Cynthia Messer
University of Minnesota Tourism Center
120a Bio Ag Eng Bldg.
1390 Eckles Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
(612) 624-6236, (612) 624-4264 fax

Quality customer service is essential to good business and a successful community—whether creating a welcoming atmosphere for visitors, or improving the quality of life for residents. It is particularly important as our communities change, welcome and serve an increasingly diverse population. At Your Service: Working with Multicultural Customers is a comprehensive curriculum for a half-day interactive workshop. This is a newly revised version of the highly regarded At Your Service successfully used by Minnesota communities and businesses; and by such clients as AmericInns International, the Mall of America, and the U.S. Department of State.

At Your Service: Working with Multicultural Customers brings together research on customer service and cultural diversity to create a program with application in every workplace. Program participants engage in activities and exercises to build service skills and create personal action plans for improving the quality of the service they provide.

The program focuses on the foundations of customer service integrating discussion of cultural diversity – and the critical role that culture plays in the service encounter. Interactive exercises drive home the importance of focusing on the customer and help build communication skills of listening, asking and feeling to better anticipate and exceed customer needs and expectations.

Workshop participants will experience elements from the curriculum and hear case studies of how At Your Service is implemented to improve customer service in both public and private settings. Time will be included for questions and answers.

PowerPoint Presentation (PDF format, 693 kb)