Looking back on Customer Service Week, I have to say our Spirit Team has done it again! This year’s theme was “Made in Michigan,” and if you live in Michigan, near us, or have just heard about our great state, then you know we have a lot to offer. 

From a Euchre tournament, to afternoon treats from Grand Traverse Pie Company, to Hot Wheels racing with Motor City classics, our team did an excellent job incorporating themes that are dear to Michiganders while making sure there was something to energize, engage, and enthuse everyone in the building!

At Baudville, we believe that all of our team members represent customer service, whether they’re on the phones or tucked away in a cubicle crunching numbers. That means celebrating the week always involves a variety of diversions, from games to food to everything in-between. Essentially, something for every Baudvillian to enjoy – just like we like it! 

We make Customer Service Week a really big deal because we know that our customer service is what sets us apart. And we also know that every single person at Baudville is a part of making our service exceptional. We can’t think of a better way to say thanks than making it last for an entire week. 

Cheers!

 
Baudvillians race their Motor City Classics! 

With Baudville being its own little universe, a veritable Mulligan Stew of unique personalities and talents, it’s always been my fantasy to have more team members contribute to this blog. This week I got my wish with a guest star from our stellar Customer Service Team. I am geek-tacularly excited!
 
Why from our Customer Service Team? Because it’s Customer Service Week, of course!
 
Meet Ruth, who shares what she loves about the Customer Service Week celebrations we’ve had at Baudville:

It is another busy work day. The phones are ringing, the faxes humming, and emails are whizzing in and out. Your department is alive with activity, and your employees and co-workers are busy doing all of things that make you want to recognize them during Customer Service Week. The thought of pulling people from their routines to participate in some Customer Service Week fun might seem unthinkable. When business peaks and stress levels rise, being able to take a moment away from the typical rush of the work day for recognition is the perfect way to tell employees that you appreciate everything that they do to keep business running.

Some of my favorite moments from Customer Service Week, both present and past, have included being given the gift of time. Whether it was a whole lunch with my entire department or 10 minutes to participate in an activity like a paper airplane throwing contest, the time away is a moment in an otherwise busy day for my brain to stop and say “ahhhhh!”  While the occasional thought of emails piling up in my queue does pop into my head, it’s important to keep in perspective what a short time frame this is and to remember that I have been given this time away as a valuable gift from my managers.

Try giving your employees a little break during your next recognition event. Depending on the needs of your business, it can be longer like a lunch break or a small 10 minute mini-break. To make it extra special, you can accompany it with a small treat like desserts or a scheduled activity like a trivia contest. Your employees will appreciate that you value them enough to give them a gift as important as time.

--------------------------

Ruth is a customer service pro who has been answering to Baudville’s customers since 2005. She currently spends the majority her time setting up and keeping an eye on custom art requests, so if you have an order with a logo, she’s one of your go-to gals. Outside of the ‘ville, Ruth rocks it in the rink as one of the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls. Look out, this girl’s ruthless!

This year we are kicking off Customer Service Week by celebrating something that is close to all our hearts here at Baudville. We are celebrating Michigan, with our Made in Michigan themed Customer Service Week.

For me Customer Service Week is extra special this year because it’s my first one… ever.  I was told last week kind of what to expect going into Customer Service Week, but for the most part I was left to determine what Baudville’s Customer Service Week is all about all by myself.  

Here's what we have been up to so far:

My first discovery about Customer Service Week at Baudville is that we get an entire week of casual days! If you have read any of my previous blog posts you will know about my enthusiasm for casual days. I promise, this blog post is not another rant about how much I love casual days.

Friday afternoon all of the employees received an email pumping us up for Customer Service Week but leaving the theme a secret.  On the dot at 8 o’clock Monday morning we were greeted by an email introducing our Made in Michigan themed Customer Service Week and the activity of the day: euchre.  Euchre is a very dear card game to all of us Michiganders and most of us have grown up playing with family and friends. Here at Baudville, two people from each department volunteered to play a high stakes game of euchre against the other departments. The winning team won a special prize for their department.  With the thoughts of euchre looming in the air that day a lot of Baudvillians got together and played card games at lunch. It was a great way for employees to hang out during their break and have a good time with each other.

On Tuesday our knowledge was tested. How much do we actually know about Michigan? We were quizzed with Michigan trivia questions like, What is our State’s Reptile? How many lighthouses does Michigan have?  and True or false, Michigan is one of two places in the world with a floating post office? False… we’re the only one! Then we finished the day with some yummy Made in Michigan pies!

Today, Wednesday, we were greeted with toy Hot Wheels cars and a gift certificate for a free car wash. At lunch we opened the cars and raced them against others. This provided a fun little activity that Baudvillans have been talking about all day, or should I say smack talking, as they compared their cars.

I found out that Customer Service Week is incredibly important here at Baudville. The activities that are planned throughout the week are great ways of saying thanks for all the hard work and that we truly do appreciate our customer service reps. Appreciating your customer service reps doesn’t have to be an over the top occasion, games and trivia can be just as nice of a gesture.

Tell us what you are doing for Customer Service Week!

--------------------------- 

Kendra is the newest Baudvillian. She is currently an advertising intellectual at Grand Valley State University, and is ecstatic about the change of atmosphere as Baudville’s web marketing intern. Watch out because this young professional just touched down at Baudville.

Back in 1987, fresh out of college and full of hope for a long and happy career, I began my job search. Looking for the perfect job where I could utilize my education and make a mark on the world, I was thrilled when I landed a position as a customer service representative. I remember my first day like it was yesterday. The owner greeted me with his three “rules” of the job, which were very simple:

1. Pick up the phone by the third ring.
2. Smile when you answer the phone.
3. Know something personal about every one of your customers.
 
At that time, being a somewhat over-confident 24 year old, I thought, “Is that the best you can come up with?” But, over time, I realized how effective his three rules were.

For those of you in the customer service industry, you know how hard it is to answer the phone every time it rings - let alone with a smile! But, I encourage you to try it. When you start off every call with a positive mindset, the conversation just naturally goes better. As far as getting to know your customers…that was the best rule ever. Almost 25 years later, many of those customers have become lifelong friends and the others: well, they just made that call a bit more interesting.
 
Whether you are starting off your career working in a call center, or have made a career out of serving customers, one thing is for sure: interacting with people from all walks of life can be a wonderful experience. It taught me that that behind every business transaction is an opportunity to make someone’s day…even mine!

--------------------------- 

Kristy is the Vice President of Product and Merchandising at Baudville. Since joining Baudville in 2008, she has been integral in the development of the functional, innovative, and great looking products you see today. As the fearless leader of a multifaceted team of creative minds, Kristy always stays armed with her secret weapon of motivation: candy!

I wrote in my last post about my past life as a department supervisor. At that time, I was working at a mortgage company that had a massive customer service call center operating out of our building. While this team was on the phones lines, my department was working behind the scenes reviewing mortgage documents and initiating the correction process if mistakes were found. As the perpetual bearers of bad news, we were not very popular folks.

We had a company-wide program called “WOW”, which was our way of recognizing exceptional customer service. While, philosophically-speaking, our organization subscribed to the concept that everyone is a customer, whether external or internal, the only employees who ever won a “WOW” were our call center reps who had received great customer feedback. There’s nothing wrong with that; except… I had a department of 27 hardworking people who had never shaken the hand of our CEO and they were starting to get hostile.

Facing the potential of an angry mob, my team leaders and I leapt to action and created our own program. We used it only within our group to nominate each other for a monthly excellence award. The winner took possession of our travelling trophy – one that we ordered, incidentally, from Baudville:

The trophy passed through the hands of several proud team members before I left to frolic in more literate pastures. Hmmm, I wonder where it is today…

Jumping back to the present, I’m thinking about how the same recognition disparity could happen at Baudville. Except that it doesn’t. Every morning, we read in our comment cards how a customer had a great order experience with Andrea, or Ryan, or Justin, or Mary Jo. Hats off to them for sure for making our customers so dang happy.

But even when our customers have never spoken to us and can’t mention us by name, when I read that a trophy arrived flawlessly engraved, I know that we have Lindsay or another member of our custom team to thank. Or when that same order arrived so quickly that our customer nearly fainted, Marilyn probably helped make that happen. When I read that our web site is easy to use and shopping was a breeze, I know Nik probably worked late to ensure that. Jeff made sure we had enough products in stock to fulfill a massive order without delay. April designed a theme that everyone is raving about. Laura handled a tricky issue with a customer’s invoice.

I sound like I’m tooting our horn a little too loudly, I know. But, really, I’m blaring out the praises of all of the individual Baudvillians who make this place work. Just as we are all customer service, so are all of the members of your staff. How about saying thank you this year during Customer Service Week? It’s right around the corner: October 3-7.

In the spirit of everything I’ve just written, I’m recommending gifts from our TEAM theme:

Its design will appeal to everyone on your team and the message drives home that every person brings value to your organization.

Did this post inspire you to plan a company-wide Customer Service Week celebration? Tell us about it!    

--------------------------

Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for two years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 17 years. Before becoming a professional writer 10 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!