n Program goals ✖ Learn aspects of your community and business to better serve customers

✖ Gain confidence and enthusiasm in your job while helping create a positive image for your community, which will, in turn, affect everyone in the community

n Objectives ✖ Understand the true meaning of a tourist and his or her impact on the local economy

✖ See the importance of your role in providing exceptional service

✖ Understand service principles

✖ Learn and share information about local resources and “hidden treasures” in the area

✖ Feel equipped to handle difficult customer situations

n Supplies ✖ Sign-in sheet, nametags, pens, note paper, markers, flip chart paper, computer, projector, cord, customer service bingo cards for all participants and program CD (or download from file transfer).

✖ Also have in mind places in the community to which you could give directions.

✖ You may want to use a copy of the Extension program

“Impacting Community Vitality” on CD.

Oftentimes in rural communities or small businesses, employees are the ones to make a first impression on a

traveler.

A traveler may be someone who is passing through town on the way to a destination or visiting your community for an event or a family member. A traveler also may be a family member visiting a loved one at a health-care facility.

No matter what the occasion is that has brought someone to your community, everyone is responsible for making that best impression possible to ensure the possibility that this person will be a return customer.

Annually, billions of dollars are lost due to poor customer service.

The data collected by Click Software explains:

“Poor customer experiences result in an estimated $83 billion loss by U.S. enterprises each year because of defections and abandoned purchases.”

✖ The average value of every lost business relationship in the U.S. per year is $289. (https://blog.kissmetrics.com/customer-service/)

✖ Seventy-one percent of consumers ended a business relationship due to a poor customer service experience.

✖ Sixty-one percent of customers take their business to a competitor after a poor customer service experience.

✖ The financial sector lost $44 billion as a result of bad customer service.

Customer service is one of those little things that can be fixed easily, so why don’t more businesses and communities do it?

This program will help business owners, managers and community representatives increase their bottom line by creating better experiences for their visitors.

Facilitator Guide and Resources

Welcome to Our Town“How may I help you?”

Jodi Bruns Area Extension Specialist, Community Vitality

North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota

October 2015

n Facilitator Tips ✖ Use personal examples when appropriate to share good and bad customer service experiences. Be ready to accept them from the audience as well.

✖ Below is a list of YouTube resources that you may consider using to supplement your presentation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_VOMikVwJA9:35 minutes – “Going the Extra Mile” – Nordstrom’s customer service: known but not advertised

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2oRwZIIFq4 4:03 minutes – “Grover on Customer Service – High Expectations” Something simple such as serving a bowl of hot alphabet soup is more complex than meets the eye.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWTMa76BzH01:45 minutes – “Seinfeld Car Rental Customer Service – Taking a Reservation vs. Keeping a Reservation”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CM4Ihw0zdM1:41 minutes – UK – “Bad Customer Service – Body Language”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRAM5EE5kgg2:18 minutes – “Difficult Guest” – Remember that you don’t know what the customer has been through before he or she meets you.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oywp2qRRyc 1:54 minutes – Montage of what not to do

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOZPlt3Ha0Y 2:40 minutes – “The Story of Johnny the Bagger” – an example of how anyone who makes a small gesture can make a big impact

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISJ1V8vBiiI 3:51 minutes – Bob Farrell talks about “giving customers the pickle” (giving customers what they want).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GKQ9kTnSg4 6:05 minutes – Mark Sanborn talks about exceptional service from his postman.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xlUShkZdIY8:58 minutes – “The Best Service Recovery Story” – This video is longer, but it talks about the lifetime value of a customer.

✖ Kick off program with a video or an icebreaker. – Ask participants to share their name and what business

they represent, and if they think they provide good customer service.

– Despite the nine-minute length of this video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_VOMikVwJA), it is a “feel good” video that would start things off well.

9:35 minutes – “Going the Extra Mile” – Nordstrom’s customer service: Known but not advertised

✖ Advise the group that audience input is essential to success, and they can learn from each other.

✖ Customer service includes various sectors:Hospitality/food serviceTourismRetailServiceFrontline/internalSocial mediaSmall home business

✖ Considerations– How do customers feel after an exchange with you?

– How do you like to be treated?

– Consider the generational differences of your customers.

✖ Economic Impact links

(Find out how many vehicles are driving through your community)

– Department of Transportation traffic numbers: http://gis.dot.nd.gov/external/ge_html/?viewer=transinfo

– North Dakota Department of Tourism website: www.ndtourism.com/sites/default/master/files/pdf/2013NDTourismTSARevised.pdf – It shows how much revenue is generated through food and lodging taxes in each community.

n Be ready with your own stories and props.

✖ Merrell shoes - I have an old pair of Merrell hiking shoes I show and explain that my dog ate the blue laces. I say that I called Merrill, fully expecting to pay for a new set of laces, and the company sent me two pairs for free.

✖ Airlines stories

✖ Do you consider yourself a “socially responsible” business? How do you contribute? Do you contribute to or support community volunteerism? What is your role as a leader in the community? How do you handle community donation requests? How do others perceive you?

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n PowerPoint Presentation

Slide 1

Welcome.

Slide 2

What you will gain? [Program overview]

Major areas:

– What is tourism and why it is important to North Dakota, as well as your community and area, and to you

– Tips that can help you provide exceptional customer service to tourists and visitors

– Skills in giving directions

– Local attractions and events (hidden treasures)

– Appreciation

We want to make your job more fun and help you realize how important you are to the place you work and to your community.

Slide 3

This cartoon might look like a convenience store worker, hotel clerk or any front-line worker.

Does this sound or look familiar? Sometimes getting satisfaction for a problem seems impossible.

Ask the audience if they can relate. Ask for other examples of poor attitude and how it made them feel as a customer. How did they react?

Slide 4

Have you ever seen this at a c-store or other place of business while traveling? Share examples or ask for some.

– At a Cenex gas station, I was observing a clerk who was a very peppy young woman. She had a big smile and great attitude. She was ringing up a grumpy male customer who was not having any of her positive attitude. When the sale was rung up, she said, “Now you keep that pep in your step.” It was hilarious and everyone waiting in line smiled; the grump didn’t know what to do. It made everyone else’s day.

– What happens when someone is short, dismissive and negative? How does that make you feel? Ask the audience how they want to be served.

Slide 5

We are going to focus a bit on the tourist only because its definition is so broad. You are technically a tourist even

if you go to the neighboring town to attend a game or pick up parts.

Group discussion: Local customers vs. out-of-town customers: Do they get the same service? Do specific business sectors receive better treatment than others?

Slide 6

(Input your own county numbers. Dickey County was used as an example.)

Dickey County’s recorded visitor spending

in 2013 was $15.24 million, which is a 21.4 percent increase in visitor spending since 2011. On the report, you can see how the expenditures are broken down: $4.01 million in accommodations, $500,000 in entertainment, $6.17 million in food, $4.50 million in shopping and $60,000 in transportation.

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County data can be found on the North Dakota tourism website at www.ndtourism.com/sites/default/master/files/pdf/2013NDTourismTSARevised.pdf.

All counties can be found here. You can find the site on our website under the Industry tab (on top), and then click on research and reports. The county breakdown starts on Page 40.

Accommodations includes rental properties, hotels, RV parks and camping.

Entertainment includes movies (if you are more than 50 miles from home), performing arts, spectator sports, museums and historic sites.

Food includes restaurants and drinking establishments (again, if you are more than 50 miles from home).

Retail is the area that includes gas stations, and grocery, liquor, clothing, shoe, jewelry and sporting goods stores.

Transportation is air, rail, waterways, taxis, charter buses, travel agents and transit. For instance, Dickey County doesn’t have an airport or bus stop, but a group travel bus might tour through North Dakota and stop in Dickey County. Part of that tour group’s economic impact is attributed to the county.

In a Job Service report, Dickey County has 152 leisure and hospitality jobs, making up 8.5 percent of the county’s workforce. Heather LeMoine from North Dakota Tourism has this report, and she can be contacted by email at hlemoine@nd.gov for specific county job numbers associated with tourism.

Slide 7

Local impact can be huge.

On average, Ellendale, for example, brings in approximately

$24,000 through the food and lodging tax. This money goes to the tourism board, which grants that money to various organizations and projects in the community. Check with your local city auditor to find out how your community uses its food and lodging tax dollars.

You may want to use the “Impacting Community Vitality” CD to show the increased revenue of one customer or an increased purchase of an extra tank of gas, etc.

DOT traffic numbers can zero in on traffic on a specific stretch of highway.

This website shows how much money was generated by tourism in each county: www.ndtourism.com/sites/default/master/files/pdf/2013NDTourismTSARevised.pdf.

Slide 8

Do you listen to WII – FM? That stands for “what’s in it for me?”

All of us have that little voice that asks: “Why should I do this? Does it really matter?”

So let’s think about it for a minute.

– When you treat people well, they almost always respond back to you in a similar manner; they treat you well. This is one of the most basic needs.

– Doing a good job increases your job satisfaction; it is more fun, things click, you just enjoy coming to work. When you enjoy your job, others notice. It is contagious and spirals up, leading to more customers and more dollars being generated.

– Customers notice tension in the workplace. Assessing your public image is important. How do people see your business? Are you a community supporter? What is your public image?

Slide 9

Word-of-mouth advertising is the best kind because it is free.

*Acknowledging a customer not only welcomes him or her, but it also is proven to help reduce shoplifting.

Slide 10

OK. so some of these are completely out of your hands. However, 68 percent is a big deal. That is a huge number. Is

anyone surprised by that number?

One example of superior customer service is: ” I had a pair of Merrill hiking shoes. Our puppy chewed the laces, which were brown and blue. I called Merrill directly, fully expecting to pay for the replacement laces I needed. Instead, the agent was very sympathetic and sent me two sets of laces for free! I am a returning customer.”

4 - Welcome to Our Town

Slide 11

Ask the group to share. Be ready with some horror stories of your own.

What was easier to remember, the challenging experiences or the great service?

Slide 12

What is the common thread here? All of these elements can be reversed by a change in attitude,

training and simple awareness. Have a discussion around some obvious behavioral changes that could be made to improve customer service.

I once saw a grocery store manager yell at an employee for something very insignificant in front of a store full of customers. This was very uncomfortable for me, and two people left their carts and walked out. Being a good employer is important to customers. Being seen working in the community and “out front,” even when you want to hide, is important. Many businesses allow their employees to volunteer on behalf of the company because it enhances the store’s image in the community.

Slide 13

You are always on stage. If a customer walks in and you are screaming at a co-worker, what is the

impression you have just left? Clean up! Stand up! Show up!

Slide 14

Are you trained to greet people in your place of business? If so, how is that done? How should

it be done, or should it be done at all? What happens if you are busy with someone else at the time?

Research shows that if customer is greeted when walking into a business, shoplifting goes down. When thieves are not acknowledged, they feel like they have a free pass to get away with anything because no one is paying attention.

Slide 15

When you answer the phone representing your place of work, how do you do that? Consider

smiling when you answer. Callers can tell if you are in a good mood or not, so try smiling. Listen fully before offering an answer. Sometimes people just want to be heard. How do you respond to irate customers? Talk through some of this. We will have examples of how this is done.

I was at the airport checking in for my flight when the ticket agent took a phone call from someone who was supposed to be on the same flight I was. What I got from the conversation was that the customer was an hour from the airport and expected to drive up to the airport and climb on the plane just before it took off. Well, we all know that with security regulations, it just doesn’t happen this way. The ticket agent was so amazing. She never raised her voice, and was calm and careful when she explained why the customer would have to take another flight. I could hear the caller on the phone because he was speaking so loudly, but the ticket agent handled the situation very well.

Slide 16

Making things right on the spot is much easier than trying to get back a disgruntled customer.

Sometimes you have to “eat crow.” You really

may want to tell the angry customer off and put the person in his or her place, but take a deep breath and think twice. Is this customer worth losing your job?

5 - Welcome to Our Town

Slide 17

Ask for examples of a time you were happy with service or a product or when you were

dissatisfied with a meal or product or service. The examples of something bad should be far more prevalent then the good ones. Talk about that.

When you have a great meal, are you more inclined to talk about that or the bad meal you had?

Slide 18

What does the community offer for people to do?

– Where is the chamber of commerce

– Does the community have a museum?

– Where can I buy my elderly mother some socks?

Play the customer service bingo game here.

Slide 19

Is the business clean and orderly? How about its online presence?

– Are things well-marked?

– Does the business have a clean bathroom?

– How do employees look?

Ask the group what they pay attention to in a business.

Disney World employs 62,000 people. Everyone is considered a “cast member.” Everyone, including the CEO, is responsible for keeping the parks clean and neat.

Slide 20

What do you do when someone asks you for directions?

Do you use right or left at the Johnsons’ house, or do you say west one block, then turn at the red house?

Consider having the group practice giving directions to a cemetery, golf course or basketball court. Can they draw a map?

When we have lived somewhere for so long, we use names of homes and roads, not accurate directions. Put yourself in travelers’ shoes.

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Slide 21

Before the training, gather resources from your community. Visit the

chamber of commerce or city hall. What kind of resources do they have to offer?

Slide 22

What is your attitude before you get to work? Is everyone a problem?

How do you feel about your place of employment?

Note to facilitator: If you have time, you may want to consider showing the “Fish Philosophy” video here. Jodi Bruns has a copy of it (jodi.bruns@ndsu.edu).

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Slide 23

How will you react to a bad customer? Will you allow him or her to define your actions ?

Slide 24

References

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