Embedding Excellence in
Customer ServiceNeil Potentier
Practitioner for Assessment Services
Contents• Me• Setting the Scene• Pre-requisites for Excellent Customer Service• Instilling & Validating Excellent Customer Service• Sharing Best Practice• Future Challenges• Question Time
Me• Passionate about excellent
service• Tells the organisation• Tells others (advocate)• Complains• Expects action and
improvement• Tells others about bad
experiences
Setting the Scene – The Eternal Triangle
£Pipeline
People
CustomersQuality
Investors in People
Customer ServiceExcellence
Your IndustryStandard
Stock-check…..•Is your pipeline protected•Have you got the 3 essentials in place?•How do you know?
Pre-requisites for Customer Excellence• Product and service• People• Policies• Procedures• Processes• Performance targets• Professionalism and ethics• Promotion
Stock Check…..• Have you got all the P’s in
place?
• Are they fit for purpose?
• Are they customer friendly?
• Can they help create excellence?
People • Recruiting attitude• Self-motivated • Empowered• Responsible/accountable• Professional, ethical, genuine, friendly and caring• Meet change positively• Reflect and continually improve (Kolb & Fry Mind-set)
People - Kolb & Fry Mind-Set
People – Model Employees• Continually review their own performance and ask if they can do things better for the
customer. • Has the ability to think of the ways by which they can do things better for the customer
and the organisation • Has the courage to try out the new ways (with management support) • Is a role model and exemplar of delivering excellent customer service. • Has the honesty to admit they got it wrong, but to learn from their mistakes. • Does not see change has a threat but can adapt to meet it head-on. • Does not blame others for their shortcomings but works with them to help them improve.
People – Model Employee continued…• Does not pass the blame to others and uses the collective ‘we’ to apologise to customers • If an issue is raised personally with them by a customer they take ownership and close it out
to a satisfactory conclusion. • Displays a positive mind-set and a ‘can-do’ attitude with regard to delivering customer
service. • Is professional, ethical, honest and transparent with management, colleagues and customers. • Is loyal and committed to the organisation • Above all sees their customers as the main focus and purpose of their work.
Stock-check…..• Have your people got a Kolb & Fry Mind-set?
• Do your managers provide the right climate?
• Have you got Model Employees?
• How do you know?
Instilling and Validating Customer Excellence
• Derived from Best Practice• Provides structure and
discipline• Creates milestones• Validates excellence• Rewards excellence• Embeds continuous
improvement
The Customer Service Excellence Standard• Issued under licence by Cabinet Office• Previously Chartermark• 5 Criteria/57 Elements – Compliance, Partial Compliance
and Compliance Plus• 1 – Customer Insight• 2 – The Culture of the Organisation• 3 – Information and Access• 4 – Delivery• 5 – Timeliness and Quality of Service
Best Practice• Increasing use of Apps• Emergence of Virtual Chat• ‘Hotel Style’ performance ratings• Matching data to individual preferences• One-stop individual service• Voice and thumb recognition• In-your-face signage and notices
Future Challenges• Keeping up with/keeping ahead of advances in
technology• Providing learning space for your students• Signposting to available learning space• Supporting them remotely• Dealing with survey saturation• Identifying your advocates• Using advocates to promote you• ‘Customers can be our second marketing dept’
The Ultimate Challenge• How can you go on continually transforming and
improving the customer experience so they get the ‘wow’ factor and become advocates for you and also become your friend to the extent they are with you when things go wrong? They will willingly and proactively provide you with feedback at every opportunity
The Final Stock Check…..
•Are you ready for the challenges ahead?
