Communications Development Institute

Customer Service Handbooks

Your community's perception of the district's customer service quality is only as good as their worst experience. As a result, consistency in customer service is essential. It is a team effort and every public interaction counts. To help your entire staff represent the district well in every customer service interaction, SCDI in partnership with Turning Point Solutions offers a customized Customer Service Handbook. The handbook methodology has been developed over years of interaction and input from school districts all over the country. These handbooks convey your district's goals and specific protocols for customer service excellence. To ensure consistency, the customized handbooks clearly document your policies and expectations for working with visitors and thus, become a valuable resource and reference tool for staff members at all levels.

Policies and protocols vary by district, but every handbook covers the same three broad communication types: face-to-face, phone, and written. Detailed guidelines include how to create a welcoming physical environment; greetings, interactions, and farewells for in-person business; the process of transferring phone calls or taking messages; and effective email or letter-writing techniques.

While accountability and staff evaluation is an obvious use and benefit of the customized handbook, an equally important function is the starting point for discussions of potential customer service improvements beyond the letter of the policy. Once district personnel at all levels start to internalize empathy for the customer, improved community perception and customer service excellence is inevitable.

The Customer Service Handbook is a great resource for our front line staff - both veteran and new employee."

Christy Willman
Executive Director of Community Relations
Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (TX)