HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - December 20, 2000 H-05CITY OF LODI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
AGENDA TITLE: Approve contract with University of Pacific (UOP) to provide Customer
Service training.
MEETING DATE: December 20, 2000
SUBMITTED BY: Human Resources Director
RECOMMENDED ACTION: That City Council approve the contract with the University of Pacific's
Westgate Center for Management Development (attached).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Continuous improvement of any organization's personnel is necessary to maintain a motivated work force
that delivers high quality services. The City of Lodi would like to develop a customer service training
program using the professional services of the University of Pacific's Westgate Center for Management
Development (hereinafter Westgate Center).
There is currently a lack of consistency in the way City departments provide training. A variety of high-
volume vendors mail numerous brochures to the City offering an assortment of generic training sessions.
Departments often respond in a reactive, ad-hoc manner by sending staff to these sessions whenever the
need arises. This proposed program strives to proactively provide training of a uniformly high quality,
designed specifically for City of Lodi employees.
The primary objectives of this program are to:
• provide excellent customer service to the citizens of Lodi.
• increase City employees' skill and motivation levels through an increased awareness of techniques for
improving service delivery to customers both inside and outside the City organization.
• lower the unit costs of training sessions by reducing travel and business expenditures associated with
training.
It should be noted this program clearly conforms with a Major City Objective adopted by City Council and
enumerated in the 1999-2001 Budget document - to Provide Employee Training and Education.
The City has received proposals from Marilyn Manning, Kypta Associates, and the Westgate Center. These
organizations have had an opportunity to present themselves and the services they offer to City Department
Heads. After a lengthy process of assessing the quality of services offered and their potential value to City
employees, Department Heads were able to reach a consensus on using the Westgate Center.
APPROVED: 4 Z,
H. Dixon Flynn —City Manager
`CITY OF •DI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
�/FORCE
Staff is recommending that the Westgate Center provide this service to the City. They are experienced in
providing training to the local government community and can do so at a very competitive price. The
Westgate Center conducts a series of seminars designed for public agencies. Employees from the cities of
Manteca, Marysville, Napa, Oakdale, Modesto, Ripon, Roseville, Stockton, San Joaquin County, Stanislaus
County, as well as several State Departments, have attended these seminars. Dr. Herche, who will be
coordinating this project, has conducted management seminars, taught several academic courses and has
provided consulting services to organizations such as ARCO, Hewlett-Packard, Northern Telecom and the
San Joaquin Convention and Visitors Bureau. Their price is also significantly lower than that proposed by
the other firms - $37,140 to train all current regular City employees. The others were much higher - well
over $100,000 each.
Dr. Herche proposes a two phase plan to address the issue of customer service delivery. Phase I will be
comprised of background research designed to identify strengths and weaknesses associated with our
existing service delivery systems. This will summarize potential problem areas to be addressed by
changing system logistics, training employees involved or simply highlighting the situation for further
management consideration.
Phase II will be comprised of a series of customer service training seminars specifically tailored to the
needs of the City of Lodi based on information revealed in Phase I. Topics to be covered in these seminars
include a description of the production versus marketing orientation, using appropriate telephone etiquette,
adopting a teamwork perspective, striking a balance between following narrowly defined rules and being
empowered to implement change, and handling disappointed customers. These seminars will also include
an "internal marketing" component. This helps those employees performing functions without direct
customer contact to acquire an attitude of customer service toward those they serve within the organization.
An assumption will be made that everyone in the City has a product, everyone has a customer, and therefore
everyone should be involved in marketing. Once completed, Dr. Herche will conduct follow-up research to
determine the degree to which the training provided has improved the behavior of participants.
FUNDING: $37,500 is budgeted in FY 2000-01 to provide funding for this project.
U a Ah 6a xn, kk `cam,, I
Vicky McAth�Finance Director
R7;tfull submitted,
J nne M. Narloch, Human Resources Director
APPROVED:
H. Dixon Flynn — City Manager
DEC -12-2000 15:26 UOP ESB
P.02
CONSULTING AGREEMENT
This Agreement is made on between the City of Lodi (the "Organization") and
the Westgate Center for Management Development (the "Consultant") and is effective
on the date of signing. The Consultant has extensive experience regarding marketing
research and the Organization seeks to benefit from the Consultant's expertise by
retaining the Consultant as a Technical Advisor. The Consultant wishes to perform
consulting services for the Organization. Accordingly, the Organization and the
Consultant agree as follows:
Services
The consultant shall provide advice and consulting services to the Organization with
respect to matters related to WORK PRODUCT referred to in Attachment "A". The
Consultant shall be engaged by the Organization as a consultant for research and/or
training for or on behalf of the Organization. Any research which may: be conducted
shall be carried out under the auspices of a sponsored research agreement between
Organization and the Consultant is listed as WORK PRODUCT in Attachment A to this
document.
Compensation
As full consideration for the consulting services provided by the Consultant, the
Organization shall pay to the Consultant a total of $37,140. One-third of the total
($12,380) is payable upon agreement on the project. The remaining two-thirds
($24,760) will be due after completion. All payments shall be made by check, payable
to "The Westgate Center for Management Development" at the following address:
The Eberhardt School of Business
University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Confidentiality
Either party may disclose to the other party any information that the disclosing party
would normally freely disclose to the other members of the scientific community at large,
whether by publication, by presentation at seminars, or in informal scientific discussions.
The parties may wish, from time to time, in connection with work contemplated under
this Agreement, to disclose confidential information to each other ("Confidential
DEC -12-2000 15:26 UOP ESB P.03
Information"). Each party will use reasonable efforts to prevent the disclosure of any of
the other party's Confidential Information to third parties. The recipient may acquire
information that pertains to the discloser's processes, equipment, programs,
developments, or plans that is both (i) disclosed or made known by the disclosure to the
recipient and (ii) identified in writing as "proprietary" by the disclosure.7he recipient
agrees not to disclose any Confidential Information to third parties or to use any
Confidential Information for any purpose other than performance of the services
contemplated by this Agreement, without prior written consent of the Organization.
Confidential Information subject to the above paragraph, does not include information
that (i) is or later becomes available to the public through no breach of this Agreement
by the recipient; (ii) is obtained by the recipient from a third party who had the legal right
to disclose the information to the recipient; (iii) is already in the possession of the
recipient on the date this Agreement becomes effective; (iv) is independently developed
by recipient; or (v) is required to be disclosed by law, government regulation, or court
order, In addition, Confidential Information subject to the above paragraph does not
include information generated by the Consultant unless the information is generated as
a direct result of the performance of consulting services under this Agreement.
Return of Materials
The Consultant agrees to promptly return, following the termination of this Agreement or
upon earlier request by the Organization, all drawings, tracings, and written materials in
the Consultant's possession and (i) supplied by the Organization in conjunction with the
Consultant's consulting services under this Agreement or (ii) generated by the
Consultant in the performance of consulting services under this Agreement.
Intellectual Property
Title to all inventions and discoveries made by the Consultant resulting from the
research performed hereunder shall reside in the Consultant. Title to all inventions and
discoveries made by the Organization shall reside in the Organization. Title to all
inventions and discoveries made jointly by Consultant and Organization resulting from
the research performed hereunder shall reside jointly in the Consultant and
Organization. Inventorship shall be determined in accordance with U.S. Patent law.
DEC -12-2000 15:2? UOP ESB
P.64
Defense and Indemnification
The consultant agrees, at its sole expense, to defend the Organization against, and to
indemnify and hold the Organization harmless from, any claims or suits by a third party
against the Organization or any liabilities or judgements based thereon, either arising
from the Consultant's performance of services for the Organization under this
Agreement which result from the Consultant's performance of services under this
Agreement.
Term and Termination
This Agreement shall be for a term of six months, renewable upon reasonable terms
and conditions as may be agreed upon by the Organization and the Consultant.
Termination of the Agreement under the above paragraph above shall not affect (a) the
Organization's obligation to pay for services previously performed by the Consultant or
expenses reasonably incurred by the Consultant for which the Consultant is entitled to
reimbursement under paragraph 2, above, (b) the Organization's obligations to
recognize the priority of intellectual property rights described above (d) the
Organization's obligation to defend and indemnify the Consultant as described above or
(d) the Consultant's continuing obligations to the Organization described above.
Miscellaneous
This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the :respective heirs,
executors, successors, representatives, and assigns of the parties, as the case may be.
The relationship created by this Agreement shall be that of independent contractor, and
the Consultant shall have no authority to bind or act as agent for the Organization or its
employees for any purpose.
The Organization will not use the Consultant's name in any commercial advertisement
or similar material used to promote or sell products, unless the Organization obtains in
advance the written consent of the Consultant.
Notice or payments given by one party to the other hereunder shall be in writing and
deemed to have been properly given or paid if deposited with the United States Postal
Service, registered or certified mail, addressed as follows:
{Organization Address} 221 W. Pine Street
Lodi CA 95240
{Consultant Address} Eberhardt School of Business
University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
DEC -12-2000 15:2? UOP ESB
P. 05
This Agreement replaces all previous agreements and the discussions; relating to the
subject matters hereof and constitutes the entire agreement between tj a Organization
and the Consultant with respect to the subject matters of this Agreement. This
Agreement may not be modified in any respect by any verbal statement, representation,
or agreement made by any employee, officer, or representative of the organization, or
by any written documents unless it is signed by an officer of the Organization and by the
Consultant.
If any term or provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid, contrary to, or prohibited
under applicable laws or regulation of any jurisdiction, this Agreement(save only this
sentence) shall be invalid.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement effective the date
first stated above.
By:
Authorized Contracting Official for the Organization Title
By:
Consultant
App and as to form
Attorney
Title
DEC -12-2000 15:2? UOP ESB P.06
ATTACHMENT "A71 WORK PROQuCT
Product to be Delivered:
We are proposing to address the issue of customer service delivery for the City
of Lodi. Our plan is two -fold. Phase l involves a research project to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of the service delivery systems that are already in place.
This critique of the system will help identify potential problem areas to. be addressed by
changing the system logistics, training the personnel involved or simply highlighting the
situation for further management consideration.
The research will include developing and administering a questionnaire designed
to seek out the opinions and attitudes of personnel. The questionnaire will be designed
in consultation with management to focus the instrument on perceived problem areas or
subjects of particular relevance to management. The questionnaire may be used in
future studies to evaluate personnel training needs. Returns will be coded, analyzed
and summarized in an interim report. In addition to the survey, the research will
evaluate the City's Web page and will seek to utilize other selected services to critique
service delivery based on actual experience. "Mystery shoppers" will, make telephone
calls to test contact people for appropriate etiquette. Ten calls will be made to each of
five departments in the Administration. Roughly half of these calls will be made to
internal personnel seeking help on a contrived internal problem. An evaluation of the
contact service will be recorded for later reference. In addition to the interim report, the
findings will be integrated into a customized customer service training seminar tailored
to deal with the issues revealed in the research. After the completion of the training
seminars (Phase Il of the project), the "mystery shoppers" will again make calls to the
five selected departments to evaluate the degree to which concepts:discussed in the
seminar were implemented. Seminars and discussions are good, but only to the degree
that they improve the behavior of the participants. A final report will show the degree of
change and highlight areas for future improvement.
Phase 11 of the proposal involves the administration of a day -long seminar on
customer service designed to meet the specific needs of City of Lodi personnel. The
Phase I findings will be used to develop a customized seminar beginning with a multi-
DEC -12-2000 15:28 UOP ESB P.07
media presentation (including selected video clips and PowerPoint presentation
software) on the marketing orientation and its impact on customer service delivery.
This will be followed by a case discussion of a situation highlighting a particular
customer service challenge. Topics to be tentatively covered in the morning (pending
Phase I research results) include describing a production versus a marketing
orientation, using appropriate telephone etiquette, adopting a teamwork perspective,
striking a balance between following narrowly -defined rules and being: empowered to
implement appropriate change, and handling disappointed customers: The morning's
final activity will involve a workshop in which participants will bring up their own notable
customer service encounters and use role-playing, class presentations and problem
solving techniques to assess the transactions. After lunch we will return to a
presentation format for roughly an hour and a half. The topics covered in this session
will vary depending on the survey results.
This session will be followed by a second workshop focusing on equipping and
directing participants to apply in their current positions the marketing concepts
discussed in class. This is known as "internal marketing." It helps those performing
functions without direct customer contact to acquire an attitude of customer service
toward those they serve within the organization. An assumption will be made that
everyone in the organization has a product, everyone has a customer and, therefore,
everyone should be involved in marketing.
Phase II could be conducted in a more generic package without the Phase I
research, but the two modules are intended to work together. All activities in both
phases of the project will be directed toward making the people associated with the City
of Lodi aware of the importance of good customer service. They will empower them to
practice state-of-the-art delivery techniques and inspire them to look for creative
solutions in every customer interaction.
Class Organization and Delivery
Diversity is an asset in classes such as those described above. Participants are
better able to understand the concepts when they are applied in varied settings.
Organizing the classes with personnel from a wide variety of backgrounds and
DEC -12-2000 15:28 UOP ESB
P.08
departments (Police. Fire, Parks and Recreation, etc.) is considered optimal.
Recommended seminar size is thirty students. This number will allow for six workshop
groups of five students each and will facilitate instructor -participant interaction during
the presentations. Students will receive a three-ring binder contain ing.lecture notes and
a list of suggested readings as a supplement to the instruction.
Training for 409 people under this scenario would require fourteen seminars with
a maximum of 30 people in each class. The last seminar would be used as a makeup
session for people who were unable to attend under the regular schedule. The timing
for completing the seminars is quite flexible, however, a regimen of one to possibly two
sessions per week over a span of months is suggested. Dr. Joel Herche will personally
manage the Phase I data collection and analysis. He will also conduct all the Phase 11
seminars in Lodi.
Delivery of Work Product To Be Made:
The Interim Report, Customer Service Delivery Improvement Seminars and the
Final Report will be delivered as stipulated above.
Initials of Consultant: Initials of Organization Representative:
TOTPL P.08
RESOLUTION NO. 2000-238
A RESOLUTION OF THE LODI CITY COUNCIL
APPROVING CONTRACT WITH UNIVERSITY OF
THE PACIFIC (UOP) TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER
SERVICE TRAINING
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Lodi City Council
hereby authorizes the City Manager to execute a contract with the University of
the Pacific's Westgate Center for Management Development, for Customer
Service Training in the amount of $37,500.00
Dated: December 20, 2000
I hereby certify that Resolution No. 2000-238 was passed and adopted by
the City Council of the City of Lodi in a regular meeting held December 20, 2000
by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Howard, Land, Pennino and Mayor
Nakanishi
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Hitchcock
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None
S B
KST ON
USAN J. LA
City Clerk
2000-238