New Benchmarking Programme Launched


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The new benchmarking programme for customer service operations in the UK will be called the Gold Standard.

It is intended that the programme will be comprehensive, comparing companies on cost efficiency and employee engagement as well as the quality of service delivered to customers.

The programme was born out of its core patrons, the CCMA and Bright UK, growing tired of seeing too many non-statistically secure or non-actionable accreditations and award schemes that were misleading consumers.

To achieve Gold Standard, the participating organisation will have to meet a level of competence in all three areas; customer satisfaction, employee engagement and operational performance.

Ann-Marie Stagg

In addition, 1,000 customers per participating organisation will be surveyed on what they think of the company’s service. Employees’ satisfaction with the employer, as well as a range of key internal performance metrics will also be measured.

“As the calls and emails handled by contact centres today are getting more and more complex, the amount of training needs to increase and improve,” said Ann-Marie Stagg, Executive Director of the CCMA. “We also need to collectively improve the status of the advisor roles so that employers will be able to recruit people with the right skills. Should we not act now, low-cost offshoring destinations will become an increasingly attractive proposition for Chief Executives.”

“John Lewis has long been known for excellent customer service. An essential part of the Partnership ethos is to continually challenge ourselves,” said Julian Price, Head of Customer Contact at John Lewis (one of the first participants). “To improve and participate in the Gold Standard gives us insight and an up-to-date view of how we are doing compared to peers and other sectors. This information will help us prioritise in order to stay ahead.”

Mats Rennstam

“All three areas will count towards a potential accreditation as they have all proven to have a direct correlation with customer satisfaction as well as assuring the company’s customer service operations remain competitive,” said Mats Rennstam, Managing Director of Bright UK.

For more information about Bright, visit their website.

Author: Megan Jones

Published On: 1st Oct 2014 - Last modified: 12th Dec 2018
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1 Comment
  • Excellent to have a Gold Standard for customer service and long overdue and as Julian Price said that To improve and participate in the Gold Standard gives us insight and an up-to-date view of how we are doing compared to peers and other sectors. This information will help us prioritise in order to stay ahead.”

    David Welham 25 Oct at 12:47