CVTC Chosen To Develop Customer Service Curriculum
Almost a year to the day after Governor Sonny Perdue challenged agency heads of the State of Georgia to “instill a culture of customer service throughout their departments,” Coosa Valley Technical College (CVTC) has been awarded a contract by the State of Georgia to develop customer service training curriculum for Georgia’s 109,000 authorized state employees.
“Each Georgia citizen who walks through our door for a government service is an opportunity,” said Governor Perdue. “It is my intention that Georgia government employees will take advantage of those opportunities, showing citizens that we respect and value their time.”
“Recognizing that customer service is a part of every state employee’s job, regardless of their job level or the type of agency in which they are employed, Governor Sonny Perdue established the Office of Customer Service with the primary goal of Georgia employees providing the best customer service of any state in the nation,” stated Beverly Padgett, CVTC’s Service Industry Academy Director. “The Office of Customer Service set out to create a training initiative to ensure that all state employees demonstrate excellent customer service through the use of proven techniques and practices.”
The Office of Customer Service contacted Georgia's Quick Start program for assistance in carrying out Perdue’s initiative. Quick Start began in 1967 to provide free, high-quality training services to new or expanding businesses in Georgia. Quick Start has been nationally recognized for providing customized training for hundreds of thousands of employees and for thousands of businesses and industries throughout the state. Because of CVTC’s recognition for customer service, Quick Start recommended Coosa Valley Technical College to develop the curriculum needed. “Our great reputation and goodwill involving all things ‘customer service’ made us the first choice to provide the training for the State of Georgia,” stated Pete McDonald, Vice President of Economic Development for Coosa Valley Technical College.
Shortly after CVTC was commissioned by the Office of Customer Service to develop the curriculum, a team was organized to create the curriculum. The Office of Customer Service wanted the curriculum to be tailored to meet the specific needs of the agencies within the state. Even though all state employees have unique job duties, the Office of Customer Service believes every employee shares the same need for a strong customer service attitude.
The Curriculum Development Team, comprised of customer service and economic development professionals, developed a plan that includes 20 hours of core customer service training. Employees of state call centers and agency department managers will receive four additional hours of training, specially customized to meet the demands of their unique positions. The training, entitled “The Art of Exceptional Customer Service,” is facilitator led, and is comprised of five modules. The modules include, Customer Service – The Beginning; Raising the Bar; From Good to Great; Exceeding Customer Expectations; and The Exceptional Service Provider. The copyrighted training materials will also be available in the form of computer based learning that all state employees, with access to a computer, will be able to utilize. Coosa Valley Technical College will train 80 trainers from different state agencies to facilitate the statewide training.
The development team was composed of Beverly Padgett, Pete McDonald, Lori Barton, Economic Development Instructor at CVTC, and Jim Powell, Director of Business and Industry.
The curriculum is in the final phase of development, with pilot training sessions scheduled for March. The Office of Customer Service plans to begin the training initiative in May.
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