BACKGROUND: The co-ed program is very popular and has limited enrollment. There are four 2-week sessions for children in Pre-K through 8th grade. Due to demand, the program usually sells out on the first day of registration in March. It is cold outside and people begin lining up in the middle of the night before registration begins. The registration process is still done manually due to limited funds for technology. Patrons entered the building after hours of waiting in line outdoors and go through various stations to complete the registration process. Patrons first picked up and filled out the application for the program, collected old health forms, membership cards and an information folder before getting to the payment station, where they would learn whether or not their children had spots in the desired sessions. 

PROBLEM: Process was slow. When people learned they would not get the coveted placements, they would be angry and frustrated. When a patron intimated performing a violent act “if his kid didn’t get in,” we realized something had to be done to reduce the level of (legitimate) frustration.

SOLUTION: Waiting for registration to begin was not the cause of frustration; rather going through all the processing and not getting placements was the problem. We suggested finding a way to let people know at the front end of the process, if they had their placements. Then they did not mind any amount of waiting for processing, as they were assured the spots were theirs. Along with opening earlier in the morning and providing coffee for those in line, we created a ticket for each available camp slot. Patrons now receive tickets for each session requested at the first station. They then proceed patiently through the various paperwork stations. We also added more people to service the patrons. “Registration is now over in less than two hours, and everyone walks away happy.” said the director of the center.

BACKGROUND: Company was started for the purpose of creating and marketing educational videotapes. In addition to the President and Chairman, there was a Controller, a secretary and a person to handle the videotape orders. In time, the company brought into the business, public seminars and books published by the Chairman. Two people were added to handle course registrations and book sales. Eventually two shipping people were also added. 

PROBLEM: Growth created a strain on the staff. Another person was needed to assist but it was not clear which area would benefit most from the addition of a staff person. Also, customers were shifted to different personnel to handle the specific request for courses, books or videotapes. If that particular “expert” was unavailable, the customer would have to be called back at a future date.

SOLUTION: We recommended the addition of a customer service manager to integrate the three existing staff into one department. Cross-training was done so that all four staff could handle any requests from a customer.

BACKGROUND: This global strategic marketing company suddenly lost their controller. A temporary independent financial person was brought in to keep things afloat. In time, she was invited to stay with the company in a full time capacity. Because the company was small, it needed only one person to handle all the financial work from daily operations through financial reporting.

PROBLEM: The financial consultant was willing only to accept a part time position. Her skills were at a higher level and she did not wish to manage the day-to-day tasks.

SOLUTION: We split the job tasks into daily and higher level tasks. The salary was prorated for three days per week to go to the highly skilled consultant. The other two days salary was enough for a full time bookkeeper. Coverage was available daily for any needs of the company. The high level consultant worked three days per week and was available for special projects as well. For the same cost, the company had eight per week of employee time.

BACKGROUND: The VP of Marketing and Sales requested a consultation with his Customer Service Department. He wanted to make customer service the "Best of the Best" by giving the customer service reps (CSRs) training on telephone skills and upselling – the technique of recommending additional products to customers. Debbie asked many questions to clarify what we perceived needed "fixing."

Debbie’s first request was to meet with the CSRs - those people who are closest to the process. She attended a weekly department meeting and asked how the company's mandates to cut costs, increase efficiencies and sales might apply to their department. In a subsequent meeting, Debbie helped the C.S. Dept. explore and envision an excellent cus-tomer service department, identity the qualities of good customer service and how they might add value and increase sales. Some of the points recog-nized were the capabilities to: answer customer questions accurately and in a timely manner, develop a trusting rapport with the customers, anticipate customer needs, follow up, provide quick turnaround, prevent and troubleshoot  problems and make it easy to do business with the company.

After identifying these points, the CSRs began to recognize where they faced obstacles to providing the excellent service they strove for. They felt they did not have thorough product knowledge nor access to detailed specifications of all our products in one place. Their computer systems were slow to respond and they could not easily look up all the information they needed to answer a customer inquiry without scrolling through many screens and keeping (he customer waiting. They didn't feel they knew what questions to ask the customer, so they could offer additional products for purchase.

The outcome of this session provided the framework for additional fact-finding and subsequent action. After learning there were multiple prod-uct databases housing a lot of overlapping information, Debbie suggested combining all the databases into one, with all the fields needed by everyone using product insinuation. Not only would this assist CSRs, it would eliminate redundant entry, reduce entry1 errors and save computer resources. Specialized reports, screens, and queries would then he made available to individual users, with their own unique information.

We brought the Product Manager, Production planner and an IT person together to explore, develop and execute the plan. The project resulted in a Customer Service screen with all the "tools" in one place so the CSRs could quickly jump anywhere they needed to for information. A side benefit of the project was the excellent and successful interdepartmental project. 

These initiatives improved our ability to serve the company’s customers, and training had not even been delivered yet!

Debbie followed this intervention with a telephone skills session and a role-play exer-cise, where everyone had the opportunity to play the role of a customer, a CSR and an observer.

The CSRs were now equipped to respond to customers in the way they envisioned a great customer service department should! They are happy with their new equipment and processes. Customers arc reaping the ben-efits of the investment.

“I recommend you use our consultant" to help you address process and people issues. Her services go way beyond signing up to attend a workshop. It is all about organizational effectiveness and maximizing efficiencies.

PROBLEM:
 

SOLUTION:

Realize English training must come first

EMPLOYED: People and process