Customer Service as a Strategic Issue for the Public Sector    

Deliver great customer service to your residents and taxpayers 

Explore strategies for applying marketing concepts to a public organization and linking performance within the organization to its ultimate success. Inspire and orient everyone in your office to their customer service responsibilities and explore leadership and managerial strategies for creating an infrastructure that supports them in these roles. Learn how to create a customer-centered operation that unleashes the talents of your employees, examine the most crucial “moments of truth” for your customers, and develop a plan laying down the first steps toward making customers the center of your agency’s universe. 

By the end of this class, you should be able to: 

1. Define and describe “great” performance from the customer’s perspective. 
2. Describe key foundations for achieving high quality customer service. 
3. Define and describe your customers and their possible service expectations and perceptions of how well you have delivered on this level of service quality. 
4. Explore the key “moments of truth” that your customers experience when interacting with your office. 
5. Identify what front-line customer service employees require to consistently provide high quality service. 
6. Develop a plan to strengthen your agency’s customer service through effective customer service infrastructure, focused employee development, and strong partnerships with your customers. 

Instructor: Jeff Russell (MS, UW-Madison) is codirector of Russell Consulting, where he helps organizations successfully respond to the challenges of continuous change. He focuses on leadership development, strategic thinking, leading change, understanding and dealing with behavioral styles, and performance management.