{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "How the Nationals’ Customer Experience Principles Can Be a Home Run for Agencies |Digital.gov",
    "description": "How the Nationals’ Customer Experience Principles Can Be a Home Run for Agencies",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/07/22/how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"How the Nationals’ Customer Experience Principles Can Be a Home Run for Agencies","summary" : "In June, the new Customer Experience Community of Practice (CX-COP) hosted Jonathan Stahl, Executive Director of Ballpark Operations and Guest Experience of the Washington Nationals, to share best practices on how to deliver a great customer experience.","date" : "2015-07-22T10:00:32-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jacqueline-snee" : "Jacqueline Snee","rflagg" : "Rachel Flagg"},"topics" : {
        
            "customer-experience" : "Customer experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-07-22-how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/07/2015-07-22-how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/07/2015-07-22-how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/07/2015-07-22-how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies.md","slug" : "how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/07/22/how-the-nationals-customer-experience-principles-can-be-a-home-run-for-agencies/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eIn June, the new \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/customer-experience/\"\u003eCustomer Experience Community of Practice\u003c/a\u003e (CX-COP) hosted Jonathan Stahl, Executive Director of Ballpark Operations and Guest Experience of the Washington Nationals, to share best practices on how to deliver a great customer experience. Below are four insights he shared.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-400-Washington-Nationals-MLB-main-seal-logo.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Washington Nationals 2011 to present logo\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"develop-and-share-core-values\"\u003eDevelop and Share Core Values\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Nationals’ core organizational values are excellence, performance and accountability. The core values are posted prominently wherever employees gather, such as break rooms, on the way to the field, and in offices. Job announcements also stress that applicants must uphold the values.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“These values set the tone in everything we do, help us succeed on and off the field, make a difference in the community, and provide the best guest experience in sports,” Stahl said. “Each person must commit themselves to these core values so that we can constantly move forward in the same direction—together.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"enhance-the-experience-through-feedback\"\u003eEnhance the Experience Through Feedback\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere are some of the ways the Nationals organization manages and acts on customer feedback:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCapture feedback from internal customers via comment boxes in employee break rooms. A team meets quarterly to review, discuss and respond to every comment.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse the \u003ca href=\"https://prezi.com/bi6ztb0qhnee/the-learn-principle/\"\u003eL.E.A.R.N. principle\u003c/a\u003e:\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eL: Listen to the customer to identify the problem\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eE: Empathize with the situation\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA: Apologize\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eR: React by giving an efficient solution\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eN: Notify the rest of the team and ensure follow-up with the customer\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDocument all incidents. Everyone in the organization has access to the feedback to influence future enhancements.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGet to the root cause. Customers might say one thing but mean something else.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eListen to all voices, regardless of where they are coming from. “If you’re going to do something for an external customer you should probably be doing the same thing for your internal customer,” Stahl said.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"empower-employees-to-help-customers\"\u003eEmpower Employees to Help Customers\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Nationals developed a TEAM Service Playbook which has everything employees need to know about the ballpark in an easy-to-carry booklet. The Playbook contains an A-to-Z list of common questions, a map of the park and emergency information. It also highlights the Club’s mission statement, core values, and employee recognition programs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStahl said that the rule of thumb is to “do anything that is ethical and legal to take care of guests.” This attitude empowers employees to do any reasonable thing they can to meet and exceed customer expectations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"rewards-and-recognition-matter\"\u003eRewards and Recognition Matter\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/07/600-x-400-Winning-Team-Brian-Jackson-iStock-Thinkstock-108791935.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Winning Team\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrian Jackson/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Nationals created a very visible recognition program so that employees would understand what it means to deliver world-class service. Sharing awards and recognition with all employees removes perceptions of favoritism because everyone can participate and be recognized.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey’ve also developed a Team Service Reward Program. Stahl knows that employees enjoy being rewarded in different ways, so his team offers many types of rewards, such as game day tickets, team jackets, autographed baseballs, plaques and more. Employees can also earn pins for providing great customer service, and they love wearing their lanyards and showing off all the pins they’ve earned.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese best practices enable the Nationals to deliver the best guest experience, win or lose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"baseball-and-government-can-mix\"\u003eBaseball and Government CAN Mix!\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese gems from the baseball diamond can also work for government:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHire customer service-minded people.\u003c/strong\u003e Highlight your organization’s core values in job announcements, and work with your HR department to add standard customer service language. During interviews, ask key questions to identify customer-focused applicants. Apply these same practices when interviewing potential contractors, and incentivize contractors through customer-centric key performance indicators (KPIs.)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEmpower employees with the right tools.\u003c/strong\u003e The Nationals use the TEAM Service Playbook to help employees answer questions and respond to customer needs immediately. What processes or tools would help your employees more easily respond to customer needs?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBe creative with rewards and recognition.\u003c/strong\u003e No, we can’t offer lunch with Bryce Harper as a reward, but there are “stars” in each organization who can spend time with “rising stars” and pass along wisdom and core values.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis was the first learning session hosted by the CX-COP, which is a collaboration platform for government CX practitioners. \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/08/14/federal-student-aid-customer-experience-journey-a-recap/\"\u003eRegister for our next event\u003c/a\u003e with Brenda Wensil from the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Office, and join the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/communities/customer-experience/\"\u003eCX-COP\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}