Leadership Albany offers Customer Centric, a customer service training program aimed at providing businesses with the resources to deliver stellar customer service, with the goal of increasing customer loyalty and polishing the community’s image as a first-class service center.

CustomerCentric will be offered at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on April 22 at Merry Acres Inn Event Center in Albany. 

The program will be facilitated by Rita Suiter of Five Star Customer Service Strategies.  Suiter, who isgraduate of the Institute of Organization Management and an alumnus of the Disney Institute and a Certified Customer Service Specialist, focuses on helping her clients create and sustain a polished, professional and seamless customer experience. Suiter assists her clients in improving their service culture and enhancing their service delivery.

“First impressions often determine if a relationship between a business and a customer will develop, and so often front-line sales people haven’t received the training necessary to provide that exceptional, personal experience that yields customer and brand loyalty,” said Mary Ligon, executive director of Leadership Albany, which has retained Suiter to deliver CustomerCentric. 

That experience extends business and can often frame the relationship between people and a community. 

“Albany is the hub of Southwest Georgia, and as such people from all over the region rely on Albany for everything from retail to restaurants and recreation to medical services,” said Rashelle Beasley, director of the Albany Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.  “CustomerCentric training will help our businesses become exceptional salespeople not just for their product or service, but for our visitors and community as well.  If our businesses prosper, so does our community.” 

CustomerCentric is $49 per person; there is a $5 discount for early registration by April 1. Two three-hour training sessions will be offered on April 22. Both sessions, 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., provide the same content. Organizers plan to offer subsequent CustomerCentric sessions that will build on the April 22 program.

Pre-registration is required by April 18 through www.leadershipalbany.org, click on “CustomerCentric” on the menu bar and click “register.”