Customer Service Training

One of the strongest proprietary programs we have developed is Going for Green™, a breakthrough customer service training program that was created to address a global need in Veolia Transport’s operations: understanding and responding to passenger needs. Working with a leading and innovative designer of training experiences, this program was custom-designed and created by Veolia Transport.

As its main objective, Going For Green builds drivers’ expertise in seeing situations from the customer’s point of view and in responding effectively. This program takes recognized and relatively complex behavioral theories and simplifies them into an actionable toolkit designed especially for drivers. The title of the program is based on a traffic-light metaphor. Employees learn how to spot the cues and model their behavior accordingly in order to move customers from Red (Distress) to Yellow (Uncertainty) to Green (Confidence & Ease).

The program is based on the 12 “real-world” situations most frequently encountered by drivers. Structured around extensive role-playing exercises, the skills are deeply embedded into operators’ behavior patterns. The 12 situations include the following and more:

• Greeting Passengers
• Taking Initiative to Provide Information
• Guiding Confused Passengers
• Dealing with Service Disruptions and Delays
• Managing Unexpected Flows of Passengers
• Responding to Different Needs
• Helping a Passenger in Distress
• Dealing with Disruptive Passengers.

Role-plays, real-time practice and coaching help operators internalize the techniques we use to bring passengers “Into the Green” in each situation.

The delivery of Going For Green is done with high quality, attractive, lively education materials, developed by professionals with superb credentials in workplace-based learning. Delivery of the training is limited to individuals who have been trained and certified after several weeks of work and “real-time” coaching by our Master Trainer.

Going For Green - Outstanding Results

Most employees readily testify to the value of Going For Green training, saying it makes them feel confident and better able to provide the first rate experience their customers expect. In fact, 86% of operators rate the programs as “Excellent” or “Very Good” and 84% of respondents said that the training offered them new ways to respond to passengers. Many report, too, that the new way of thinking provided by Going For Green has proven invaluable in their personal lives.

But the real proof of the program’s value is in our passengers’ response to drivers both before and after training. In five markets where we have done extensive consumer testing after the Going For Green training, we have seen statistically significant, positive changes in passenger perception of driver helpfulness, friendliness and skill at providing information in a situation where there has been a delay or service interruption.