Tricia Palm is the Director of HR at

Tricia Palm is the Director of HR at Williams & Fudge. Prior to her current position, from 19972007, Tricia worked at an Oil Company, managing the Human Resource Operations as well as the Safety functions for a family business that wholesaled, retailed and distributed fuel oils.

Tricia has a broad generalist background in Human Resource, as well as being an adjunct faculty for 5 years at St. Paul Technical College, in St. Paul MN.

She is a Management Studies/Economics graduate from Cedar Crest College. Allentown, Pa and has HR degrees and certification from St. Paul Tech and the University of MN. She has been married for 26 years, to Retired Lt. Colonel Brad Palm of the USMC. They have been blessed with two children; their son Bradley is married and is a 1 st Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corp and currently deployed in Afghanistan and their daughter is getting married in October. So far I only have Grand-Dogs

ABC’S of CUSTOMER SERVICE Presented By Tricia Palm Director of HR Williams & Fudge, Inc.

RULES FOR THE PRESENTATION • • NO SPITTING ON ME OR YOUR NEIGHBOR NO ROUGH PLAY NO RUNNING NO PROFANITY NO BLOWING OUT YOUR NOSE SHOWER BEFORE ENTERING PLEASE GO POTTY BEFORE ENTERING NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Top Ten Signs You Work in a Bad Office 10. The bathroom key is tied to an angry ferret 9. The Christmas bonus is a swig from the company thermos 8. Office intercoms are made with two soup cans and a piece of string 7. It’s hard to concentrate with all those “ 60 Minutes” reporters hanging around 6. Your boss walks around wearing nothing but Post-It Notes 5. Every week, each cubicle is subdivided into four smaller cubicles 4. Instead of White-Out, you’re encouraged to use mayonnaise 3. After a few hours on your desk, the people in your family photos stop smiling 2. The cafeteria lunch special is whatever got caught in the glue trap 1. There are NO desk chairs, Everyone squats – It’s the NEW wellness plan!

Customer Relationships • • • Sincerity Assurance Make working with the customer a memory that will keep your customers coming back to YOUR line Great Service Comes From the Heart!!

PUT YOUR PERSONAL SIGNATURE ON YOUR JOB Tricia Palm

The Simple Truths of Service Johnny the Bagger A True Story of Customer Service Produced by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz

Choosing to be Johnny Great Service Requires: • Small Impressions • Unique Character • Outside of the Box Thinking

A • ALL about the Customer – Students, Internal, & External Clients • ATTITUDE – Your attitude is a choice! – Other people can be a reaction of YOU

B • BE present, not off in space • show BELIEF in the good things you can produce • BE the person that everyone wants to come to because of your good heart and soul • BE a thinker not a little stinker!

C • COMMUNICATION – It’s not just what you say it is how you say it – Keep it simple and be CLEAR! • CREDIBILITY precedes great communication. – Ordinary people become great communicators when they are fired up with conviction.

D • DISCERNMENT-the ability to find the root of the matter – There is a tremendous amount of chaos and complex situations every day. If you can see the root of the problem then you can solve it. – Analyze past successes, learn how others think, listen to your gut.

E • EMPOWER People to be creative in they way they resolve issues and the way they bring the end result to your department

F • FOCUS – Identify priorities and then concentrate on them • Focus 70% on your potential and strengths • Focus 25% on new things; change & improvements • Focus 5% on areas of weakness If you chase two rabbits, both will get away!

G • GENEROSITY – Giving is the highest level of living! – If you have that mind frame then your attitude will reflect it. “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave. ” Calvin Coolidge

H • HEAR the words others are saying – Instead of thinking you know what the other person is going to say, Listen to their message. – Start listening not only for words, but feelings, meanings and undercurrents. – Use tact and professionalism in your words.

I • INITIATIVE – Of all the things you should fear it should be complacency. – Determine if you hesitate to take action and take risks, Opportunity does not come knocking on your door. Everyone has a great idea in the shower, but very few people come out, dry off and do something about it.

J • JUST do it! – Step up to the plate and try something new and take initiative. If you haven’t pushed yourself lately and gotten out of your comfort zone-you may need to jump start your initiative. – Customer service is a huge sea of opportunities for creativeness. • Try neat ways of making people glad they came to see you today.

K • KIOSKS – A wave of the future and help to alleviate lines. – They can be open 24 hours a day and be a helpful resource when your office is closed.

L • LAUGH at yourself – Don’t take yourself too seriously every minute of the day – Give up your ego and let it sit on the sideline for a day or two

M • MULLIGAN ticket – Give your employee a take over when they make a mistake. – Teddy Roosevelt said “he who makes no mistakes, makes no progress. ” – Always remember what the mistakes taught you. If you don’t you will pay for them more than once.

N • NEEDS – Know your employee’s needs as well as your student needs. • Is it food, housing, financing etc… • You will do a better job serving those around you when you understand people.

O • OVERCOMING Stalls – This is key to good customer service – Stay focused and ask the right questions and give options when it is the right time.

P • PROMPTNESS – Good experiences usually are remembered because someone was prompt in their service, their communication, and/or their delivery methods – Follow thru is essential in all aspects of customer service • Some one can listen all day long but what you do with the information from the time you receive it is the key

Q • QUESTIONS – The more you ask the more you will find out about your consumer or customer. – This will enable you to resolve issues to satisfy all parties

R • RECOGNIZE the positive side or the good in people – Don’t always assume that everyone is bad, corrupt, malicious and vindictive – However, don’t be naïve or ignorant to the fact that some people can have those negative attributes

S • SERVANTHOOD – To get ahead, put others first. • How we treat others is really a reflection of how we think about ourselves • Serve others without expecting anything in return • Serve out of love • SMALL acts – Start performing small acts of kindness for others • Start with the ones closest to you: your spouse, children, parents, significant others

T • TEACH ability – Remain open to growing & have a teachable attitude • • • Your growth determines who you are. Who you are determines who you attract Who you attract determines the success of your organization “As long as you are green, you are growing. As soon as you’re ripe you start to rot. ” Ray Kroc

U • UNDERSTANDING the full picture – It is Ok to say let me get back to you because I don’t have all the facts – Gather all the data to make the best decision you can make in a timely manner

• VISION V – It comes from passion not your position – It’s when you see possibilities before they become obvious – True vision is far-reaching; It goes beyond what one individual can accomplish – It adds value and serves others One of the most valuable benefits of vision is that it acts like a magnet-attracting, challenging and uniting people

W • WILLINGNESS to go the extra mile – It is hard and takes time to put your work down and go above and beyond HOWEVER – When someone does it for you it becomes a memorable experience and remains in your mind • WARM WELCOMING – Make people feel good about being in your presence

X • X-RAY – A scan or a snapshot of something inside your body – Once in a while take a good hard look inside and analyze if you are treating people the way you would like to be treated. If you are still focusing on the great service you engaged in last week then you sure haven’t done much this week if yesterday’s news is the most exciting

Y • YOU owe it to yourself – Get rejuvenated by reading a best seller book or to go to a interesting seminar on Customer Service • Refresh YOURSELF into new ideas and make a commitment – Commitment starts in the heart “Heart is what separates the good from the great. ” Michael Jordan

Z • ZONE in on people that enjoy life – Think of people that you want to spend time with • How would you describe them? Grumpy? Bitter? Depressed? • They are celebrators, passionate and attractive people to be around. • Give people hope! – If you can be the person that bestows hope to others, they will be attracted to you and be forever grateful – That is good customer service!!!!