Page 26 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - Page 27
Mark Richardson Special Feature
CSIA 2012 AUSTRALIAN SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARDS 'And the winner is (pause to open envelope, deep breath) … Australia' (cheerful applause) ■ The nation's peak awards for customer service - 2012 Australian Service Excellence Awards winners were announced at the Crown Palladium on Wednesday, October 24. I was privileged to be among close to 800 of Australia's leading service providers, organisations and individuals that were hosted by the Customer Service Institute of Australia (CSIA). The winners were chosen from a field of Australia's top and most successful customer service organisations. This year the CSIA celebrated its 11th gala awards event that was hosted by ABC's News breakfast presenter, Vanessa O'Hanlon, and CSIA Executive Director, Brett Whitford. On his Customer Service leadership Porch (head table) where you wouldn't find the likes of Basil Fawlty or an 'unhappy' Jan seated, between presentations, Brett outlined the history and significance of the awards and why the wider business community have become increasingly aware of the value and service plays in achieving success. What are the CSIA Australian Service Excellence Awards? Tonight we recognise the commitment to service excellence of individuals and organisations. These Awards have grown to be the premier multi-industry and government awards in Australia. Who are the CSIA Awards endorsed by? The Australian Service Excellence Awards are endorsed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the International Council of Customer Service Organisations (ICCSO). The CSIA Awards are also internationally recognised and Australian winners automatically become finalists in the global International Service Excellence Awards. Why are the Awards so important to Australian businesses and individuals? Reaching the finals and winning an award illustrates the high standards of management, training and commitment to excellence within those organisations. All our winners and finalists are working hard towards service excellence and their achievements in customer service have shown a true commitment to putting the customer first in today's competitive business climate. Developing a customer service culture is now a strategic priority in businesses.
Mark Richardson Porch Thoughts
♥
Straight From The Heart
● Vanessa O'Hanlon and Brett Whitford Who can be nominated for a CSIA Award? The awards are open to organisations and individuals across all industries. We encourage all facets of Australian government and industry to enter the awards. On the individual side of customer service, it could be the person who serves you a coffee in the morning, or a manager who helps their staff to provide excellent service, or it could equally be the CEO of a large organisation. On the microphone, you referred to the 'Global Customer Service Movement'. What is the movement? Consumers have the power to change an organisation's policies by providing feedback, making service providers realise that they need to be more customer centric. Social media has played a major part in this. These days, anyone can tweet a complaint, create followers and re-tweet it, with complaints easily going viral all around the world. There is also a global movement among companies who understand that if you do provide better services than your competitors, people do appreciate it. It's partly consumer push and partly organisational awareness. They are starting to understand that if we provide a great
customer service then we build loyalty and advocacy and profits will flow from than that. How are the awards judged? The Awards are judged by a senior judgng committee against the International Customer Service Standard (ICSS). We have senior licenced assessors who visit a nominated organisation's premises to conduct judging. We also have mystery shoppers. Our winners tonight were all judged on their work and customer service performances based on the 25 criteria attributes established by the International Customer Services Standards. They listen to entrants interact with customers and examine complaint procedures and handling. With individuals, submisions are put forward supported by great stories on what they've done in their roles and what their key achievements have been. How important is staff training in an organisation? We see customer service as a profession. Until 2005 when we developed the Certified Customer Service Manager (CCSM) and Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP) programs, anyone could call themselves a customer service manager. That's just like anyone being able to call themselves a lawyer or a doctor. Just be-
cause you say you are one, it doesn't mean you are. We now offer nationally recognised qualifications as part of these programs, such as a Diplomas in Frontline Management for our CCSM course. How many customers actually complain about poor service? Five years ago, only 27 per cent of Australians were actually prepared to formally complain about the poor service they have received. This has jumped massively by 43 per cfent. People are more vocal than ever. This is a positive increase because customers are receiving the service they deserve. What is one of the biggest hidden dangers of delivering poor customer service? It's the customer that doesn't complain. It's the person who goes away and tells their friends about a bad experience, or shares their negative experience on Facebook without giving you the opportunity to rectify the problem. They can become a negative force and if an organisation gets enough of those, it can affect market share and profitability. Following the awards, how can the CSIA assist other businesses learn from winners of the awards? We have case studies and profiles of winners in our magazine, Customer Service Excellence, which is available for down load through our website. A good thing any business can do is ring your competitors, which I encourage all businesses to consider. How does Australia rate in customer service on the world stage? Australians feel as a whole that we don't receive good customer service. I believe it's because we don't have a tremendous amount of competition here. Where we do shine is in our individuals. Australians do love to help each other out and solve problems. We take ownership of issues and go above and beyond to look after problems. I think it's when the rules and policies get in the way that poor customer service occurs. What is your Porch Thought of the Night? In a world where companies are constantly affected by change, like the government altering rules and regulations or companies introducing new policies and procedures, customer service individuals try to make sense of and guide their customers through these changes. I thought that it was spectacular to see the industry representatives receive a night of recognition in a room normally reserved for people who win Logies or Brownlow Medals. They can dress up and walk the red carpet and feel special for a night. Hopefully that will mean they can go back to their workplaces tomorrow and make their customers feel special. - Mark Richardson For a full list of state and national winners, please visit: http://www.csia.com.au/?page_id=2449
‘Best of the Best 2012 Award’ ■ The state's largest electricity provider, CitiPower and Powercor Australia, took out the highly coveted 'Best of the Best' award at the 2012 Australian Service Excellence Awards. Chosen from a field of Australia's most successful customer service organisations, the Award highlight CitiPower and Powercor Australia's journey towards becoming a leader in not only the electricity industry, but amongst all customer service providers across the nation. Whilst changes to government regulation of the industry, criticism in the media, and the rollout of the publicly scrutinised 'smart meters' have posed challenges to CitiPower and Powercor Australia in the past, the organisation has maintained their focus on delivering service which exceeds the expectation of their one million customers across Victoria.
● Pictured above: The team from CitiPower and Powercor Australia - winner of Best of the Best 2012 and National Large Business ● At right: Brendan Bloore, General Manager, Customer Service, CitiPower and Powercor
● At left: Roger Lindeman, General Manager of Service Experience - Virgin Australia, The Lounge - winner of National Divison of a Large Business ● Lincoln Jurd, Telstra with Melanie Smith, Telstra - Lincoln won the National Customer Service Executive of the Year category
● The team from Virgin Australia - Virgin Australia Cabin Crew - winner of National Customer Service Team of the Year
● Shane Abeyratne, General Manager of Telstra Connect @ 717 - Telstra Connect @ 717 won Ser- ● The team from Bank of Melbourne - winner of vice Excellence in a Contact Centre (over 500 seats) Team of the Year 2012