 elodie Walls was doing well enough working as an assistant chef in a restaurant kitchen. But the 26-year-old Lithonia resident decided, one day in the spring of 1999, to make a change in her career.
She happened to open the newspaper that Sunday and see an advertisement for the Metro Atlanta Regional Service Industry Academy, a customer service training center located on Clairmont Road in Atlanta and operated by the Department of Technical and Adult Education's Quick Start program. "It just seemed perfect," she recalls, "both the timing and the program."
"It was a little overwhelming at first, so much customer contact, but I stuck with it," she says. "The Academy taught us how to deal with customers, how to establish rapport, how to listen, and when to ask questions. You'd never think you could learn so much in so short a time." After six months on the job at Sprint, Walls was called in for her first review — and received a nice surprise: a 7.5 percent raise on the spot. "I like my job a lot. The benefit plan is 'out of this world,' and I was really well-trained to do it," she says. About 60 students currently attend classes at the Academy, whose Clairmont Road facility includes a large classroom and a computer lab and is staffed by a program manager and six contract trainers who focus exclusively on customer service training. City-wide, nearly 200 students currently attend Academy classes, with training available at seven collaborating technical colleges and institutes — Atlanta, West Central, Chattahoochee, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Lanier, and North Metro Tech. Other academies are active in Columbus, Rome, and Savannah, with nearly 100 students enrolled. Additionally, metro Atlanta-area technical colleges and institutes have begun joint enrollment programs to train local high school seniors for customer service jobs.
Basing their model on Columbus Technical College's existing Service Industry Academy, Lientz and Breeden created the Atlanta Academy. "Today, the service sector comprises more than 55 percent of all jobs," points out Commissioner Breeden. "This Academy provides a way to train workers for service jobs and increase employment, enhancing productivity and job performance." The Certified Customer Service Specialist training program is the cornerstone of these Service Academies, teaching students to work in a business environment, communicate clearly with customers, solve problems effectively, and promote company services in a positive manner. Customer contact is particularly emphasized by exposing the students to a variety of situations and industries; the information technology, banking, insurance, finance, consumer credit, telecommunications, transportation, public utilities, and public service sectors are all explored at some point during the certification course.
Simply getting into the Service Academies requires dedication; each applicant must first take a rigorous entrance examination that evaluates his or her reading, grammar, and math skills. Those accepted receive 154 hours of intensive classes, including role-playing exercises and discussions. To graduate with a certificate, students must demonstrate knowledge in a number of different areas. Credit for the courses may be transferred to other degree or diploma programs, and — as happened for Melodie Walls — HOPE scholarship money can be used to fund tuition and textbook costs. "The Service Academy staff is wonderful," concludes former student Walls by way of recommendation to others. "I have never met a happier group of people doing their jobs in my entire life — they're just the best. If anyone is thinking of taking this program, I'd say go for it."
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At the Service Industry Academy, Walls attended four-hour classes three times per week, financed by a HOPE scholarship, which paid her tuition and textbook fees. Graduating with a Customer Service Specialist certificate, she then headed to a series of interviews with top Atlanta companies arranged by the Academy. She quickly landed a customer service position with Sprint telecommunications company and began working last autumn handling customer questions, concerns, and complaints in the company's Cobb County call center.
All told, more than 2,500 students have been certified as customer service specialists since the program's launch in 1996. That's exactly what DTAE Commissioner Dr. Ken Breeden envisioned in the fall of 1998 when Bank of America President Jim Lientz invited DTAE to form a partnership with metro Atlanta businesses to train personnel for the city's growing service sector.
