Customer Service

Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Service

Cleveland Metropolitan School District Module 2

The CMSD School Improvement Plan

Customer Service Goal

 To deliver superior customer service- right the first time, on time, every time.  Exemplary customer service is the key to customer satisfaction.  Quality customer service must be an integral part of our daily operations, and as such, will be developed and enhanced through professional development for all CMSD staff.

Refresher from Module 1 training. Who are our customers?

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Students Parents Co-workers Community Members and Business Partners Other internal and external customers

Define Customer Service

 Customer service is a commitment to meeting and exceeding constantly and consistently the needs of our customers. It is treating others twice as well as you would like to be treated yourself.

Topics for today’s presentation

 Why is it important for every CMSD staff member to prioritize customer service?

 How Charter Schools are impacting CMSD enrollment.

 What a loss in enrollment means to you.

 What you can do to make sure that our customers feel safe, cared for, and satisfied.

Our competition

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1998 2001 2003 2008 # Charter Schools in Ohio

How many students in Ohio attend a Charter School?

80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 1998 2001 2003 2008 Ohio Charter School Students

Over the last 4 school years, CMSD has lost between 4,500-5,000 students each year. 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 CMSD Student Enrollment Students attending charter schools in Cleveland

Students living within the district, attending schools outside CMSD 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 CHR CSP OE PS Charter Cleveland Scholarship (Voucher) Open Enrollment Private Schools

ADM Week is now ADM Weeks

October and February 53,000 52,800 52,600 52,400 52,200 52,000 51,800 51,600 51,400 October February ADM

Job security depends on stabilizing and increasing student enrollment!

 What are the top two reasons parents give for enrolling their students in a charter school?

Perception is Reality

 How do we change that perception?

 What can each staff member do so that students and parents feel that their school offers a safe and friendly environment?

Three easy things you can do…

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Don’t Criticize, Condemn or Complain.

Give honest and sincere appreciation.

Smile

Don’t Criticize, Condemn or Complain

 Criticism puts a person on the defensive.

 Criticism arouses resentment.

 As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain. ___Maya Angelou

 It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

 There is no ego in telling the waiter your soup is cold and needs to be heated up- if you stick to the facts, which are always neutral. “How dare you serve me cold soup…?” That’s complaining, that’s ego.

Why do people complain about the weather? All the complaining in the world can’t change it.

 Complaining is talking about things that you don’t want, rather than what you do want.

 When we complain, it should only be to express grief, pain or discontent and should relate to a serious cause or event.

Conflict Resolution

 When you have a potential conflict, resolve your issues by talking directly to the person or persons, rather than talking about your conflict to other people.

Complaining can be likened to bad breath. We notice it when it comes out of someone else’s mouth, but not when it comes from our own.

 What is said (tone, attitude) – “you look nice today”  What is not said (body language, facial expression – “are you losing weight?”  How it is interpreted by the receiver (intention of giver or perception of the motive) – “are you feeling all right today?”

Rules to live by

 When talking about other people, follow these two simple rules; – What you’re saying about the absent person is complimentary or constructive.

– You would repeat, word for word, what you are saying if the absent person were present.

Give honest and sincere appreciation (principle 2)

 John Dewey said that the deepest urge in human nature is “the desire to be important.”  It is the desire to be important that lures many boys and girls into joining gangs and engaging in criminal activities.

Why did Andrew Carnegie pay a million dollars a year to Charles Schwab?

 According to Schwab, it was his ability to deal with people: – “I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement” – “There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. So, I am anxious to praise, but loath to find fault.”

Once, I did bad and that I heard forever. Twice, I did good, but that I heard never.

 What does this statement mean to you?

Here is a riddle, can you solve it?

 It costs nothing, but creates much  It enriches those who receive it, without impoverishing those who give.

 It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.

 None are so rich that they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.

It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends.

 It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and Nature’s best antidote for trouble.

 Yet, it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anybody till it is given away.

Smile

(principle 5)

    Nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!

The expression one wears on one’s face is far more important than the clothes one wears on one’s back.

Smile while on the phone. Your smile comes through in your voice.

People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it.

“A man without a smiling face must not open a shop” ___ancient Chinese proverb

   Let’s put ourselves out to do things for other people- things that require time, energy, unselfishness and thoughtfulness.

Let’s greet people with animation and enthusiasm. Say “hello” in a way that really lets that other person know how pleased you are to see them or to talk to them.

What changes will you make to improve CMSD Customer Service?

 What three goals related to customer service will you work on this school year?