Customer Management services lets your voice be heard

If you have a comment, compliment, or complaint, there is a willing audience ready to listen.

Customer Management Services is a program that continuously gathers customer feedback to synchronize, evaluate and improve the delivery and receipt of installation programs and services.

Melissa Barnhouse serves as the voice of the customer on Fort Belvoir. She is the installation's customer service officer. As the CSO, she operates CMS and synchronizes efforts of the Installation Action Council.

Barnhouse develops and administers feedback mechanisms in three tiers. She also collects and analyzes data, customer comments, and issues to improve service delivery.

"Everyone is a customer - family members, Soldiers, retirees, civilian employees, veterans. We want to hear everyone's voice," Barnhouse said.
CMS was implemented because the Army and Installation Management Command had no standardized, disciplined methodology for capturing customer feedback
and improving.

The Interactive Customer Evaluation system, or ICE, is the first of three feedback mechanism tiers. It is a system that allows customers to rate products and services provided by offices and facilities on the installation. There are ICE boxes in most customer service-oriented facilities on post. It can also be found online at www.belvoir.army.mil.

Customers can fill out a card to place in the physical ICE boxes or click on the blue ICE logo online to leave comments about services they have received.

The card rates areas such as employee and staff attitude, facility appearance, timeliness of service, and hours of service. There are no negative repercussions from anyone submitting feedback.

"The success of this new feedback program will truly be dependent on the customers of Fort Belvoir. We can't fix what we don't know; we need our customers to tell us how we are doing," said Barnhouse.

The second tier, Community FIRST (Feedback, Issues, Resolutions, Solutions, Today) is a way to give feedback by participating in a quarterly focus group.
Barnhouse will be asking for participation to form constituent groups. Groups will include Soldiers, family members, retirees, and civilians. The purpose of the group is to provide feedback on services and focus on each group's specific needs.

The third tier, Customer Assessment, is held annually. It pulls everything together when the Installation Action Council meets to evaluate status and issues.
Each tier allows different methods of getting customers' voices heard at higher levels. "This new program will help take us to the next level of customer service," Barnhouse said.

People interested in becoming part of the feedback program, or getting involved in a constituent group may contact Barnhouse at 703-805-9577 or via
e-mail to her at melissa.barnhouse1@us.army.mil.

"In a nutshell, this is the voice of the customer. We hope to get people involved and let them know they have a voice to be heard," she said.