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Customer Service Management Certificate Program ^TM

Because public power systems place a high priority on their relationship with their customers, the performance expectation for employees who manage customer service centers is more intense than ever. In an effort to provide these individuals with a training program that meets their unique needs, APPA is pleased to offer its Customer Service Management Certificate Program^TM (CSMCP).

Customer service supervisors, managers, and executives who complete the program’s five required courses, pass a written exam, and successfully file a service department assessment/business plan within three years of attending their first course in the certificate program curriculum will earn a Public Power Customer Service Manager (PPCSM) certificate. Those who wish to maintain their designation must complete additional APPA-approved training every two years.

Press
• Tennessee Service Professional Earns National Management Certificate (10/28/2009)
• Two Customer Service Professionals Earn National Management Certificate (10/28/2008)
• Certificate Program Boosts Professionalism [pdf]

Customer Service Management Certificate Program^TM Requirements

Coursework
Participants must complete the following APPA courses:

• Power Supply and Integrated Resource Planning: An Introduction
  
  Course Overview
  When an electric utility examines options for meeting growing demand for electricity, potential resources include not just a new power plant, but also opportunities for using existing supplies more efficiently.  A megawatt saved is far less costly than a new power plant. Learn how utilities apply a comprehensive “big picture” approach to meeting future power needs by developing plans that include building new generating capacity and using existing supplies more efficiently. Participants will also receive a glossary of common electric terms and definitions.

Course Topics

• Comprehensive overview of the electric utility system
• The relationship between traditional supply resources and DSM resources
• The integrated resource planning process
• Generation sources, including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, and their strengths, weaknesses, and environmental considerations
• Utility-owned and operated generation, purchased power agreements, and how joint action agencies supply power for their member distribution systems
• How real-time supply and demand are unique to the electric utility industry
• Components of the transmission system, the importance of system reliability, and how RTOs and ISOs function in this market
• The elements of an electric distribution system (substations, transformers, meters and smart grid technologies)
  Introduction to how utilities can help customers manage their energy usage
   
• The Management of Successful Customer Service Operations 

In a time of high fuel prices and increasing rates, a utility’s most important strategic asset is its relationship with its customers. Utilities can set themselves apart by building a relationship with their customers and providing good, caring service that demonstrates value beyond low rates.  APPA’s customer service policies survey indicates that publicly owned utilities are showing continuing improvement in customer service.  Utilities are offering additional services such as accepting alternative forms of payment and providing summary billing, consolidated billing, budget billing, automatic meter reading, and extended customer service hours.

This course addresses six of the core factors that directly contribute to a public power system's quality of service.  The course includes case examples drawn from several existing systems, the measured impact on service quality of separate approaches, and multiple options for addressing each topic at variously sized systems.

• The Leadership Development Process

  This comprehensive course addresses the issues of employee leadership and management and is designed to help leaders in their efforts to motivate employees to achieve successful performance on a day-by-day basis.  By attending this course, utility supervisors, managers, and executives will learn the tenets of leadership, how to apply fundamental leadership skills that create employee loyalty, and how to effectively communicate goals and objectives with their employees.

• Technology: From Meter Reading to Customer Information Systems

  Customer service supervisors, managers, and executives play a key role in the purchase, conversion, and utilization of many technologies that support the functions of their service departments.  Customer information systems (CIS), metering technologies, billing systems, telecommunication systems, and internet-based options are just a few examples of the technologies these individuals are challenged with understanding.  The instructor provides service department leaders with information about the primary technologies used to support public power service functions nationwide. 

• Utility Collections: The Complete Process

  The instructor provides participants with an in-depth analysis of the structure and operations of utility credit and collections.  In the first part of this course, the instructor includes numerous examples of how utilities in the U.S.and abroad are organized to manage credit risk and discusses different customer-focused approaches used for residential, commercial, and industrial accounts. In the final part of the course, the instructor offers of an analysis of different collection activities and includes suggestions for the most efficient collection procedures and department organization.

Instructor
Wallace Barron has 40 years of experience in the electric energy industry. He is president of the Atlanta-based consulting firm, Barron & Associates, Inc., which serves the energy industry in the areas of strategic planning, marketing, customer service, key accounts and competitive issues. He previously worked as the vice president of marketing, customer service & distribution technology at Florida Power Corp. in St. Petersburg, Fla. His responsibilities have included key accounts, competitive marketing, market research, customer service, economic development, demand-side management, load management, load research and distribution engineering.

Certificate Completion Requirements

1. Written Examination

• The written examination will assess the participant’s comprehension of the five required courses.
• An individual must score at least 75 out of 100 (75%) to pass the written exam.
• Individuals who need to re-take the written test will be charged a $50 fee.

2. The participant must also file a Service Department Assessment/Business Plan with APPA:

• The plan will outline how the utility intends to utilize technology, labor, and processes to maximize the organization’s service effectiveness.
• An individual must earn a 49 out of a possible 70 (70%) and may not score lower than a 5 on any section, even if his/her overall score is enough to earn a passing mark.

Timing
Participants must complete the program requirements within three years of attending their first course in the certificate program curriculum. 

Continuing Education Requirement
Those who wish to maintain their designation must complete 20 hours of additional approved continuing education training (not limited to APPA offerings) every two years.

APPA will accept hours earned through participation in conferences and live or on-line courses that participants have attended or instructed. Candidates should submit via e-mail (educationinfo@APPAnet.org) the following information for each event by Dec. 31 in the year that their 20 hours are due:

• Sponsoring Organization
• Name of the Event
• Where It Was Held
• Dates It Took Place
• Number of Hours

Enrollment Fee

The enrollment fee includes the cost of study material, exam grading, and review of the service department assessment/business plan.

Bring this Program to Your Utility 
Offering the Customer Service Management Certificate Program as an in-house training course is an efficient and cost-effective way for your employees to complete a number of the program’s requirements in just five days. For more information, please contact Heidi Lambert, APPA’s Education Manager, at 202/467-2921 or hlambert@APPAnet.org.