Last week, our state hosted its annual Governor's Conference on Public Health in Manhattan, KS where trauma-informed practices are increasingly coming to the forefront of efforts to support healthier people and communities.

Along with our valued partner, Shelly Schneider, Administrator of the Barton County Health Department, I had the opportunity to discuss with public health practitioners ways that they can make their organization the "go to" place to receive care in their communities through trauma-informed customer service. Shelly then shared her experiences - good and bad - with facilitating changes to the culture within the organization she leads.

Here are 10 small ways to build compassionate customer service (adapted from this article related to patient care) :

• Make sure each of your employees is capable of making a good first impression.  This is particularly true for your "front-of-office" staff but applies to everyone in your organization
• Keep your promises. If you promise a customer/patient that you are going to do something - do it.
• Show appreciation and gratitude to your customers. Thank them in meaningful and thoughtful ways.  They had a choice whether to visit you - and they chose you.
• Provide solid training. This might include customer service training but also training to understand the impacts of trauma and ways to build resilience.
•  Listen and act when your patients complain. Listening and responding to complaints can be opportunities to build a lifetime of loyalty.
• Go above and beyond what your patients expect. Make an effort to exceed expectations by paying close attention to every detail in your service delivery.
• Make it easy on your patients. Make the experience of visiting your organization as easy as possible by minimizing wait times, providing comfortable spaces, etc.
• Be open with mistakes. If you make a mistake - own it, apologize meaningfully, and offer options to repair the issue.
• Be a little obsessed with your customers. Would your organization be around without them? Getting to know customer names can go along way in making people feel comfortable.
• Treat your employees like customers. This could be considered "leading by example".  If you treat your employees well, they are more likely to do the same with the people you serve.

We had a great time sharing our knowledge and resources with our public health partners!  If you are interested in similar training at your organization, or would like to learn more about the other services we offer, please feel free to contact the TISC Team at WSU CEI by email at Vanessa.Lohf@wichita.edu.