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5 Key Points On Customer Service Seminar Touts Value Of Just Being Nice

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By DAVE SIMANOFF, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 25, 2007

TAMPA - Mike Olgia has seen his share of training seminars during his 20-year career on the maintenance staff at Bank of America Plaza.

None of them, though, had been anything like the one he experienced recently, he said.

The subject wasn't new maintenance techniques, or training for new equipment. It wasn't safety or leadership or management.

It was customer service.

"I've kind of been looking forward to this one," Olgia confessed as the training group broke for lunch. "This is fresh. It comes in handy."

A staff of about 45 people run Bank of America Plaza, which is the largest office building in the Tampa Bay area. All of the employees are taking the customer service training: not just the blue-collar workers who keep the elevators running and the air conditioners purring, but also the white-collar workers who keep the building leased up and the tenants' checks rolling in. The entire staff took the seminar over a two-day period recently.
Bank of America Plaza is owned by insurance giant MetLife and managed by CB Richard Ellis.

Doug Lawson, Bank of America Plaza's senior chief operating engineer, called for a staff-wide customer service training program shortly after he joined the building staff a few months ago.

Lawson, who previously headed the maintenance staff at neighboring office tower 100 North Tampa, said customer service can differentiate landlords and management companies, and help Bank of America Plaza attract and retain tenants. Customer service isn't just for front-line workers, and it has a direct impact on the bottom line, he said.

"The only thing we have to sell is service," he said. "Anyone can change a light bulb."
CB Richard Ellis hired Master Connection Associates, a customer service training company based in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., to lead the seminars. Lawson wouldn't disclose the cost; he would say the seminars "weren't cheap" but were less than $10,000.

Michele Joseph, the trainer, said many companies now understand that improving their customer service skills is a way they can set themselves apart from competitors.

She said employees could sharpen their customer service prowess by:

•Listening attentively to customers.

•Working closely with customers, when there's a problem, to devise solutions.

•Presenting a professional image - in how they dress, how they write e-mail messages, and how they talk to customers and other employees.

•Looking at their store or work space as if they were a customer or client entering it for the first time.

Olgia, the locksmith and woodworker, said some of the things he was learning during the training program weren't necessarily new. They dealt with being kind and courteous to other people - lessons he learned a long time ago, he said.

"This will make sure we don't forget about it, though," he said. "We won't get blinders on."

Also, all of the customer service training just reinforces the No. 1 rule of business, Olgia said.

"The customer's always right," he said.

4. Select employees who believe in your vision, mission and philosophy.

1. Create a vision for your organization that is shared and supported by each and every employee.

3. Develop an employee orientation that shares your philosophy, culture, vision and mission.

2. Create a mission that supports your vision. These are the tactics by which you operate.

5. Train your employees on what is expected, and communicate on your vision and mission daily.

Source: Master Connection Associates

Reporter Dave Simanoff can be reached at (813) 259-7762 or dsimanoff@tampatrib.com.

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