Posts tagged “grave diggers”

Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look at David Boyce CSP

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

David Boyce CSP

I first met David when we both worked for an experiential training company.  He was one of the first members of my alliance and continues to delight customers with his legendary customer service, supervisory skills programs and he is also my video grapher for our “Make Your Point” presentation skills program.   He also works with organizations when they need support in creating more effective sales teams.  He was one of the first sales people to achieve the CSP (Certified Sales Professional) designation through the Canadian Professional Sales Association.

David and I share the belief that training can and does make a difference in performance, job satisfaction and bottom line results.  David has a very diverse background and has worked as hands on manager in his past positions, which gives him a deeper understanding of the situations our customers face every day.

David is one of those people who is extremely flexible and very easy to work with.  One of the first customers he worked with as an Alliance Member was a funeral services company.  He was contracted to deliver customer service tips training in Toronto offices.  Originally this client was going to run the program for a select few employees and later decided to have the entire company participate in the training.  I remember calling him one day and he was on his way to the grave diggers to gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities so he could design their part of the program to address the areas where the needed the support.  Now that’s dedication!

In addition to facilitating for corporations David is a certified coach, conditioning sports trainer and participates in adventure racing and travel. David lives in Oakville with his wife and teenage son.

To review David’s Profile click here:  www.athenatrainingandconsulting.com/alliance-partners/david-boyce

The Many Faces of Customer Service

I have had many requests over the years for customer service training.  We pride ourselves in our ability to tailor every training program to meet the specific needs of our clients.  I spend the time needed up front during the assessment stage to ensure I clearly understand the objectives and desired outcomes from the program.

Several years ago we delivered customer service training to a local funeral home.  Initially it was for the people who interacted with the families of the deceased.  The pilot was so successful that they decided to roll it out company wide.  This included delivering to the grave diggers.  I remember calling David (the alliance partner who delivered this program) one day and he said he was on his way to visit the grave diggers to have a better understanding of their jobs and how they interact with the customers.  The program was a huge success years later they have experienced sustained changes in how they interact with their customers.

I was called by an existing client who has results from a customer service survey they wanted to discuss with me.  The survey results revealed that for the most part the customers were happy with the service they received.  There were however, several comments made about the way the truck drivers interacted with their staff.  Comments were made that the language, tone and sometimes tardiness of drivers were frustrating.  I immediately connected them to David and together they designed a program that not only addressed all the concerns of their customers, it also included a number of ways to take all their customer service initiatives to a new level.  When I spoke with the VP of Human Resources recently she was excited by the participation and the feedback she received.  Management is committed that this level of service is maintained and they are very optimistic that the next survey will deliver much more favorable results.

Often when we think of customer service, we just think of our external customers.  I have a client who was concerned about the way the employees interacted with each other, in particular the accounting department.  She shared with me that she constantly got complaints from other departments on the way the accounting staff treated and reacted to the other departments.  She was not sure what to do about it.  I suggested she provide the members of the accounting team with customer service training from the perspective of working with internal customers.  At first she wasn’t sure.  I introduced her to David and he outlined what a program like this would look like and shared the success he had had in the past.  She was then clear this was the way to address the issue.  I spoke with her several months after the program had been delivered and she said she had received positive feedback from, both, the other employees and the members of the accounting department.  Having the tools to handle the sometimes difficult conversations made all the difference.

These experiences confirm for me that everyone is in customer service, no matter what job or role in the organization.

 By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP