Fountain Hills Unified School District is aiming to enhance its interactions with stakeholders, forming a Customer Service Training Committee last summer to get the ball rolling.

FHUSD Executive Assistant Krista Andreae gave a presentation on the committee’s progress during the March 10 Governing Board meeting, including the status of ongoing training and plans for the months ahead. The committee was formed following a board retreat last July, with the first training session for district staff taking place this past January.

To kick things off, Andreae explained that one of the early goals of the committee is to shift the focus away from just “customer service,” opting instead to emphasize the “customer experience.”

“Customer service refers to a single event,” Andreae explained. “Customer experience refers to the complete journey a family or staff member takes with our district, from initial awareness and enrollment or employment, all the way through ideally to post-graduate and alumni relations or retirement.”

Andreae noted that both are equally important to the success of the school district, and staff can’t do one without the other. In other words, the aim is to create positive customer experiences by consistently providing positive customer service.

In January, the committee led training for district staff, principals and office staff to focus on this process. Andreae highlighted three key factors, including:

*Improving [FHUSD’s] customer service for all stakeholders both internal and external.

*Establishing common expectations and beliefs around providing the best customer service.

*Teaching collective strategies and best practices to improve customer service at every district site.

Training attendees were also provided with a breakdown of standards which, when implemented, should enhance customer service throughout the district.

Along with enhancing person-to-person interactions within the district, a new frequently asked questions (FAQ) button has been added to each FHUSD website home page to improve the online customer experience. On the main page (fhusd.org), for instance, a COVID-19 FAQ is currently available.

“Working together with our staff, we will continue to build and update our FAQs based on the needs of the families at each site,” Andreae added.

Andreae noted that the above measures are only the initial steps for improving FHUSD’s customer service/experience and, working with parent Kelly Sampson, several other measures have been identified for improvement. These include:

*FHUSD marketing portfolios including pertinent information to give to perspective parents.

*Setting district-wide standards for school tours.

*Updating the customer service standards sheet.

*Using the results from panorama surveys to build a district-wide training for the fall of 2021-22.

*Improve the annual rollout of Chromebooks including site-based technology support.

*Conduct a complete website makeover.

*Create a “praise or suggestion” form so all stakeholders can share customer service experiences.

*Complete facility walkthroughs focusing on improvements that will better the experience for all stakeholders.