Customer Service at Georgia Tech
Team Georgia: Spring 2008 Customer Service Message
From the Governor’s Office of Customer Service
Set Goals and Create Action Plans
The first step in any good action plan is listening. Taking time to either seek out or provide opportunities for feedback is a necessary part of the process. Though it can take time to gather input, successful operations don’t skip this step. However, once customers have told us what they want, the ball is in our court! It is time to plan for action.
- Make sure we're all clear. First, get together with your work teams to make sure everyone understands what our customers' feedback means.
- Don't try to do everything at once. What are the top areas where you and your team can make a difference? Select a few key actions as priorities.
- Set goals for improvement. If our customers say a process takes too long, how can we make it faster? If it is hard for customers to reach us, how can we make it easier? If they are generally pleased with our service, how can we make a good service even better? It is important to set specific, realistic, measurable goals. Improving the level of service in academic advising, for example, can have a direct impact on Georgia Tech’s student retention, timely graduation and overall student satisfaction.
- Develop an action plan. Decide what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. Share your ideas – you are the experts! Working together, we can prioritize actions and form project teams. Are you interested in a particular improvement goal? Speak up – and join the team!
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Communicate! Talk with your teams about customer service goals and action plans. Share your ideas, discuss challenges, measure progress and celebrate success. Talk with your customers, too. Let them know you have listened, and you are working to serve them even better.
In future issues we will talk more about setting goals and creating plans to improve our customers' experiences. Everyone is encouraged to get involved and share your expertise. Together, we will continue to set the example for excellent customer service in Georgia! _____________________________________________________________________
For more information about Georgia Tech's Defining Customer Service certificate program and training classes, please click here or contact the Office of Organizational Development at 404-894-1146.
Your Customer Service Champion:
JulieAnne Williamson
Georgia Tech Office of Organizational Development
julieanne@gatech.edu