I recently accepted a position as the director of customer service in a company who has never had a CS department. Any advice as to how to begin creating the program?

I would start with making sure i have the right people without the right people you program will surly fail.

Certainly, an assessment of people is a good place to begin. But also, an assessment of your company's goals regarding customer service is crucial. How will you know where to go, if you don't have a destination in mind? Great customer service starts at the top of an organization - if senior management doesn't walk the service talk, it won't matter much what your service reps do or say to their customers. Frankly, service training for people in an organization that doesn't fully buy into a customer-focused philosophy is like putting lipstick on a pig.

A clear assessment of the type of service that your senior management wants to provide, and is willing to stand behind, is the blueprint for building a world-class service department. From that blueprint, you can then hire the right kind of people, provide them with the proper training and environment, and then continue the learning process on an ongoing basis by listening to your customers' reactions, comments, suggestions, and grumbles. Ultimately, your customers will tell you what kind of service department they want to have serving them. Hopefully, your senior management will take heed, and allow you to build that kind of department.

Chuck Dennis
The Angry Customer Expert
cedennis@AngryCustomerExpert.com

You will probably need a kind of business plan, just as if you founded a company. You should build a target concept covering the relevant topics such as:
- Team Organisation (e.g. Front Office/Back Office or mixed)
- Workforce Management (Handling of Peak hours and absenteeism, multi-shift etc - including planned level of automation)
- Telephony Technology (Computer Telephony Integration etc - including planned level of automation)
- Information Management (How to provide information for the customers - including planned level of automation)
- Event Management (track events and their resolution - including planned level of automation)
- KPIs/Quality Measurement
- Soft Skills development and performance rewarding
- Office organisation (desk and office sizes and structure)

The next step should be a roadmap with a timeline: What do I want to set up until when?

Based on such a business plan, you should be able to determine the overall budget needs (Main partners within the company should be IT and HR). Costs are an important parameter for a cross-check with Top Management whether they buy in to your ideas.

regards,
Martin Treder
Customer Service Lead Region Manager
DHL Express

My suggestion would be to go out there into the field nad the perception of the customers. The company's sales reps are probably doubling up as the CSR's as well. Your customers will surely tell you what is expected and the the right path for you to follow will surely pop up in front of you.