Seminar teaches importance of customer service Published Aug. 21, 2015 By Ally Lardner Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.- -- A Brown Bag Professional Development Seminar is held at the Timmerman Center here Aug. 25 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This month's seminar covers customer service in the military and features Christine Churchill, Customer Service Institute of America executive director and founder. "Customer service is an important topic because the military is a customer service-oriented organization. We serve the nation," said Maj. Michael Wells, 305th Air Mobility Wing commander's action group chief. "We want to build a better culture for customer service at the individual level, not just the organizational level." The intent of the brown bag program, an initiative of Col. John Price, 305th AMW commander, , is to serve as an opportunity for officers and enlisted alike to continuously develop. "Everything you do in life, you try to see how you can improve personally," Wells said. "In order to make our Air Force strong and prosperous in the future, you have to take active participation and improve yourself as an individual." Churchill founded the Customer Service Institute of America, and the same organization in Australia, with the goal of certifying, educating and recognizing customer service professionals throughout the country. "My vision for the Customer Service Institute of America is to ensure all organizations and their team members feel great about what they do, and to understand the balance required between passion and process in order to achieve exceptional and consistent customer experiences," Churchill said on her Web site. According to Wells, her expertise will be a welcome addition to the brown bag leadership program. Topics for the program are chosen to give attendees the information they are interested in hearing. "This is a program for Airmen to improve themselves," Wells said, "Obviously if they feel they lack knowledge about a topic, we're going to try to fill that void." Past seminars have covered topics including the military decision-making process and air power advocacy, future seminar topics include professionalism and international relations. "We've reached out to a retired colonel, Dr. Jeff Smith, to speak about professionalism in the workforce," Wells said. "We're also thinking of inviting international relations speakers from Yale." For further information on the seminars, contact Maj. Wells at (609) 754-3050.