USATF National office now open later

[rainbowgirl28]

Now if only he can convince certain national office staff to reply to their emails...


http://www.usatf.org/about/leadership/ShinSplintsBlog/

"Shin Splints"
A Blog by Doug Logan

Customer Service

August 28, 2008

One of the promises I made in the process of accepting the CEO position at USATF was to improve customer service that our National Office provides, particularly to our volunteer leadership and members. To make good on this promise, I am instituting a new "customer service" culture in the National Office that treats the membership and volunteer leaders as clients. This is the first tangible addition of value I offer to our 90,000-plus dues paying members, and it is intended to properly respect and honor the selflessness of the thousands of volunteers that are the backbone of our organization.

In my first meeting with the National Office staff, I made it clear that a new day has come in their relationships with our membership and volunteers. The first step taken will be an institutional change to do a better job serving all of our constituent clients. To that end, I have made two immediate actions:

First, I asked that the annual staff retreat take on the theme of customer service. We will commit staff development resources to focus on improving the ways we do business with our core constituents. Plans are under way for this retreat to be conducted in early October. Meanwhile, the National Office staff will be primed with activities and information that will set a tone that our attitude toward customer service will change for the benefit of those we serve.

Secondly, in deference to the fact we are a national organization, I have directed the senior staff to keep the office open until 8:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Pacific. I found it discourteous to our membership in the western time zones that our office closed at 2:00 or 3:00 p.m., according to their clocks. Effective immediately, members on the West Coast can call the National Office during your business hours. We are staying open late here in Indianapolis to better serve you. And you won't get an answering service. The after-hours phones will be staffed by senior members of the National Office staff, ready to assist you on the spot, or to start a chain of follow-up that gets back to you the next day with the information you are seeking. This is more than a gesture. Our call logs have already demonstrated this simple provision of service was overdue.

In the coming days I hope to hear that our customer service has markedly improved. In turn, I hope our customers appreciate that our professional National Office staff is accountable to you and deserving of your gratitude and respect.