Training staff to develop a real customer service mindset

Veolia Transport's commitment to customer service is illustrated in its GOING FOR GREEN program, which trains staff to quickly understand riders' queries in order to provide an efficient, helpful and friendly service.

Going for Green

Veolia Transport's customer service training program

Regular riders, occasional visitors, newcomers travel and come with different needs and expectations. The ability of staff to understand the travel needs of each rider type, to welcome the customer and provide courteous, helpful service, are critical factors in making the service truly accessible.

Veolia Transport has developed an innovative customer service program with its own training program: "Going for Green". This gives staff guidelines that help them understand customers' needs when problems occur, and ways that they can deal with them. They can then personally make decisions that improve riders' travel experience and take action that contributes to a positive customer environment.

Taking action that contributes to a positive customer environment

Given a specific situation and the rider type, the way employees react (their attitudes, their behaviors, their actions) contributes to creating an emotional environment for the rider. The "Going for Green" approach focuses everyone's attention on three environments that riders experience.

For example, while there isn't always a lot staff can do about delays or technical problems, they can influence the way customers experience these situations:

  • If they haven't been able to establish a relationship with a rider, a minor incident (a five-minute delay, for example) can escalate into a hostile confrontation if a rider feels staff have not reacted.
  • But if employees can make an initial contact with riders, they will feel that they are cared for and that their needs come first.

So that staff can see how it can work for them in the real world, "Going for Green" is based on situations they encounter every day. For each of the challenges, they can find ideas, tips and hints on how to respond in a way that drives riders to the Green.

Several tools have been developed for staff and are fully adapted to the environment and specific needs of the local transportation system.