Customer Service Success Story

Situation
The Chicago Public Schools Business Service Center (BSC) had an excellent team of customer service professionals, but because the call center and external teams expanded, they were missing a standardized approach to streamlining the customer experience. The goal was to create a “call center environment” where no matter which location you called or which representative you spoke with, the experience was the same high quality. BSC Director, Gail Ratliff, made the decision to invest in communication skills training with the goal of changing the mindset of the customer care representatives and developing a common service language.

Action Taken
Chicago Public Schools turned to Impact Learning Systems to deliver a customer service program that representatives would embrace and utilize. The BSC representatives and their managers completed Getting to the Heart of Customer Service™ online learning modules followed by a one-day facilitated class to reinforce the skills learned online.

Results
Due to the structured nature of the training and the extensive amount of skills practice, the customer care representatives knew what was expected of them and had confidence that they could perform to meet these expectations. This resulted in increased morale and passion to serve the customer. In addition to the skills learned, a standardized approach to customer communication was adopted. Results from the program were as follows:

The BSC went from being an unranked department to the 3rd best unit out of 24.
Response times improved to 92%, from a 24-hour response to same day response.
Response times for escalated calls decreased from 3 days to next day.

“If you follow the HEART Model™, it will offer your team the skills needed to deliver impeccable customer service.”

Gail Ratliff, Director of Operations, Chicago Public Schools