Customer Service Week Resources

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People’s Choice Awards

Are you a Speedy Gonzales, Gumby or Martha Stewart? That was the question that reps at Cox Health were pondering during Customer Service Week 2009.

The Physicians Billing team wrapped up it’s week-long celebration with a pot luck lunch and awards ceremony on Friday. Actually, there were two types of awards. First, were the “Oscars,” in which reps received recognition from management in categories such as Dedication to Accuracy and Offering Assistance.

Then there were the People’s Choice Awards in which reps recognized each other. A form listing the various categories for recognition was distributed prior to Customer Service Week. Reps voted for winners in eight categories including the following:

  • Speedy Gonzales: This person is a go-getter, he/she approaches issues with a sense of urgency, produces high-quality results, is persistent, and stays on top of things.
  • Payton Manning: This person is a team player and is always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done right.
  • Gumby: This person represents flexibility. He/she is always willing to help a coworker, has excellent multi-tasking skills, and will assist in any area where there is a need.

To create your own People’s Choice Awards, view all eight of the categories used by Cox Health.

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Photo Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts have long been a popular Customer Service Week activity. They can be used to build teamwork, flex creative muscles, and just have fun.

Patty Dillon at HGS creates an annual scavenger hunt for her team that does all this and more. It’s called a Photo Scavenger Hunt and teams are asked to take photos of themselves doing very specific things such as:

  • Three team members in one bathroom stall
  • Three team members jumping in the air
  • Three team members in a blow-up pool

Some of the photos are worth five points, but some are worth as much as 50 points based on level of difficulty and creativity. The team to accumulate the most points wins.

Each team also mounts its pictures on poster board to share with the entire department.

This creative scavenger hunt can be incorporated into almost any celebration. Click the links below to see the rules and lists of photos requested.

2011-CSW-Scavenger-Hunt

2012-CSW-Scavenger-Hunt

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Positive Attitudes and Positive Word Choices

At the Beaulieu Group, Mardi Gras isn’t a single Tuesday — it’s everyday during Customer Service Week. And traditional Mardi Gras beads play an important part in the decorations, prizes, and a special week-long game called “Say it & Pay it.”

The game was created to focus attention on positive attitudes and positive word choices all while having fun.

Each team member started the week with a good supply of colorful Mardi Gras beads. At the end of the week the team members with the most beads received prizes.

But there was a catch: Any rep caught saying “can’t” or “won’t” during the week had to give a strand of beads to the person who caught the lapse.

And what’s Mardi Gras without a parade? The team also enjoyed a chair decorating contest and then paraded their creations — lead by the Mardi Gras King and Queen — around the building.

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Post Scores Online

Friday was sports day at Advanced Health Media (AHM) where lots of individual sports themed activities added up to a fun-filled day.

Some events were held indoors with limited room for fans while others, such as the three-legged race and dizzy bat race, were held outside. Reps were encouraged to attend the outdoor events to cheer their coworkers on. To keep everyone involved in all of the activities, up to the minute results were posted on a scoreboard at the AHM website.

Adding to the fun, “vendors” made their way through the office during the “7th Inning Stretch” tossing snacks to the spectators.

Finally, reps were able to win tickets to Giants or Jets games. Working with the AHM vending machine contact, special stickers were placed on one item in each of two vending machines. The lucky person to receive a sticker won the tickets.

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Pumpkin Decorating

The team at Demag — A Terex Brand has been celebrating Customer Service Week for several years. And the celebrations just keep getting better.

One popular activity is the company-wide pumpkin decorating contest. It provides an opportunity for each department to show its creative side and for people to get to know each other as they view the entries.

Entries have included an all blue “pumpkin chain hoist” from the material handling group, a pumpkin with wire looms and LED eyes from the electrical engineering group, and a pumpkin featuring smartphone eyes from the IT group.

Complete contest rules are available here.

pumpkincontestrules

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Puzzle and Candy Desk Drop

Like many people celebrating Customer Service Week in October, Darlene Loiacono used puzzles from the CSWeek.com website.

She selected one puzzle for each day of the week, and presented them in a goodie bag filled with candy treats and a note which read:

  • Thank you for not SNICKERING when I handed out these puzzles.
  • KUDOS to you for completing them all.
  • You are such a SMARTIE pants for working them out.
  • Congratulations you are a winner and a STAR.

At the end of the week, all of the completed puzzles were submitted to Darlene for a grand prize drawing.

What a sweet way to start the week!

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Puzzling Pairs, 2 Puzzles (Remote ready)

Materials:Puzzling Pairs sheets for each team member.

A Customer Service Week Pen to use.
Notes:Listening is one of the most important skills for service professionals. In this fun word puzzle, changing a single letter in a word gives it a whole new meaning. This illustrates the point that you must listen carefully to every word, every letter, and even every non-verbal clue that a customer provides.

The last question on each puzzle sheet asks participants to create their own Puzzling Pairs challenge. Gather these and share them with your team.

Reward everyone who completes a puzzle with a Customer Service Week Scratch Off Card.
Puzzles/Solutions:Puzzling Pairs 1 sheets.
Puzzling Pairs 2 sheets.

Puzzling Pairs 1 solutions.
Puzzling Pairs 2 solutions.

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Quarrelsome Coworkers

Materials:Quarrelsome Coworkers sheets for each team member.

A Customer Service Week Pen to use.
Notes:The impact of friction in the workplace can be devastating to the reps involved, to coworkers, and to customers. Left unresolved, tensions can lead to lost productivity, staff disengagement, and a culture of negativity.

The Quarrelsome Coworkers puzzle shows the wrong way to handle this type of friction.

Reward everyone who completes the puzzle with a Customer Service Week Scratch Off Card.
Puzzles/
Solutions:
Quarrelsome Coworkers sheets.
Quarrelsome Coworkers solution.

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Recognizing with Caught in the Act Cards

The celebration at Orkin was filled with a wide-range of activities but two that really captured the spirit of Customer Service Week focused on recognizing frontline reps for their hard work and commitment to service.

The week began with a continental breakfast and motivational comments by the department vice president. Then everyone returned to their desks hoping to be “Caught in the Act” of delivering excellent service.

This activity is based on what author Ken Blanchard calls the most powerful way to motivate employees: to catch them in the act of doing something right, and then cheer them on.

Throughout the day, many reps were “caught” and duly rewarded with small gifts. Reps names were also posted on the walls of the breakroom as the company’s “Customer Service Stars.”

Wednesday was Team Spirit and Peer Evaluation day. Teams dressed in their chosen colors. And participation was high because only those teams with 100% participation qualified for a team prize.

In addition, reps participated in a recognition program Orkin calls Peer Evaluation and Recognition for Excellence. Manager Janet Carmichael reports that this is one of the most popular activities. Everyone in the company is encouraged to send a note of thanks or commendation to anyone else in the company. To make the process easy, pre-printed Star Cards were created for the event. As Janet says, “It was wonderful to see how faces lit up on receiving a compliment from coworkers.”

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Recreate Famous Artwork

Description

At the height of the pandemic, the J. Paul Getty Museum popularized this activity. It has continued to spark creativity ever since. The museum sent out a tweet asking people to recreate their favorite pieces of art using everyday household items. The images were shared via social media.

Materials

Common household items
Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners
CSW Scratch Off Cards for all participants

Directions

Ask participants to recreate their favorite piece of art using items in their homes.

The original image and the new image should be submitted to the activity organizer via email or your communication platform.

Share the best artwork with everyone on the team. Announce the first, second, and third place winners or allow team members to vote for their favorites.

Resources

Share links to online museum art collections. Images in these collections may be downloaded and used for free.

Getty Museum
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection

Art Institute of Chicago
https://www.artic.edu/collection

National Gallery
https://www.nga.gov/collection.html

Share images from the Getty Museum to inspire your team.

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