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Our Portrait Studio division has a new president and CEO who is introducing a new guest (customer) centric model that he wants to implement across our division. Currently, the majority of our studio staff has been more focused on following policy than they have been on providing excellent customer service. As a company we have, in the past, focused more on rules which in turn has created a culture amongst the studio staff that does not encourage them to make decisions on their own, but rather to follow policy regardless of the situation or the guest. Our new management wants to see this change. He wants studio staff to worry less about policy and focus more on the needs of the guest, even if it means going against policy. > Studio managers and associates need to be more guest-focused, providing better guest service and relying less on policy. Guests who are disappointed in their service should be taken care of at the studio level rather than having it escalate to District Managers or the call center. > A new president of our division. He is attempting to change our culture so that studio managers and associates will be more concerned about doing what is right for the guest and less concerned about doing what is stated by policy. He says, “we will no longer satisfy the customer; our goal is to delight the guest.” > In over 600 portrait studios around the United States. > Smith and Ragan’s //Problem-Finding, Problem-Solving Model// will be used since the problem has been identified for us from management.
 * 1. ****Statement of the Problem**
 * 2. ****Needs Assessment**
 * **What is the change being requested?**
 * **Who is requesting this change?**
 * **Where will this change need to take place?**
 * **What approach will be used to conduct needs assessment?**

The goal of the training is affective. In other words, the learners will begin to develop an attitude change regarding guest service, which will eventually lead to behavioral changes.
 * 3. ****Task Analysis**

There are five main areas that have been identified as key areas where associates have the most impact to delight a guest. Each of the areas should be covered in the training. The areas have been assigned a general name. The acronym spells GUEST.
 * **Greeting**. Whether greeting a guest on the phone or when someone enters the studio the greeting should be timely and friendly.
 * **Understand**. When the guest is in the studio you have the opportunity to delight her with the way you listen to her needs and explain the process.
 * **Excite**. When the guest is being photographed you have the opportunity to delight him with the way you handle the photography session.
 * **Share**. When you are showing the guest the images you took you have the opportunity to delight her with the way you enhance the portraits and explain the sales process and pricing.
 * **Thank**. When the guest’s session and sale is complete, you have the opportunity to delight him with the way you conclude the visit.

Mager (1997) recommended analyzing the following information about the target audience:
 * 4. ****Learner Analysis**
 * a. ****Age range.** From 16 to 60. Majority are probably in their 20s and 30s.
 * b. ****Sex distribution.** 84% female. 16% male.
 * c. ****Nature and range of educational background.** From high school students to college graduates. The majority are at least high school graduates.
 * d. ****Reason for attending the course. **They are required to.
 * e. ****Attitude about course attendance.** Varies. Some are excited to learn new information and are accepting of change. Others find it a burden to take the time and/or are threatened by change.
 * f. ****Biases, prejudices and beliefs.** Many who have been with the company for a long time believe that change initiatives are constantly changing. In other words, what is the focus right now is going to go away in six months, so why bother putting energy into changing it now since it will change again. Also, some feel that how they are held accountable varies and as long as they’re not the lowest performer they can let things slide. Many feel that their job is an important public service which is why they stay although many could find better paying jobs with less stress.
 * g. ****Typical hobbies and other spare time activities.** These vary greatly, but quite often photography and scrapbooking are hobbies.
 * h. ****Interests in life other than hobbies. **Family and children. Church.
 * i. ****Need-gratifiers (rewards that would work).** Money, praise, public recognition (name in a newsletter), personal attention (personal note from the president for a job well done), being picked because their opinion is desired (picked to be on an advisory committee).
 * j. ****Physical characteristics.** Many are overweight. Capable of being on their feet for an 8+ hour day.
 * k. ****Reading ability.** High school reading level.
 * l. ****Terminology or topics to be avoided.** Technical terms. Instead use conversational terms. For example they will not know what a NEF file is, but they will understand “raw camera file.”
 * m. ****Organizational membership. **Not applicable.
 * n. ****Specific prerequisites and entry-level skills already learned. **They have gone through a core training program that focuses on what they need to do, but has not focused too much on customer service.