Course Highlights

This customer service course designed for public-sector employees will:

  • Address challenges specific to providing customer service on behalf of the government.
  • Review best practices for communicating with customers in person and over the telephone.
  • Suggest techniques for helping citizens navigate bureaucracy.
  • Offer guidance for dealing with unhappy customers.

Course Overview

This training is crafted for people working in government agencies who must interact with the public, colleagues, and elected representatives. Presented as an engaging, interactive workshop, the program delves deep into professional communication and public service nuances.

Note: For those interested in an online learning experience, check out our instructor-led course, “Great Government!: Serving Customers in the Public Sector.“

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Differentiate between government and private-sector customer service.
  • Define customer service and its ties to professionalism.
  • Showcase impeccable phone manners.
  • Craft professional emails.
  • Guide customers through intricate rules and regulations.
  • Engage effectively with elected representatives.
  • Handle challenging customer interactions.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

In You We Trust: Understanding Government Service Is Different

Unlike business service providers, government service providers are often the only game in town. This opening discussion addresses the opportunities and challenges government organizations and their employees face when providing service to citizens.

Fifteen Focus Areas: Aligning with Public Expectations

Customers want public-sector service providers to adopt private-sector best practices while focusing on their unique mandate to serve the public’s best interests. In this workshop segment, we will look at each focus area and determine what participants already do and where opportunities for improvement exist. 

The Currency of Communication: Setting the Benchmark

During this part of the program, we will review what customer-centric service looks and sounds like in the public sector. Specifically, we will explore the words providers say and how they say them, email etiquette, and best practices for communicating with citizens over the phone.

Fulfilling Promises: Representing and Interacting with Elected Officials

Government service providers either directly or indirectly represent people who are elected to office. Managing relationships with those officials is an important part of providing accurate information from the front line and ensuring quality service to the public. This segment of the course explores methods for creating that dialogue.

Busting Through Bureaucracy: Streamlining Customer Experience

From completing simple forms to helping customers understand complicated rules, regulations, codes, and ordinances, a customer service provider’s role is often one of a “paperwork tour guide.” During this portion of the workshop, we will look at ways to make the navigation process easier for customers.

Addressing the Aggrieved: Strategies for Challenging Interactions

As much as they may try to please everyone, from time to time government service providers will encounter rude, disgruntled, and difficult customers. This segment addresses techniques for addressing challenging people, difficult situations, and managing stress.

At the end of this training on public-sector customer service, participants will leave with a rejuvenated sense of purpose, a deeper understanding of professional service techniques, and a plan to implement their learnings.