|
Customer Service Week Agendas —
Host Challenging Contests
Prizes and raffles 
There was a lot going on at Ashland Canada during Customer Service Week 2007. But one activity really caught our attention because it ran through the entire week culminating in a prize drawing.
Throughout the week, the service team participated in a variety of games and activities. Each participant or winner was rewarded with Monopoly Money. For example:
- Every half-hour a question from Trivial Pursuit was emailed to all reps. The first person to reply with the correct answer received $1 in Monopoly Money.
- At lunch, teams competed to complete two jigsaw puzzles. Each player on the fastest team received $2 in Monopoly Money.
- Reps also received Monopoly Money for Thank-You notes sent to customers and for letters of appreciation received from customers.
The funny money fun wasn’t over until Friday when reps redeemed their money for raffle tickets and the chance to win one of several prizes. The more money they earned, the greater the chances of winning.
In addition, the team celebrated with a kick-off Breakfast of Champions at which each employee received a Thank-You card signed by his or her manager and a Customer Service Week t-shirt.
Reps also shared a meal with internal customers. Each rep was asked to invite one internal customer to have lunch on site. It proved to be a nice opportunity for reps to meet face to face with the people they work with on a daily basis but seldom have time to get to know.
Advanced Health Media hit a home run with Sports Day 
Friday was sports day at Advanced Health Media (AHM) where lots of individual sports themed activities added up to a fun-filled day.
Some events were held indoors with limited room for fans while others, such as the three-legged race and dizzy bat race, were held outside. Reps were encouraged to attend the outdoor events to cheer their coworkers on. To keep everyone involved in all of the activities, up to the minute results were posted on a scoreboard at the AHM website.
Adding to the fun, “vendors” made their way through the office during the “7th Inning Stretch” tossing snacks to the spectators.
And what would a sport day be without reps coming to work dressed in gear for their favorite team.
Finally, reps were able to win tickets to Giants or Jets games. Working with the AHM vending machine contact, special stickers were placed on one item in each of two vending machines. The lucky person to receive a sticker won the tickets.
Build Teamwork with Games 
Everyone loves to play games during Customer Service Week. And why not? When we play together and laugh together we build strong bonds that last all year long.
The customer service team at Nunhems USA created wonderful teambuilding games for each day of the week, leading up to an awards ceremony on Friday. Here’s how they played:
Monday was the “Customer Service Challenge.”
This challenge is based on the children’s game Telephone and provides an important lesson on the importance of two-way communication.
Teams of five lined up. The first player was given instructions for a product order. The instructions were passed down the line from person to person until the last player assembled the order from the materials provided. The team to correctly assemble the order in the least amount of time was the winner.
Tuesday saw a “Good Ol’ Fashioned Tug of War.”
The entire staff was invited to flex their muscles in what was described as “a healthy competition with not so healthy desserts.”
Wednesday brought “The Amazing Race.”
Based on the popular reality television show, teams followed clues throughout the building to collect and assemble puzzle pieces. Click here for details on another celebration featuring an “Amazing Race” event.
Thursday was the “Building Bridges” challenge.
This event tied in with the 2006 Customer Service Week theme “Building Bridges to Customers.” To reinforce interdepartmental teamwork, teams were made up of
staff from several departments that work together and support each other.
Teams were given boxes of spaghetti and bags of marshmallows to build their bridges. Some of their impressive creations are shown above.
Friday brought the “Company Social.”
Lunch was served, prizes were awarded to all of the contest winners, and the special Standing Ovation award was presented. This award is given to someone outside
of the customer service department who manager Vicki Avina tells us, “doesn’t necessarily have direct contact with the customer but makes outstanding efforts to create positive experiences for those they come in contact with and truly demonstrates the service culture we’re trying to build.”
Tie your contests into the official theme
Each day during Customer Service Week, CBK Ltd. had a special theme. For example, Thursday’s theme was “Thanks for keeping things MOOOOVING.” Reps were asked to dress in country duds; a lunch of fried chicken, green beans, potato salad, cole slaw and cobbler was served; and an award was given to the best-dressed rep.
In addition to daily themes, two important activities centered on the official Customer Service Week theme “Building Bridges to Customers.” First was an actual bridge building contest. Reps were divided into six teams and asked to create their own model bridge. To ensure participation, the rules stated that “every team member must contribute to the project or the entire team will be disqualified.”
The second contest asked team members to write a poem about how their department builds bridges to customers. This type of contest really gets team members thinking about the important role they play in their company’s success. Click here to see the first, second and third prize winning entries in the poetry contest.
Keep contests light-hearted
The team at Dairyland Healthcare Solutions made Customer Service Week special by featuring a contest each day. Some were serious, others purely fun. Some were held during office hours, others in the evening.
The activities included a trivia contest, pie-eating competition, volleyball tournament, bingo challenge, bubble-gum blowing competition and cubicle-cramming contest.
The cubicle-cramming contest involved cramming as many employees as possible in the cubicle and under the desk. 21 people in all set the Dairyland record. To add to the fun, employees were asked to guess how many people would fit. The three reps with the closest guesses won prizes.
And because there are strong bonds at this company, photos of each event were sent to a customer service representative currently serving in the military in Iraq.
Get to know coworkers with games
The simple but effective Customer Service Week celebration at Aetrex Worldwide was created to help reps get to know each other better and to keep spirits high during a stressful companywide software conversion.
The following four activities could easily be incorporated into a larger celebration as well.
• Aetrex Hold ’Em — With the current popularity of poker this activity can’t miss. Every day, each rep chooses one playing card from the deck. By the end of the week, each rep has a five-card poker hand. Each hand is taped to a large piece of poster board and the rep with the best hand wins.
Not a poker player? Just click here to learn the rules. |
|
• Guess Who — In this classic Customer Service Week activity, each team member brings in a baby picture and reps try to match the bouncing babies with their coworkers.
• Middle Name Game — Reps compete to see how many of their teammates’ middle names they know.
• CSR Trivia — Reps are asked to answer 10 questions about their teammates. These include questions such as, “How many team members have pets?” and “Who has the longest commute?”
Finally, after getting to know each other a little better, the team celebrated the week with a pizza party and thank-you gifts.
Get everyone involved
At Manchester Tank’s corporate headquarters the entire staff participated in a week of teambuilding activities based on the popular television series “Survivor.”
Shelia Lindsay, who organized the week, describes it as their “most successful celebration.” Here's why:
On Monday morning each employee received a bandanna, which indicated which of three interdepartmental “tribes” they belonged to. Team captains were assigned when three vice presidents drew “tiki” cups from a box.
Throughout the week, the tribes competed in teambuilding challenges. Points were won for successfully completing the challenges and for each of the following:
• Most original tribe name
• Most team spirit
• Most participation
• Best mascot, and more.
Tribes could also lose points. For example, a team member not wearing his or her bandanna cost the tribe one point, and being late to a tribal council meant the loss of 10 points.
A typical teambuilding challenge was made up of several tasks, each of which had to be completed by a single team member. Wednesday's challenge included:
• One task that required strength
• One task that required agility
• One task that required dexterity
• The remaining tasks were trivia questions in the categories of history, geography, entertainment, general knowledge, and sports.
On Friday, the tribes assembled for a final “tribal meeting.” Each member was asked to say something he or she had learned about another tribe member. Shelia reports that, “considering we have worked together for years, it was very eye opening to hear comments like, ‘I didn't know she was so dedicated, creative, smart, knew so much about our customers, our products, had a great sense of humor, had great team building skills, and so forth.’”
If you’d like to share your agenda and photographs, please send them to CS Week Relationship Manager, Mary Dalessandro. You may email them to mdalessandro@CSWeek.com or send them through the mail to Customer Service Group, 712 Main Street — Suite 187B, Boonton, NJ 07005.
Host Festive Activities
Connect with Coworkers
Connect with Customers
Focus on Training
Home | Products | Tools | Publications | Contact Us | Sitemap
© 2008 Alexander Communications Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Customer Service Group
712 Main Street — Suite 187B, Boonton, NJ 07005
Telephone: (973) 265-2300, Fax: (973) 402-6056
Website: www.CSWeek.com
Email: info@CSWeek.com
Terms of Use — Privacy Policy
| 
