Altus Airmen attend customer service training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class J. Zuriel Lee
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The fourth quarterly installment of the 97th Air Mobility Wing customer service training was held in the Freedom Community Center March 18, 2014. The training was divided into two sessions to accommodate 60 students.

The class started as training for the 97th Mission Support Group, but was later opened to the wing.

The training's emphasis was to teach Airmen techniques to communicate positively and professionally with customers. Key aspects were effective customer service, how attitude can affect customer service and skills needed for dealing with difficult situations.

"We want to provide the best customer service we can to each one of our customers," said Suzette Betsill, 97th Force Support Squadron deputy director-in-training. "We are all customers to each other, regardless of what we do for the Air Force."

Betsill taught the class the mission is for Airmen to go beyond good and exceed the expectation with exceptional customer service.

The goal of the course is to teach Airmen to foster and solidify an environment of mutual respect, trust and inclusion. The course also aims to focus on effective, excellent and positive customer service.

U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jerry Pier, 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron superintendent, spoke to the Airmen about the benefit of taking the class. He explained instead of picking up the phone or sending an email, the personal aspect of direct customer service is important.

"You are taking time out of your day to learn to take care of our Airmen," said Pier.

Betsill encouraged the class to attempt being more compassionate when providing customer service. When serving a customer, she advised them to give the customer the information they need as soon as possible or tell them when the requested information will be available.

"We have to be effective when serving our customers," said Betsill. "It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about our mission."

The training included workbooks to accompany the lessons, customer service scenarios and group interactions on how to best deal with a given situation and effective customer service skills.