City of Elmhurst In-Service Customer Service Training

Submitted by the City of Elmhurst

In cooperation with Elmhurst Partners, the corporate training arm of Elmhurst College, the City of Elmhurst held customer-service training workshops for City employees on Monday, Oct. 12 closed while more than 60 employees took part in the in-service training day, which focused on advancing skills in customer service.

The Customer Service Excellence Workshop, facilitated by an Elmhurst Partners content specialist, focused on key customer service elements, including the importance of external and internal customers and enlightening the customer’s experience. Other components of the training covered active listening techniques, respectful body language, protocols for different methods of communication, and appropriate reactions to challenging customer service situations. The training session was attended by City Employees from various departments, including Administration, Public Works, Human Resources, IT, Community Development, Finance and the Historical. City Hall was Museum.

A separate session, called Supervisory Skills to Reinforce Customer Service Excellence, was held for the City’s Management Team. It focused on advancing supervisory skills to reinforce the City Staff’s service excellence skills.

The topics discussed included the principles and steps for giving praise, coaching with constructive feedback, and handling challenging reactions to constructive feedback.

The training was developed with the assistance of Elmhurst Partners in an effort to reach the City’s goal of providing City Employees with the tools necessary to give the best customer service possible. The consensus from City Employees was that the training was very informative and that the topics covered will be beneficial in enhancing the customer experience.