BAMBERG, Germany (Aug. 15, 2013) -- "That's it?"
The customer sitting across from Karin Stiefler seemed surprised at how easy her request was resolved.
"Awesome, thank you!" the customer said. She grabbed her form, her business concluded in two minutes.
Karin Stiefler is a traffic manager and in charge of the Personal Property Office, or PPO, at U.S. Army Garrison Bamberg. She and her team received almost 700 Interactive Comment Cards, or ICE comments, in the last six months, with a total rating of 100 percent customer satisfaction.
"I love challenges," Stiefler said.
And in her position ICE comments come around on a daily bases. PPO handles moves and official travel. Currently, 100 shipments a day are not unusual.
"At times we used to schedule 300 household pick-ups a day," Stiefler said.
In her job as traffic manager, there's a constant buzz of activity outside her office. Customers walk in with piles of paperwork.
"A move has been cancelled on Friday, but the movers showed up this morning," one of Stiefler's team members said during the day.
Stiefler immediately grabbed a folder, made a phone call, and managed the problem.
Stiefler has worked at the Bamberg garrison since 1977. It was a family tradition; both her parents were garrison employees, and two of her brothers worked at USAG Bamberg as well. Even her daughter was temporarily employed on post as well as her ex-husband.
Many Soldiers and Families have permanently changed stations recently while units have moved to Grafenwoehr and Vicenza, Italy, and back to the United States, preparing the garrison for its closure in 2014.
The boxes filled with hundreds of their yellow comment cards have nothing but positive comment cards.
"The staff was super nice and answered any questions. A very smooth process," one card reads.
"A+++ service! They make the impossible possible!" reads another.
"Excellent," "awesome," "professional," "knowledgeable," "courteous," "wonderful," "outstanding" -- not a single comment card mentions mediocre or average customer service.
"This was probably the most thorough briefing in my 15 years and 7 PCS moves," a Soldier wrote.
"I understand the stress our customers go through," Stiefler said.
Summer is always a peak time for moving. Furlough days, redeployments and personnel shortages haven't made it easier. Strategic planning is the key for a successful move, Stiefler said, and a lot of that is happening in the background, done by her "worker bees," as she said.
Soldiers come by to say goodbye before they fly out, Stiefler said; some leave a present for the PPO team and Karin Stiefler.
"When a customer leaves with a smile, that's the best 'Thank You' I can think of."
Social Sharing