McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Ewa Pyrek | March 20, 2015

A woman wearing glasses and a suit is smiling in front of a flag.

Sim Loh is a family partnership coordinator at Children’s Village, a nationally-accredited Keystone 4 STARS early learning and school-age enrichment program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 350 children. She supports children and families, including non-English speaking families of immigrant status, by ensuring equitable access to education, health, employment, and legal information and resources on a day-to-day basis. She is a member of the Children First Racial Equity Early Childhood Education Provider Council, a community member representative of Philadelphia School District Multilingual Advisory Council, and a board member of Historic Philadelphia.


Sim explains, “I ensure families know their rights and educate them on ways to speak up for themselves and request for interpretation/translation services. I share families’ stories and experiences with legislators and decision-makers so that their needs are understood. Attending Leadership Connections will help me strengthen and grow my skills in all domains by interacting with and hearing from experienced leaders in different positions. With newly acquired skills, I seek to learn about the systems level while paying close attention to the accessibility and barriers of different systems and resources and their impacts on young children and their families.”

This document may be printed, photocopied, and disseminated freely with attribution. All content is the property of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.

I once called a company (which will remain anonymous) about an issue I was having with their service and got quite the run-around getting transferred from representative to representative each saying they couldn’t help me. When everything was (finally!) resolved and the customer service representative asked if I needed more assistance, I spoke my mind. I explained how frustrated I was with the company and the customer service that I had received that day. The representative said (and I quote), “I’m sorry our company treated you so poorly. Would you like to join our Refer a Friend program?” I couldn’t believe it! I felt like this person hadn’t really listened or empathized with me at all. At that point, it became clear to me that I wanted nothing more to do with this company. I asked to cancel their service and have never looked back. 


Yup, poor customer service can have a lasting negative impact. 


For some families, a phone call may be the first impression they receive of a program. This impression can create a perception and can influence decisions made regarding enrollment. 


Phone-based customer service can be more challenging than face-to-face interactions because it is difficult to read body language and mood. Mehrabian’s model shows the three V’s of communication: Verbal, Visual, and Vocal. 

A pie chart showing the number of words and tons of voices

While speaking on the phone, there is a loss of 55% of communication (visual). Without visual cues, messages can be misunderstood. This means that we need to work extra hard in communicating effectively using words and tone of voice. 


Below are tips on providing great telephone-based customer service: 


Beginning the call: First, spit out your gum! There should be no chewing while speaking with someone. For clarity, the telephone should be held a distance of two fingers from the mouth. Don’t be “phony” on the phone. Be genuine and sincere. Start with a greeting and although it’s often helpful to have a written guide for calls from perspective parents try to avoid reading directly from a script. 


During the call: Did you know that speaking with a smile on your face helps create a positive tone of voice? It does! Smiling while talking will help you sound more welcoming and friendly. Remember to actively listen. I know a lot of people who seem to love the sound of their voice, however when speaking with a customer, you must always listen. No matter how good you think you are at multi-tasking, doing two things at once is never a good idea. Pay attention, ask the right questions, and be courteous. 


Closing the call: Always ask if there is anything else you can help with. If you will be following-up at a later time or taking a message, be sure to repeat a person’s name and number before hanging up. Thank the caller and say something friendly like, “Have a good day.” The caller should always be the first to hang up. 


Angry callers: And now on to tips for that call that we dread: angry customers. First and foremost, be sure to breathe. Don’t take it personally. The majority of the time, the customer is already frustrated prior to calling. Try to empathize with the caller and let them vent before they turn into the Hulk. Show a willingness to help and be effective. During a call with an irate individual, controlling your voice is important. Three ways to do this are to monitor your volume, inflection, and pacing. Your volume should remain even, your inflection should stay pleasant, and your pacing should stay moderate. 


Keep in mind that even some of your best traditional marketing efforts (e.g., brochures, websites, logo, etc.) can be sabotaged by bad word of mouth. If a prospective or current parent experiences poor phone-based costumer service you can almost guarantee they’ll be sharing that information with others. 


Here are some more resources that can provide insight into this topic:


Ewa Pyrek is an Administrative Assistant III at the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. Prior to working at the McCormick Center, Ewa worked at Jewish Child and Family Services and Illinois Action for Children.

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The AI-Enabled Administrator: Reclaim Valuable Time

By Dr. Neal Green • February 8, 2026
Tools: Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, Perplexity Spaces Overview The evidence is clear that early childhood professionals' most significant challenge is a lack of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when used strategically, can give administrators some of the time they desperately need, allowing them to focus more on their staff and the children and families in their care. This approach aligns with the foundational goal of strengthening leadership effectiveness and program impact (Abel, Talan, & Masterson, 2023). When I scan the AI landscape of available products and platforms, it becomes overwhelming. There are so many options that it is impossible to keep up with every new development. Focusing on a limited number of AI tools backed by organizations with strong infrastructure and fiscal stability is a wise place to start your AI journey. McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s (MIEC’s) upcoming professional development sessions will focus on three AI tools. These include Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, and Perplexity Spaces. Think of Gemini Gems as your customized AI assistant that you "train" to follow your rules and meet your goals. Gemini Gems are the right tool to tackle Internal Operations . NotebookLM is perfect for creating Family Support resources that stick. NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool that uses only the documents or other resources you add to generate specific, focused output. Perplexity Spaces is a fantastic choice to address Marketing demands. Like many AI tools, you can toggle back and forth between open web searches and focused documents that are specific to your work. Gemini Gems: The “Specialist Teammate” Gemini Gems allow you to create templates you can use repeatedly for agendas, HR policies, and more. If you have used AI in the past, you know that writing an effective prompt takes time, and they can easily get "lost" if you use AI often. Gems removes that challenge and lets you save your most effective prompts without having to rewrite them every time you use Gemini. It is up to you to decide if you want to create several smaller Gems to tackle common challenges you face or create larger Gems that encompass large swaths of your work. For our purposes, we will focus our Gem work on Internal Operations, addressing Program Administration Scale (PAS) Item 9: Internal Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). Imagine using a Gem to turn messy staff meeting notes into professional minutes with clear action plans in minutes or less! NotebookLM: The "Walled Garden" NotebookLM is an excellent tool for Family Support for your center, addressing PAS Item 17: Family Support and Involvement (Talan & Bloom, 2011). After uploading documents and resources, such as your parent handbook or community referral lists, to your Notebook, you can create several resources that parents/guardians of your center students will love. Just a few of the impressive features available with NotebookLM include audio (podcast) summaries, video summaries, and reporting functions with templates or the option to create your own report with metrics that matter most to you. Perplexity Spaces: The "Research Librarian" Perplexity Spaces is a perfect AI partner for Marketing your early childhood education (ECE) program, addressing PAS Item 18: External Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). You can build your own centralized repository, with control over branding to ensure consistency and present a professional, current image. Adding specific instructions to your space eliminates the need to format documents constantly and saves valuable time. The consistency that a Perplexity Space offers in this regard allows you to upload messages that are the "voice” of your brand. Your marketing efforts are not only more aesthetically pleasing but also enable you to track trends at similar centers in your area, helping you assess the competition. Strategies for Success: Audit your Internal Communications: Identify one repetitive task, such as creating staff meeting agendas (PAS Item 9), and automate it with a Gemini Gem. Curate your Family Resources: Gather three to five existing documents to "feed" a NotebookLM project for more responsive family support (PAS Item 17). Standardize your Brand: Use a Perplexity Space to ensure all public relations tools project a consistent, professional image (PAS Item 18). Reflection Questions: Which administrative task takes the most time away from your interactions with staff and families? How might centralizing marketing materials (branding) impact the professional image to prospective families? Table 1: AI Tools for ECE Professionals
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