Assure the Customer
7. Explain What you are going to do
8. Solve the Problem
9. Ask if he or she is satisfied
10. Investigate and solve the underlying problem

23. Ten Ways to Get an Angry Customer to Bac
Difficult CustomersDifficult Customers
1. Lower your volume
2. Express Empathy
3. Be Personal
4. Form Partnerships
5. Ask Customer for Solution Ideas
6. Use a Non-defensive Tone
7. Thanks for feedback
8. Listen to Understand
9. Make your voice naturally authoritative
10. Apologize

24. Solving the PuzzleSolving the Puzzle
• Who is the Customer?
• What is Customer Service?
• What is Total Quality Management?
• What is My Role in Quality Customer
Service?

25. OverviewOverview
• Why does customer service even matter?
• Putting the Pieces together? Administration
Staff
Taxpayers
Parents
Board
Students
Public
Business
Colleges
Teachers

26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8

27. Dealing with The PublicDealing with The Public
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• How Do You Respond?
• First Impressions=Lasting Impressions
• Learning Activity

28. Customer Service SkillsCustomer Service Skills
• Ink, Paper and Post-its
• Face to Face
• With this Ring, I Thee Annoy!
• What a Tangled Web We Weave!
• Email, Schmemail, Junk-mail, Oh, Well!

29. Improving Your Phone InteractionsImproving Your Phone Interactions
• Smile when talking—changes are obvious
• Use a mirror to gage your emotions
• Stand up if necessary for more power
• Find your sweet spot on your phone
• Pick up, Breathe, then Talk
• “How can I help you?” attitude
• Be aware of background noise

30. Email EtiquetteEmail Etiquette
• Rule #1: Email is Forever!
• Rule #2: Would you like to see it on the
front page of the Trib or Herald tomorrow?
• Rule #3: Should you really be doing this?
• Rule #4: Read what you write; right what
you read!

31. Austin (TX) School District, April 2007
Email Etiquette:Email Etiquette:
Clarity, Conciseness, CourtesyClarity, Conciseness, Courtesy
1. Establish a clear Subject line.
2. “Front-load” your message.
3. Keep it short.
4. Maintain Protocols
5. Be Judicious with the cc:
6. Edit and Proofread
7. Consider how an attachment can help
8. Be polite and professional at all times
9. Remember that email is public
10. Response Expectation
11. When it is best not to use or forward email

32. References, Resources & ReligionReferences, Resources & Religion
The Power of Nice,
Thaler, Linda Kaplan, Koval, Robin, Doubleday, NY, 2006
The 1-Day Marketing Plan,
Hiebing, R.G., Cooper, S.W., NTC Business Books, 1992
Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service,
Anderson, K., Semke, R., AMACOM, New York, 1991
Samurai Selling: The Ancient Art of Service in Sales,
Laughlin, C., Sage, K., Brockman, M., St. Martin’s Press, New
York, 1995
The Portable MBA in Marketing,
Schewe, C., Hiam, A., Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1992
The Guerrilla Marketing Series,
Various Titles, Levinson, J. C., Houghton, Mifflin, Boston