FAQs

Who is sponsoring Legendary Service?

COO Don Hammond is the executive sponsor and Michell Clark, MGT division director, is the primary sponsor. Bill Mitchell, DFM division director, will be the supporting sponsor and work with Michell to implement this program in the Division of Financial Management.

Who implements the change?

We all do. (This includes MGT and DFM.) There is a formal structure in place, including an executive Steering Committee and a Project Team, to oversee the implementation. At the end of the day, we all play a part in making this happen.

What is Legendary Service all about?

Legendary Service is about establishing a culture that is focused on delivering great service and always trying to improve that service experience. You will get a better understanding of this in the book Raving Fans. It is up to us to define the customer experience and then work with customers to follow through on our promise and to continually look at ways to improve what we do.

What is not part of Legendary Service?

Here are some of the myths around Legendary Service and what the truth is:

• “We have to do whatever the customer wants.” No, in fact we get to decide what the customer experience will be (after asking and listening to our customers) and how we will deliver that experience.
• “Our area delivers great service. It’s the other areas that need to improve.” We are all in this together. Understand that our customers don’t see us as separate sections—in terms of their experience, MGT and DFM are a single entity.
• “This is just an excuse to cut positions.” While this subject was raised in town hall meetings, it still needs some clarification. If we fail to deliver the services our customers need, they will seek another way to receive those services, whether it means hiring their own staff or using a contractor. Ultimately, that costs the Board more money. If we can reduce the instances of duplicated services, we can, over time, reduce the overall costs to the Board.

What specifically was broken to require this new initiative? What were we doing wrong?

This program is all about constantly striving for improvement. We know there are ways we can get better—see the comments under question 6. No single event triggered the need for this initiative. We are service divisions to the Board, and it is appropriate for us to set customer expectations and deliver the best service possible.

Why are we doing this? Aren’t we delivering good service today?

Generally, we receive many positive comments about our service. But there’s always room to get better. Some comments that we hear from our clients include the following:

• “Working with the Management Division is hard.”
• “We get inconsistent answers; getting things done takes too long.”
• “Sometimes we get good, thoughtful, responsive service, and sometimes we don’t…”

All of our jobs are, fundamentally, about helping Board employees fulfill the responsibilities of the Board—and we can all get better at that.

How long will it take to implement this project?

Legendary Service is a multiyear effort that does not have an end point. We initially contracted with The Ken Blanchard Companies for an on-site customer service champion (Ann Phillips) through 2014. Tim Markey is currently leading the charge as our customer service champion.

What is the status of the project? What is going on?

The project has achieved several milestones. See at the top of the page to learn more about Power of 500, and find out who is currently serving on the Steering Committee and Project Team.

Can we meet customers’ expectations (especially division administrators) with our current resources?

Yes, because part of the Legendary Service philosophy is that we will decide what the customer experience will be. We will make it clear to our customers what services we will provide and what services we will not provide in order to manage their expectations. We do not plan to address this issue by adding more staff, but rather by focusing our efforts, improving processes, finding efficiencies, and establishing better relationships with our customers.

We’ve tried service programs before. Why will it work this time?

We intentionally chose the Legendary Service program because it so closely fits our customer service objectives. We have committed resources to build a solid foundation and support the program over the long term. Ann Phillips brings us direct access to the resources and expertise of The Ken Blanchard Companies—a leader in this type of change effort and in customer service programs.

How do we know if we are successful?

Eventually we will see the tone and content of our customer interactions changing. Customers will come to us proactively for advice and counsel, not just with problems. They will be eager to receive our help and they will not try to create their own services without us. There will be common success measures across the divisions, and each functional area also will have its own measures of success.

How does this affect my job?

Everyone has a role to provide service to others. Working within your section, you can define the service and then live the values and beliefs of your section. We hope it will make your job more pleasant. We all need to understand what the customer experience is from the point of view of the people we serve. We need to build relationships to understand their business needs so we can deliver the services they need.

Why is this good for me? What are the benefits?

Ultimately MGT and DFM will have better relationships with our customers, and these improved relationships will make for a more enjoyable work day. Individually, you will be empowered to make decisions and help our customers get what they need more effectively and more efficiently.

Can you define what good customer service looks like?

Each section will get to determine what good service means to them.

How do we identify what our customers need and which processes should change?

We start by asking questions such as the following:

• What do you need?
• What are the roadblocks or pain points you have with us?
• Do you have suggestions for how this can be improved?

What does “easiest part of your day” mean?

It means that when a Board colleague needs our services, they look forward to working with us because they know they will get help quickly, easily, and with accurate information. They may not always get the answer they want, but they will feel like they were listened to and explanations were given regarding why they could or could not do what they wanted. They also might be given an alternative solution to their problem.

Think about this example: You are an economist putting the final edits on a paper you’ve been working on for months. You will be presenting this work to the Board. Your spouse calls and says you need to bring home a claim form because your son went to the doctor. You are not sure where to get the form so you look around and eventually ask a colleague. You call the number they give you and get voice mail. A day goes by and nobody has responded to your message. You really need to concentrate on finishing your presentation by tomorrow morning. Your spouse reminds you again about the form, so you try calling again and still no response. What could be done better to help you get what you need so that you can get back your important work?

How do we balance compliance with service?

Some of our business processes are driven by statute or other legal requirements. For other processes, we need to look at our policies and practices and see where they conflict. Where there is a history of making exceptions, we need to consider updating the policy. The key is that each section knows how far it can and can’t go, and that we communicate clearly to our customers about why we can or can’t do something.

As part of the Legendary Service initiative, we want groups to review the things that are compliance driven and ask some serious questions such as:

• Does the requirement make sense in light of our business needs and customer demands?
• Is our compliance voluntary or mandatory?
• Is a review of the regulation in order?
• Are there ways we could make compliance simpler and bring resolution to our clients more quickly?