As a part of our “WOWing The Customer” program, we ask employees to distinguish the difference between A, B, and C levels of customer service within their job responsibilities. The principles for the ABCs are consistent with the grading scale used in school:

C-Level of Service – Just doing the basic job or task(s).
B-Level of Service – Going beyond the task or request.
A-Level of Service - An unexpected, pleasant surprise!

The following information describes examples of the ABC Levels of service we recently collected from 145 employees that work in a variety of departments within a retirement community.

C-Levels of Service – Doing the basic job or task(s).

• Health Center - Care for the Health Center residents with bathing, personal care, assisting with meals, and give medicine.

• AIL - Provide health care assistance for independent residents.

• Health Center Activities - Provide a variety of stimulating activities to help health center residents at various physical and intellectual levels.

• Laundry - Wash, dry, fold, press, and return laundry.

• Housekeeping - Clean floors, windows, and fixtures in resident’s apartment, HC rooms and offices. Empty trash throughout buildings.

• Porters –Clean all common, public areas and the Health Center.

• Food Service - Back of the house: Inventory and prep food. Cook and plate the food.

• Food Service - Front of the house: Take orders, serve food and beverage. Clean up front & back of the house.

• Transportation - Drive residents to medical appointments, shopping and group trips.

• Resident Services - Plan, schedule and host routine and special event activities for independent residents. Provide resident social and concierge-like assistance. Stock and manage the resident’s convenient store.

• Accounting - Accurate and timely processing of finances.

• Marketing - Prospect with leads to close sales. Assist with the move-in.

• Human Resources - Coordinate the recruiting, hiring, orientation, and employment administration of all employees.

• Front Desk - Answer and direct in-coming calls, coordinate office communication, and resolve problems.

• Maintenance - Keep the internal property and equipment clean and in working order.

• Grounds - Keep the external property and grounds looking nice.

• Security - Monitor the safety of the property.

• Everyone - Do routine tasks in the same way, at the same time on the day(s) scheduled.

B-Levels of Service – Going beyond the task or request.

• Smile.

• Eye contact.

• Say, “Good morning, afternoon, or night.”

• Demonstrate a positive attitude.

• Encourage employees to do their “specialties.”

• Thorough, on-going communication within and between departments.

• Teamwork within and between departments.

• Arrive early to do a task.

• Move furniture for a resident.

• Squeeze in transportation for last-minute appointments.

• Arrange alternative transportation, if our services are full.

• Ask customers (residents and coworkers) for feedback or suggestions.

• Use their name, appropriately (If they prefer proper or first name).

• Share conversations about:

• Compliment them – appearance, clothing, hair, etc.

• Ask, “Is there anything else I can do/get for you?”

• Diffuse a difficult resident by:

  • Listening

  • Apologizing for their situation

  • Explaining what you CAN do

  • Fulfill a special request

  • Develop and implement strategies to make it easy to work with you/your department

  • Saying something to make them laugh

A-Levels of Service – An unexpected, pleasant surprise!

• Celebrate birthdays and anniversaries or residents and employees.

• Take photos of residents, post on a board, and then give it to them.

• Dress up and make up a Health Care resident.

• Give them “special” treats without them asking:

• Personalized activities.

• Leave/give them a card that says “Today, you were taken care of by Your Name.”

• Offer to or just take action to help a resident, visitor or co-worker:

• Mention/confirm their dietary needs.

• Encouraging residents to attend an activity.

• Suggest a walk, etc.

• Accompany a resident to an activity or appointment

• Do special foldings:

  • napkins

  • toilet tissue

  • laundry

• Use a dryer sheet to freshen smell.

• Seat them at their favorite table/location.

• Drop/stop by their apartment to say, “Hi” or ask “How are you today?”

To learn more about customer service, take a look at our training video in the Inspiring Solutions Online Store - Serving Your Customers a Can-Do Attitude.

 
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