Customer Service Workshop for a Catholic Company

About 10 years ago, I heard Patrick Lencioni speak at the Global Leadership Summit, and I was astonished by his ideas. What was funny was that the speed of his speaking felt like listening to a podcast at 1.75x speed, but I savored every word.

At home, I saw my mom reading one of his books, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and I devoured it too. As I learned more about him and his consulting work on organizational health, I found out that he was Catholic. I also discovered that part of his work included serving dioceses, parishes, and Catholic organizations.

That stirred something in me.

It planted a dream in my heart: What if one day, my day job as a leadership development speaker, coach, and trainer could be used to serve the Catholic Church?

That dream stayed with me for years.

So when my dear friend Fr. Albert Garong, SSP, invited me to give a customer service workshop for the company side of their ministry, I knew this was not just another speaking engagement. Fr. Albert is someone I have also worked with through our pilgrimages, so the invitation carried both friendship and mission. The Society of St. Paul runs a Catholic bookstore and media ministry that aims to give people a genuine Catholic experience of Jesus through their stores, content, and apostolic work. (learn more about them at https://stpauls.ph/about-us/)

That matters deeply to me.

Because a Catholic bookstore is not just a store.

It is not just retail.

It is not just shelves, books, medals, rosaries, images, and religious items.

It is a place of encounter.

For some people, entering a Catholic store is a simple errand. For others, it can be a quiet turning point. A grieving person walks in looking for a prayer book. A confused seeker buys their first Bible. A parent wants to teach their child the faith better. A soul in pain reaches for a rosary, a medal, a saint book, or just a sign that God still sees them.

That is why customer service in a Catholic setting is not ordinary. It is a mission.

So I gave a 2-day Customer Service Excellence Workshop focused not only on customer experience, but on uplifting the leadership potential of the supervisors. We did not stop at “be nicer to customers” or “improve service standards.” We went deeper than that.

We talked about identity.

We talked about the mission.

We talked about what it means to stop seeing yourself as “just a supervisor that works for this company” and begin seeing yourself as a collaborator in the work of evangelization.

One of the biggest themes of the workshop was this: you are not just working in a store, you are part of how people encounter Christ. That is a very different mindset. Once a person sees their work that way, the conversation changes. Work becomes a vocation. Service becomes witness. Excellence becomes an offering.

During the workshop, we explored the idea that St. Paul's store is not merely a commercial space but an apostolate. We reflected on how customers are not just transactions, but persons. We looked at the collaborators of St. Paul, such as Priscilla and Aquila, Timothy, Titus, Phoebe, Luke, and Silas, to help the supervisors understand that the mission of the Church has always been shared. 

The message was simple but powerful: different roles, same mission.  

From there, we moved into self-leadership and supervisory ownership. I challenged them to think like leaders even when no one is watching. 

We worked through real-life case studies, difficult scenarios, and situations that demanded both professionalism and Christian maturity. We also spent time on servant leadership, emphasizing that charity does not mean the absence of correction, and that real love includes clarity, accountability, growth, and courage. The workshop included role-plays, team challenges, practical conversations about customer experience issues, and a final commitment to building a stronger Pauline customer service culture. 

What I appreciated about the whole experience was that it was not just practical. It was spiritual. There was space for reflection, silence, personal conviction, and grace. That matters to me because I do not want to help Catholic organizations become merely more efficient. I want to help them become more aligned. More human. More excellent. More rooted in mission. Better systems, yes. Better leadership, yes. But also a deeper love for Jesus and clearer service to people. 

Fr. Paul Octubre, SSP, the HR Director, gave me the opportunity to serve them. What they did not know was that their invitation was actually a dream come true for me.

Because this is something I have quietly carried for years.

I want to grow in my work as a Catholic life coach, SME consultant, and leadership development trainer, not only to build a meaningful career but also to use those gifts more and more in the service of the Catholic Church.

That is one of the desires of my heart.

To help leaders lead better.

To help teams work healthier.

To help organizations grow in clarity, culture, and mission.

And when possible, to bring those gifts back to the Church that formed me.

I believe Catholic organizations also need leadership development.

They need culture building.

They need customer experience training.

They need systems, clarity, healthy communication, and stronger supervisors.

They need formation that is both practical and mission-driven.

And I would love to do more of that kind of work.

So if you are part of a Catholic bookstore, Catholic school, parish team, ministry, religious community, diocesan office, nonprofit, or mission-driven organization and you are looking for help in customer service training, leadership development, team culture, or supervisory formation, that is work I now do with great conviction.

Because sometimes, what looks like a workshop from the outside is actually a calling being fulfilled.

And for me, this one truly was.

If your Catholic organization, business, school, or ministry needs help in customer service, leadership training, or team development, you may reach out through www.jpaulhernandez.com.

The best is yet to come,

JPaul Hernandez