TODAY’S TOPIC: WE’RE LISTENING ….. START WITH HEART

Nothing makes my day more than hearing from satisfied taxpayers.  Recently a resident, Kathleen on Windbrook, emailed me to say the following:

“It’s not too often that we take the time to compliment a person on exemplary customer service.   I was so impressed with the actions of your building department employee that I felt I just had to write this letter of commendation about Tim Golden.”  She went on to explain how within 20 minutes of her call Mr. Golden responded and solved an issue regarding a problem water line.   “You have a very dedicated, customer-oriented, courteous employee working for you.  You should be very proud!”

And proud we are.  This is the third such letter I have received recently commending Elyria City employees on outstanding customer service. The City of Elyria has some wonderful people working on its behalf, so I am not terribly surprised – but I am gratified that we are growing this trend of satisfaction through our new customer service training program for employees provided to us free of charge as a municipal pilot project by the Cleveland Clinic.

Called Communicate with HEART℠ - for Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Respond and Thank – this award-winning customer service model was brought to the City by Safety Service Director Mary Siwierka who was a former administrator in the Cleveland Clinic Office of Customer Satisfaction.   The model has been adapted and provides training in service recovery – making right what went wrong.  The training is designed to challenged employees to think about when they may not have received the service they expected.  How did that make them feel”   What was their impression of the organization? 

 
 

Part of the training involves roleplaying the part of residents
as they try to resolve common issues in the City.

Approximately 65 percent of the City of Elyria workforce has been trained in the Communicate with HEART℠ Program.  We began in October 2012 with the Elyria Public Utilities Department.  Since then we’ve seen improvements in our customer service delivery as well as improved inter-departmental relationships.  One of the goals was to learn best practices from each other and focus on behaviors that build a strong and cohesive customer service culture.

With the aid of a power point presentation, one or two pre-trained Ambassadors are used as facilitators to present S.T.A.R.T. with HEART℠ and Respond with H.E.A.R.T.℠  to their colleagues.  The philosophy behind the program is to increase awareness of impact of every resident, visitor and employee interaction every day, every time.  Participants are given a workbook to review prior to the training.  Facilitators explain why a commitment to service excellence is important.  Participants practice the nine expected service behaviors.  They include: acknowledge the other person, introduce self and role, use person’s preferred name and greet warmly, clearly communicate expectations, offer to resolve concerns or forward to the appropriate person, use active listening, show empathy, use common courtesy and offer to help. 

The sessions are interactive and participants participate in role playing to apply the skills they learn.  I would encourage anyone to try these strategies.  While they sound like common sense, doing them regularly and strategically can help with communication at home, work and in the community.  Try it!

START with Heart – Smile and greet warmly, Tell your name, role and what to expect, Active listening and assist, Relationship and rapport building and Thank the person

Respond with HEART – Hear the story, Empathize, Apologize, Respond and Thank

If you have a good news customer service story about one of our employees, please let me know so we can share the good news!  You can email me at hbrinda@cityofelyria.org.