Customer service education Cancel The title field is required!

1. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   10/24/2013 12:10 PM

   Hi all,
   
   I have been thinking, are there any good books out there for me to read to maybe improve my customer service skills and also our crew's?
   
   Also any good programs to help teach the crew better customer service skills? (I know the SVW workshops ones are good for basic training and we use those).
   I know our crew is pretty friendly with golfers and they try to do a good job, but I feel the need for them to step it up a notch, all of our full timers are not golfers and a majority of our seasonal employees this year were not either. While they did a good job, I think they miss the little things or let things sometimes slide such as straight pins, level plugs and other items that golfers might notice more than they do.
   
   Also I think that sometimes they forget the importance of their jobs to the customer experience, they are more attuned to the production part of the job.
   
   Am I making too much of this?
   
   Thanks!
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
2. James Smith

   

   113 posts
   
   10/26/2013 6:10 AM

   Mel, no you are not making too much of this! Customer service is one key to having happy members, happy members is the key to having happy Superintendent (boss) happy Superintendent is the key to making workers happy, so it makes perfect sense that the crew should want to make their boss happy so they can be happy. The problem lies in how to get the workers to make themselves happier! See what I did their?
   
   Personally some of the things you mention really has nothing to do with customer service. Straight pins should be in the quality control section of the cup changers duties. He should be doing this because it is what he is trained for and gets paid to do. I have found that in order for me to get my point across on a lot of the small things I have to actually place my worker into the situation the member faces. It is easy to take a club and ball and go out on the course and set up examples of bad lies from the workers inattention to detail. Placing a ball in a sand bunker rut like a (member might get) and then having the guy try to hit it out leaves a lasting impression of why it is important to do their job completely and correctly and if you can afford it you could always place a $5 bet on the employee in a challenge to hit the shot out correctly at the cup (this is only to give the guy the impression that some shots have money riding on them from member bets).
   
   While talking to your members is great for customer service I think there is a fine line that they have to be careful not to overstep the boundaries of, which can cause worse results. Some members do not like being disturbed when they are in their golf zone. Instead of me telling my guys to communicate more with my members I do the reverse and tell my members to feel free to stop one of the workers to give him a compliment or say hello. I always get a lot of "the course is in great shape" comments on a daily basis but to be honest it doesn't do me a lot of good other then knowing that the members are pleased. I always try to pass these along to my men so they feel better about their job and most importantly when I happen to be next to a crew member when the said compliment is given I always make it a point to defer the compliment to the worker and give them the credit for all of the hard work they do. Most members generally say "but you run the crew" in trying to make sure I get the personal compliment, but I again always tell them I just manage them what you see on the golf course is due to their hard work.
   
   I always felt that having the members tell my crew how great of shape the course is in does more then anything I can tell them. Yes everyone loves to be complimented on their hard work but I think it means more coming from a member then from their boss.
   
   I do however make it a point to let my members know that if they have any complaints I am the only person on the crew to approach. Any thing that is wrong is my fault and I will address it as needed (too many members cursing out employees in our clubs history, just not on my shift).
   
   Good luck and if I can come up with a few good ideas I will pass them on.

   
   
   
   
3. Zachary Bauer

   

   0 posts
   
   10/29/2013 3:10 PM

   Mr. Waldron,
   
   I have a colleague of mine who has a wife that specializes in Customer Service training. She was the Director of Training for our 5 Star 5 Diamond property here at The Broadmoor where customer service is king at our facility. She now manages her own consulting firm specializing in customer service. She could do something for you or get you in touch with someone within her industry. Shoot me an email or call if you would like some help.
   
   Zach Bauer
   West Course Superintendent
   The Broadmoor
   zbauer@broadmoor.com
   719-210-0823

   
   
   
   
4. Matt Dutkiewicz

   

   0 posts
   
   10/31/2013 1:10 PM

   We had a guy by the name of Cary Cavitt speak with all of our golf staff this past spring, he is a former PGA Pro, so he is able to speak with great detail, what it takes to provide excellent customer service to golfers. What I was kind of amazed at what that while watching the reactions of our employees to Cary's presentation, I could identify which employees were going to make it and which ones would not. He has a few books as well, here is his site: http://www.carycavittconsulting.com/

   
   
   
   
5. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   10/31/2013 3:10 PM

   Thanks all,
   
   Matt, I defiantly will be looking for Cary's books to read, that little snipit of his talk at Ball State was awsome.
   
   Zach, I'll try to get an e-mail out to you and see if your wife know's anyone in this area. We are having more staff meetings where we bring the 3 crews of the golf maintenance operations together, but not sure if we are looking to spend a lot (or any money) to bring someone in, but maybe at the city level, with more employees and departments they are more willing to do that (I can pass along the information to our HR person that handles training). But we could also maybe look at it at the local chapter level.
   
   Randini, you are right some of those issues are more quality control we have to work on. The customer service part is probably the results of poor quality control. We are a municipal course so employees speaking with golfers isn't a big deal for me. The guys will talk with the regulars, and we are noted for waving a lot and being friendly.
   
   Thanks,
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
6. Heath Puckett

   

   0 posts
   
   10/31/2013 7:10 PM

   Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard is an easy read with alot of great points.
   Highly recommended!

   
   
   
   
7. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   11/1/2013 9:11 PM

   Treat others as you would want to be treated.
   
   Please send $5.00 to my home address and I won't charge speaking fees.

   
   
   
   
8. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   11/1/2013 9:11 PM

   Melvin Waldron, CGCS said: Thanks all,
   
   Matt, I defiantly will be looking for Cary's books to read, that little snipit of his talk at Ball State was awsome.
   
   Mel

   
   
   Mel,
   
   That's hillarious. 'Defiantly.'
   
   See? That's what happens when you use spell check.