Employees receive customer training

By TERRY SALMELA
Extension Educator
Posted 5/15/03

Tourism is a $208 million industry and employs 9,289 people in Mille Lacs County according to Liz Templin, Regional Extension Educator in Community Economics with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. She conducted the Customer Service ³Minnesota at Your Service² training for 38 area business and agency employees on May 7 at the new Milaca City Hall.

Templin said that these figures come from sales from lodging, food, recreation/entertainment, transportation, retail/ shopping and information services in Mille Lacs County for one year based on one day in March. They account for 55% of the jobs and 48% of the payroll in the county.

The workshop was co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension Service in Mille Lacs and surrounding counties, the Milaca Chamber of Commerce and Milaca Community Education. Refreshments were furnished by American Express Financial Advisors, Inc.

A tourist is defined as someone traveling away from his/her own community. Templin said that tourists to a community may be traveling for business, leisure, festivals, family visits or events. Whatever the reason, they are guests in the community, business, region and we are their hosts.

Tourism is a service industry. Employees of this industry are service providers she said. Because it is a service, tourism is an ³intangible.² You cannot see it, taste it, feel it or hold it in your hand. The product is the ³experience² of the tourist who is the customer. This experience is created by the interaction of the service provider and the visitor. Their partnership produces the product. The product cannot be shelved or manufactured for sale. Rather, the experience is constructed as it is used, and the provider is part of the product. The service is an experience that is judged by each customer.

The judgment that a customer makes of a business is much like a report card. Simply meeting a customer¹s expectations may earn a ³C.² Service that falls below expectations will earn a ³D² or ³F.² In order to pass the test and create a positive, memorable experience for a customer, one needs to keep working toward the ³A+ Honor Roll.²

Templin gave the following four elements that are the foundation of Grade A+ customer service.

€ATTITUDE: One needs to project a positive attitude. It often makes THE difference in a customer¹s experience. You are in 100 percent control of your attitude. A positive attitude has positive benefits to one¹s health, creativity, energy and business!

€ATTENTION: Focus on the customer. Customers demand and deserve individual, personal attention. Seek first to understand the customer so you can create a memorable experience. You can influence customer perception if you pay attention. Research has found that in face-to-face conversation, 58 percent of the message is sent in body language, 38 percent in tone of voice and seven percent in words. On the telephone, 84 percent of the message is sent in tone of voice and 16 percent in words.

€ACTION: Take the initiative and respond to the customer. You must make the first move. Don¹t wait to be asked to provide service. You need to ³know your stuff² about your job, your agency, and your community. Service standards must become second nature for you.

€APPEARANCE: Present your best side to the customer. Personal appearance: What image is created when a customer looks at you? Facilities: Are your surroundings clean and inviting? Team interaction: How does your team ³look² when judged by a customer?

You will build a solid foundation for quality customer service by focusing on these four elements in each customer encounter, Templin said.

Lin Peterson, Milaca Chamber of Commerce Executive Director also spoke at the workshop. She said that copies of the colorful Milaca Directory are available from the new Chamber of Commerce office in the new city hall. Milaca also has a website at www.milaca.com The chamber phone number is 320-983-3140. Judy Cain, Executive Director of the Mille Lacs Area Tourism Council also spoke and said that copies of their new colorful Lake Mille Lacs brochure are available from her tourism office at the depot in Onamia. The phone number is 888-350-2692. The council website is at www.millelacs.com