Customer Service Event Planning Idea Guide

Color-Coded Celebration

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Add a rainbow of color to Customer Service Week. Assign a different color to each day Monday through Thursday, and ask your employees to wear clothes that follow this color code. Daily, hold a prize drawing for the people who are dressed in the right color. Have the prizes match the day. For example, choose green for Monday and give away “Attitude Is Everything” Green Reversible Tote Bags. Pick blue for Tuesday and give away “Together We Make The Ordinary Extraordinary” Blue Laguna Reversable Tote Bag, etc. Mid week, gather everyone to make tie-dye shirts. Allow them to wear the tie-dye on Friday.

Game On!

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The television show Minute To Win It has people throughout the country trying its challenges at home. Arrange a few challenges each day during Customer Service Week. You can go to www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it/ for descriptions of the games and an instructional video on every one. On Friday, outfit all of your “players” with “Winning Attitude, Winning Team” Polo-Style Shirts for being such good sports. Award the “WOW: Wonderful, Outstanding Worker” Kit to the person who completed the most challenges.

Educational Activity

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Invite managers of other departments and their staff members to visit your customer service area. Schedule the visits throughout Customer Service Week. When the guests arrive, provide them with a summary of what your employees do. Take them on a tour, then have each person sit with a rep and listen to customer calls. End the visit with a question and answer session in a conference room. Give guests “Delivering Excellence: Above & Beyond For Customers” Praise Pops. Present “Taking Pride In What We Do” Silicone Wristbands to your reps.

In Writing

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Give an interesting twist to saying thanks. Start by putting all of your reps’ names into a basket. Have each person draw a co-worker’s name. Then distribute unsigned thank-you cards. Ask everyone to write a message of appreciation to the person he or she chose. Gather the finished cards. Deliver them along with either “Thanks For Treating Customers Right” Treat Packs or “Thanks For Your Commit-‘Mint’ To Excellence” Treat Packs.

Fact Or Fiction?

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“Two Truths And A Lie” has become a popular game for recognition weeks. In this activity, employees turn in three statements about themselves. Two of the statements are true; one is made up. Everyone tries to pick out the untrue statement about each person. Organize this game for your customer service staff by printing up the submissions and distributing them, along with “Customer Service: Commitment You Can Count On” Comfort Grip Pens. Present a “Customer Service: Commitment You Can Count On” Deluxe Sticky Pad Portfolio to your employee who identifies the highest number of false statements.

Heartfelt Recognition

2011-06-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Really put your heart and soul into organizing this year’s activities. Around the building, hang paper banners that read, “Our Customer Service Team Has A Lot Of Heart.” Request that non-customer service staff members wear something red or pink each day in honor of your team. Also serve a heart-healthy snack daily. Distribute a quiz with heart-related questions, either on paper or via e-mail. Last but not least, hand out “Service Is The Heart Of Our Business” Lapel Pins.

Drawing With A Spin

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Use two-part raffle tickets to pick a prizewinner per day during Customer Service Week. Distribute the tickets Monday morning to your reps. Place the five items from the Customer Service Deluxe Gift-A-Day Combo, in a pillowcase. At the end of each day, draw a raffle ticket. Have the lucky ticket holder reach into the pillowcase without looking and pull out a prize. On Friday, hand out “Customer Service: Excellence One Call At A Time” 3-Piece Stationery Sets to all of your reps after the drawing.

Fun Times

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Lighten up your recognition event with a game. Play “Name That Customer Service Rep!” Start by gathering information from each person in your department. Try to learn things that aren’t commonly known. Make a list of names and a list of facts. Then challenge everyone on your team to correctly match them. Award a “Keep A Smile In Your Voice” Insulated Full-Color Tumbler to whoever gets the most right. Give “Keep A Smile In Your Voice” Computer Duster to all of the game’s participants.

Desk-To-Desk Service

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Since your employees spend their work days providing service to others, take some time to serve them. Turn a mail cart into an ice cream cart. Start by decorating it with “Customer Service: Excellence One Call At A Time” Balloons and signs that read, “We Have The Coolest Customer Service Department.” Load the cart with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream plus a wide range of toppings. Roll up to each person’s desk and build a customized sundae. Hand out “8 Ways To Make Your Customer Feel Like A VIP” E-Z Stick Glancers with the sundaes.

Badge Of Honor

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Set up a recognition program that starts in Customer Service Week but lasts all year. Create categories, including positive attitude, excellent phone skills, etc. Each month, with October as the first month, take nominations of people who exemplify the categories. Give an appropriate Lapel Pin to each nominee, such as a “Teamwork: Together We Shine” for great teamwork or a “Service Beyond Expectations” for giving 110%. Your winning reps will enjoy showing off the pins since they symbolize their achievements.

Think Pink

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Incorporating National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) into Customer Service Week is a smart idea. You can show you care about the health of your employees and their loved ones. Order educational items from www.positivebca.com (Positive Promotions’ NBCAM Web site). Make them available all week. Also order Pink Catalyst Pens imprinted with an awareness slogan such as “Early Detection Saves Lives.” Arrange seminars about breast cancer. Give pens to people who attend.

Gratitude At High Altitude

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Without a dedicated customer service staff, your business couldn’t have reached its current heights of success. Create posters that read “Thanks For Helping Our Company Soar.” Hang up photographs of various types of aircraft. Distribute soda and juice from a cart that you push through the halls. Also pass out small bags of peanuts or pretzels. Use “Customer Service: Every Call Matters” Drawstring Backpacks and “Giving Our All On Every Call” Phone-Shaped Stress Relievers as thank-you gifts. The backpacks would be great for carrying on an airplane, and the stress relievers could be relaxing during takeoffs and landings.

Spread The Thanks

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Ask your customer service team members to each invite someone to this year’s appreciation luncheon. Tell them to pick the person in the company who makes his or her job easier. At the event, have your reps talk a little about these valued employees. Then show your gratitude to the specially chosen guests by giving them “We Succeed Because Of You” Translucent Travel Mugs. Award “Positive Attitudes, Endless Possibilities” Lanyards to your own reps.

Five Times The Fun

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Perhaps you want the sentiment conveyed through Customer Service Week to last longer. Don’t celebrate five days straight. Instead celebrate every Friday during October. This year, October has five of them. Plan fun activities that employees can look forward to each week. Use the items from the Deluxe Gift-A-Day Combos or the Customer Service Gift-A-Day Packs as rewards for participation.

Growing Gratitude

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Bring the beauty of spring to Customer Service Week. Use a floral theme for your celebrations. Place potted flowers around your department. Have cut flowers on the tables at events. Decorate bulletin boards with artificial flowers. Let your reps know they help your business bloom. On Monday, hand out “Plant The Seeds Of Customer Loyalty” Treat Packs. On Friday, reward each rep with “A Garden Of Thanks” Bud Vase & Caddy, complete with real flowers.

Random But Rewarding

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If you choose to hold a lunch or dinner during Customer Service Week, remember that food and gifts go hand in hand. Start with a variety of items including “Customer Service: Dedicated To Excellence” Mini Carryalls and Double Duty Calculators to name a few. Wrap and put a number on each gift. Tape a number to the bottom of each plate that will be used for the meal. When your reps have finished eating, tell them to carefully lift up their plates to see the other side. Have them take turns coming up to the front of the room and retrieving the gift they’ve won.

Legwarmers Optional

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Trends from the 1980s are making a comeback, especially during Customer Service Week! Hang up posters from movies that came out in the ‘80s. Then show one of the movies during an extended lunchtime. Also, hold an ‘80s dress-up day. During your activities, play ‘80s music. To further carry out your theme, distribute Photo Frames With Clock/Date/Temperature imprinted with “Customer Service Is Totally Awesome.” Hold a drawing for Deluxe Padfolios imprinted with the same slogan.

Make Jared Proud

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Good nutrition will help your staff give it their all. Show them that they can have food that is convenient yet healthy. For each person, pack a lunch consisting of a Fresh FitTM sub, Baked LAYS® Potato Crisps and a bag of apple slices, all from Subway®. Place the items in a “Great Staff, Great Team” Deluxe Lunch Bag. Provide water to drink in a “Great Staff, Great Team” 25-Oz. Stainless Steel Water Bottle. When you hand out the lunches, explain that you hope everyone will keep up the healthy eating.

Majority Rules

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Allow your employees some choice in their Customer Service Week gifts in 2009. Pick six items out of this catalog that would fit in your celebration budget, such as “Positive Attitudes, Endless Possibilities” Mouse Pads and 4-Sided Mini Sticky Note Cube & Pen Gift Sets. Cut out the picture and description of each, not including the price. Glue down your cut outs onto a sheet of paper. Make color copies and hang around your department. Ask everyone to vote for his or her favorite item. So there’s an element of surprise left, don’t announce the results. Order the item that received the most votes.

Displaying Pride

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This year, create departmental pride within your company. Challenge the employees in each department to design a flag. Have them choose colors, a symbol and a motto. Arrange for time to build the flags out of whatever materials are agreed on. Display the finished flags. To further solidify the bonds within just your customer service department, hand out “Together Everyone Achieves More” Silicone Bracelets for your reps to wear.

Financing The Fun

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Has your budget for Customer Service Week been tightened? Consider holding fundraisers to help pay for activities. Buy snacks in bulk, then sell them throughout your building at a profit. Or hold a carwash in which managers wash the cars of employees for a donation. Employees probably will be very eager to see the managers out in the parking lot, scrubbing away. Spend your money wisely by ordering quality yet economical items, such as “Positive People, Positive Results” 3-Piece Stationery Sets and E-Z Stick Glancers.

Reaching Out

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Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “No customer service department is an island.” Your customer service department depends on several other departments that enable your company to function. To thank people in other areas for their support, supply your reps with “Committed To Excellence: We Appreciate All You Do” Praise Pops. Ask them to tape Praise Pops to every interoffice mailing for a week. So that your customer service reps also get the gratitude they deserve, give them “The Sunny Side Of Customer Service” 2008 Mini Wall Calendars in addition to your sincerest thank you.

Focus On Feet

2008-07-24T10:43:00.001-07:00

Put a new spin on the old concept of guessing games. Hold a “Guess The Feet” contest at your company. Take pictures of your representatives’ bare feet and post them on a bulletin board. Have contest entrants guess whose feet are whose. Award a “Positive People” Photo Frame Of Appreciation to the person with the most correct answers. Give all participants “Thanks For Providing ‘Spa’-tacular Service” Spa Kits to use on their own feet.

Recognition And Racing

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Stock car auto racing is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Capitalize on this popularity by holding a NASCAR-themed appreciation week. Decorate with black and white pennant banners, and set up pit stops featuring snacks. Also, encourage your customer service reps to create miniature cars out of materials found in your facility. Then allow time for racing the cars. Raffle off toy cars each day. End the week by distributing “Thanks For Going The Extra Mile” Handy Auto Travel Kits along with words of praise.

Sunny Day

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One morning during Customer Service Week, spread some sunshine. Start with “Together We Shine” Stress Relievers, which are sun shaped. With a red marker, draw a smile on one of them. Gather your customer service reps. Throw the stress relievers out to the “crowd” of employees. Ask the person who receives the smiley sun to join you up front. Present him or her with a Customer Service Umbrella Gift Set.

On Location

2008-07-24T10:41:00.003-07:00

Assist your customer service staff members in becoming more familiar with areas of your company’s building that they rarely or never visit. Begin by obtaining Mr. Potato Head toys, one for each person. (If you have a large staff, create teams for this activity.) Hide all of the arms in one room, all of the eyes in another room, etc. Start off your employees with only the potato bodies. Pass out clues describing the rooms that have parts hidden in them. Participants must find the locations and a Mr. Potato Head piece in each. Award an “Above & Beyond” Appreciation Snack Pack to the first person to assemble a complete potato head. Give everyone “Attitude Is Everything!” Talking Pens.

Service That Rocks

2008-07-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

Express to your representatives how well they’re doing by organizing a rockin’ Customer Service Week. Divide the staff into teams. Ask each team to pick a rock band name. Start the festivities by passing out “Customer Service Rocks” Lapel Pins to all team members. Throughout the week, have the teams compete in games, such as charades, Pictionary and hangman. Award points to the winning team for each game. At the end of the week, tally the points and present “Customer Service Rocks” T-Shirts to the members of the team with the best overall score.

Autumn Activities

2008-07-24T10:40:00.001-07:00

Regardless of whether there’s a traditional fall season in your part of the country, treat your employees to a fall festival. Begin by decorating with fall leaves and colors. Arrange for attendees to roast hotdogs and marshmallows, either by making a real fire outside or having an electric appliance indoors. Serve spiced tea and hot chocolate in “Making A Difference One Call At A Time” Satin Touch Travel Mugs. Add even more warmth by holding drawings for “Making A Difference One Call At A Time” Microfleece Blankets. And provide “fireside” entertainment to complete the effect.

Rewarding Perfection

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Having perfect attendance is no easy task. Plan a ceremony to honor your customer service reps who have been at work 100% of the time. Invite everyone from your company to be there. Arrange for your local high school band to play. Bring in your company’s president to say congratulations, then present a Warm Appreciation To Go Gift Pack and a “We Succeed Because Of You” Card & Pen Set to each award-winning employee.