1310 Inverary Pl.
State College, PA 16801
December 2, 2014
Tom Palchak
Berkey Creamery Manager
001 Food Sciences Bldg
University Park, PA 16802
Dear Mr. Palchak:
Enclosed is the report that you requested entitled "Increasing Student Employee Customer Service Skills." You will find that this report contains: an introduction to the Creamery’s problem, the research plan and methodology, evaluative criteria, an overview of the possible solutions, evaluation of solutions against the criteria, and finally a recommendation. I am confident that the results in this report will help you to improve the customer service skills of your student employees.
Several methods of research were employed for this report. Interviews with Veronica Brown, Senior Sales Room Supervisor, Jake Segall, Student Supervisor, and a new student employee were conducted. Additionally, 18 student employees completed a questionnaire soliciting information in regard to training. I also reviewed relevant literature related to customer service training materials. The three evaluative criteria were: is the solution realistic for Creamery Management to implement; is it affordable; will the solution improve customer service skills of student employees? Several possible solutions were considered, to include:
Update current employee handbook.
Provide new student employees with mentors.
Provide comprehensive training addressing customer service.
Consider video training modules.
The appropriate solution must be realistic for management to implement. It also must be affordable and have likelihood for success. After evaluating the four possible solutions against the evaluative criteria previously mentioned, I recommend a hybrid approach wherein a combination of updating the employee handbook, providing peer mentors and having product information prominently displayed for both customers and student employees.
I hope you find this report helpful in regards to increasing the customer service skills of student employees. If you have any questions or comments regarding my recommendation feel free to contact me at (814) 574-2596. Thank you for the opportunity to research these issues and provide recommendations to the Creamery in an effort to mitigate the customer service complaints.
Sincerely,
Theresa Ritzman
enclosure
Increasing Student Employee Customer Service Skills
Penn State Berkey Creamery
Prepared for:
Tom Palchak,
Berkey Creamery Manager
Prepared by:
Theresa Ritzman
Executive Summary
The Penn State Creamery is the largest university creamery in the nation. A quick glance at the statistics from the Creamery’s web site notes that during a typical year, the Creamery will process approximately 4.5 million pounds of milk, which is used to produce its famous ice cream, sherbet, and cheeses that are their products (http://creamery.psu.edu/). However, there have been complaints by customers that the ice cream servers are not always friendly or attentive, nor are they knowledgeable about the products. The objective of this report is to evaluate possible solutions that would improve customer satisfaction with the staff that serve the ice cream products. The evaluative criteria are:
Ø Is the solution realistic for Creamery management to implement?
Ø Is the solution affordable?
Ø Likelihood that the solution will improve the customer service skills of serving staff.
To begin researching this problem, an initial interview was conducted with the Senior Sales Room Supervisor. The nature of the customer complaints were discussed to identify particular areas of concerns raised by customers. There were clear indications that customer concerns primarily focused on the two areas noted above: that servers were not generally friendly or attentive, and that servers displayed a lack of knowledge about the products they served. The supervisor noted that training for the student employees who serve ice cream has not been consistent or comprehensive. A survey of student employees also indicated training was sporadic and inconsistent. Based on the concerns raised, several potential solutions were proposed for consideration that would ostensibly provide a consistent and useful training tool for Creamery management to implement. The proposed solutions to explore were:
Ø Update the existing employee handbook to include a section with comprehensive information that addresses appropriate customer service protocol as well as a section on creamery product details. Require all employees to read the material and provide the employees with paid time to review and be tested on the content to demonstrate their understanding of the customer service requirements.
Ø Assign new employees to work their shifts with ‘peer mentors’ who have demonstrated excellent customer service skills and product knowledge. The peer mentor would serve as a role model and provide training on-site while serving customers.
Ø Provide training for all new employees to include comprehensive coverage of what good customer service should be while working. Vignettes, role-playing, and a variety of other training modalities can be incorporated into the training.
Ø Provide videos of actual interactions with customers that demonstrate both good and poor customer service.
The recommendation was to incorporate a hybrid of the proposed solutions: update the existing student employee handbook, provide peer mentors for new employees, develop a system to have product information (ingredients, nutrition information, etc.) prominently displayed for both employees and customers. The proposed solutions must be affordable, must have long-term effects, and must also be easy for Creamery management to implement. Student employees will benefit by having access to better training and a better sense of purpose while working. In turn, customer satisfaction will also improve when interacting with staff who are both pleasant and knowledgeable about the products that they serve.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary i
Introduction 1
Research Plan and Methodology 1
Interview with Senior Sales Room Supervisor 2
Interview with Student Supervisor 3
Interview with Student Employee 3
Outside Research 3
Student Survey 4
Findings and Data 9
Evaluation of Possible Solutions 9
Recommendation 11
Conclusion 11
References 12
Appendices 13
ii
Introduction
Creamery operations has 23 full-time employees, including management staff. In order to handle the in-store sales, the Creamery relies on a large, part-time retail sales staff comprised of between 60 and 100 student employees. The student employees serve as the ‘front-line’ staff in Creamery retail operations; primarily serving ice cream products (cones, dishes, milk-shakes). A smaller number of student employees operate the cash register and assist with replenishing general merchandise (packaged ice cream, bagels, making coffee, etc.) that is also available for sale in a self-serve format. Customers regularly ask student employees questions related to the products for sale, especially as it relates to taste, ingredients, potential allergens, product availability, etc. Although the Creamery has a student employee handbook available for review, new student employees have limited time to review the material and do not have access to a copy to keep for reference. However, the handbook does not provide details related to the ice cream products that would be helpful for the servers to know in order to answer customer questions. Unfortunately, smiling, helpful employees are not always present at Penn State’s Creamery because of the lack of training. The employees are not adequately trained in customer service nor do they receive training about the various products that are sold throughout the store. Employees who are not properly trained make the experience for the customers poor.
The purpose of this report is to help the Penn State Berkey Creamery develop better training methods for their staff that will enable the staff to improve their customer service skills. The Creamery attracts customers from all over the globe. Customers who come into the Creamery have high expectations and expect exceptional customer service. Since the Creamery represents Penn State and is considered an icon, customer service should be exceptional to carry on the Penn State tradition. Increasing the serving staff’s product knowledge and customer service skills would likely decrease the number of customer complaints related to these issues.
Research Plan and Methodology
In an effort to analyze the stated problem and determine whether current student employees have sufficient training to perform their jobs, several techniques were used:
Ø Individual interviews were conducted with the Senior Sales Room Supervisor, a Student Supervisor, and an individual student employee. The interview format was informal but semi-structured and followed interview techniques suggested by Cresswell (2006) in regard to having prepared questions, taking notes, and ensuring confidentiality.
Ø A simple survey questionnaire (Appendix A) was developed and a total of eighteen student employees completed the survey. Creamery Management approved the survey questions and in an effort to have an adequate response, allowed the student employees to complete the survey while on-duty. To ensure confidentiality, the students did not need to identify themselves on the survey and the students were instructed to place the completed forms in a locked, drop box that was only accessible by me.
Ø Review of the student employee handbook for content related to customer service training.
Ø Incorporate anecdotal information based on my personal experience as a student employee.
Ø Review literature related to customer service training, practices, and concepts.
I gathered much of the initial information for the report through Interviews with the senior sales room attendants. They discussed their feelings about new employee training and also shared their concerns about customer service skills. Additionally, eighteen student employees completed a questionnaire and their answers have been evaluated. I also interviewed a student supervisor from the creamery to obtain her opinion on training, as well as a student employee who is new to the creamery this year to obtain her views regarding the training she received. Along with the interviews, I researched different training methods on the internet, as well as strategies that might help the staff to incorporate better customer service into their work.
Interview with Senior Sales Room Supervisor
I was able to sit down with Veronica Brown who helps direct the operations of the Creamery’s retail store. She is also responsible for hiring all the student employees, as well as creating the work schedule for the employees. After talking to her about her opinions and thoughts on the training process, I learned how they handle training their employees and the problems that arise most often. Mrs. Brown informed me that over the past two years the Penn State University requires all new employees to have a criminal background check prior to starting their new job. Background checks can take up to two weeks to be completed. When she hires new employees for the new school year, training can be rushed and sporadic. This is a result of the Creamery typically being shorthanded at the beginning of the school year and they need the employees to begin serving as soon as possible, even if the employees are not properly trained.
The training process is fairly simple; the new employees read through the student handbook and also learn how to handle dry ice. They are then given a tour of the creamery so they learn where all the products are stored and displayed. Lastly, they are taught how to scoop ice cream into cones and dishes and the proper proportions to serve. This process can take anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes depending on how busy the store is; usually they start out scooping within their first shift. If it is not very busy they might receive training to perform basic functions on the cash register. New employees primarily learn a lot from the other employees as they work more hours. When training new employees they try to stress the importance of proper hygiene in the store, and proper procedures regarding food handling. Mrs. Brown noted that, from her perspective, one of the hardest things to instill with an employee is providing good customer service; she stated, “they either have it or they don’t”. Being knowledgeable about the products that are made in the store is also something she thinks would help with their customer service skills; some employees do not know what ingredients are in certain flavors, which portrays to the customers that the students are not properly trained.
Mrs. Brown informed me that the students are not allowed to keep the handbooks they are given to read through on their first day. She believes that if each employee was able to have their own handbook to read over when they chose, it could help with their training.
Interview with Student Supervisor
I was also able to interview Jake Segall who has been a student supervisor at the creamery for the past year. Being a student supervisor has more responsibilities than a normal employee; he helps with counting money, assigning jobs to the employees, and making sure everyone is doing their jobs correctly. When I asked him about the training process he told me that usually the student supervisor on the shift is the one that trains the new employee. He told me the same things Mrs. Brown did about the training process, how they are given a tour and basically start scooping on their first shift. He stressed that, from his viewpoint, the majority of training that the employees receive is from working with other employees. Mr. Segall told me that he thinks if the creamery had a formal training plan for everyone to follow, that the daily operations would run a lot smoother at the creamery.
Interview with Student Employee
From the interview I had with an employee who has been working at the creamery for six months, she provided insight into what she thought might enhance the training process. Michelle Kracaw told me that when she started working she did not feel confident serving the customers. She said that she received of her training from fellow employees that had been working there longer than her. She compared her training process at the creamery to when she was trained at her previous job at the restaurant chain called Chili’s. She noted that Chili’s stressed the importance of knowing all of their products so if customers asked question they were able to answer them on the spot without having to double check with someone. Ms. Kracaw stated that the creamery does not adequately prepare their employees to be knowledgeable about the products they serve. She made a great point: “if an employee cannot answer a routine inquiry from a customer about the product we are serving, the customer might assume the employee does not care about their job or them (the customer).” The lack of product knowledge is indicative of poor customer service; it seems as if the employees are not making an effort at their job.