POWERGRAMS

6 "Power to the people." Who would have thought the old '60s slogan would perfectly describe a modern utility? Yes, Alabama Power generates and distributes power. But above all it serves the people. From the customer service representative answering questions, to the lineman hooking up power to a new home, to the security officer on guard against threats to the grid, the company touches the public every day in countless ways. It takes training and awareness to do it the right way. "I always say there's never a right reason to be rude to a customer," said Sharon Glover, a senior training instructor. Glover, with 33 years of service to the company, taught a recent seminar on how to provide extraordinary customer service. She urged understanding for customers who may be having difficulty paying their bills. "We don't know that other side to the story," she told the class. "Sometimes they just want to be heard. Let them talk it out and then you can really help them." Glover suggested giving customers options such as local agencies or church programs that offer financial support. She encouraged the class to have answers for common complaints and questions. "Learn as much as you can about our company and our other operating companies," she said. Glover cited research showing that the success of a conversation is determined primarily on body language and voice tone, and less on the actual words. "Make sure you're really listening, giving them your full focus," she said. "The last customer we have on our busiest day deserves the same amount of enthusiasm we gave our first customer of the day." Dealing with people has been a key part of Steve Luciano's life. A former Ann Arbor, Mich., police chief, he supervises security officers at the General Services Complex in Birmingham and trains all armed security for Alabama Power. He spoke about being respectful in the Southern Style. "The way you treat people and your professionalism, it's beyond an expectation, it's a requirement," he said. "Each of us represents the company every time we're out there." Luciano led training classes last month in Mobile and Birmingham for company field service representatives (FSR). They perform difficult work such as disconnecting power from a residence or enforcing easement property boundaries. "The program teaches de-escalation and using words to calm situations," Luciano said. In 2013, Gov. Robert Bentley signed a law to strengthen protection for utility workers who are threatened while on the job. The law was backed by Alabama Power union employees and management. Nevertheless, said Luciano, workers must recognize when someone is "having a bad day." "With this company, safety's first," he said. "We would never ask anybody to do anything that would jeopardize their own safety or anyone else's." Luciano teaches a seminar called Verbal Judo, which enables people to "redirect behavior with words." "The theme of the training is, everybody wants to be treated with dignity and respect," said Luciano. "You're not going to get respect back if you don't do that." Birmingham Office Supervisor Tracy Horton said the training has been very helpful. "All the guys try to exhibit Southern Style," he said. "You can be polite yet assertive. You're empathetic, but you still have a job to do." Stan Chapman, a Security Team leader at Plant Gaston, knows what it takes to get the job done. Three years ago he retired from the Shelby County Sheriff 's Office to join Alabama Power. Upon arrival he attended a week-long class given to all new security officers. "Alabama Power is a great company," said Chapman. "The training and education that has continued not only addresses security but also management and leadership-type skills." Chapman's expertise was put to the test last June, when he faced a critical situation: A gunman was on the loose near plant grounds. After Security Officer Sherry Goodwin saw the fugitive hiding behind a tree, she phoned Chapman and together they confronted, disarmed and detained the suspect. "It helped to have a good working relationship with the local law enforcement," he said. "We've reviewed that incident with the other security team leaders for lessons learned," he added. "I'm confident that they would have handled it as well as it was handled here." A fast response time comes in handy in cyberspace, too. Alabama Power enjoys one of the best social media reputations of any utility company. "Our customer care team is always listening for issues on Twitter and Facebook," said Communications Specialist Ike Pigott. "We average less than 10 minutes for each reply, while the industry average is between five and six hours." This is key during outages. "We've had success pushing outage information to the media through Twitter," Pigott said. "The fact that we responded and heard them makes them feel someone is on their side, and we are." Glover echoed the sentiment. "Can we make everybody happy? No," she said. "But we can make the majority of our customers happy if we just go that extra mile." By John Herr Mind Your Manners 100% CONNECTED Gaston Steam Plant Security Officer Jose Diaz monitors workers entering facility. Photo by John Herr CUSTOMER SERVICE TR AINING INVOKES LISTENING SKILLS, TACT

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