Service excellence standards

With social media continuing to gain prevalence and customer reviews more accessible than ever, customer service standards are more important than ever. This page details the key standards you should prioritise to give your customers the best experience possible.

What is the Customer Service Excellence Standard?

The Customer Service Excellence Standard quality mark aims to encourage organisations to focus on the individual needs and preferences of their service users. In doing so, the Standard aims to make a tangible difference to their experience.

For your organisation to be recognised as achieving Customer Service Excellence, you must be successfully assessed against the five criteria points of the standard by a licenced certification body:

1. Customer Insight – Effectively identifying your customers, consulting them in a meaningful way and efficiently measuring the outcomes of your service are a vital part of this approach.
2. The Culture of the Organisation – To cultivate and embed a customer-focused culture, there must be a commitment to it throughout an organisation – from the strategic leader to the front-line staff.
3. Information and Access – Customers value accurate and comprehensive information that is delivered or available through an appropriate channel for them.
4. Delivery – How you achieve your business aims, the outcomes for your customers and how problems are managed are vital. This includes listening to your customers views and making appropriate adjustments according to comments, complains and other feedback from customers.
5. Timeliness and Quality of Service – Prompt initial contact and keeping to agreed timescales are both crucial to customer satisfaction. However, quick service can negatively impact quality, therefore timeliness has to be combined with quality service to ensure the best possible result for customers.

You can find out more about the Customer Service Excellence Standard, such as how to get the Standard and it’s certification bodies, on their website.

Books:

1. The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service by Lee Cockerell – Former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort, Lee Cockerell shares his tips for delivering exceptional customer service.
2. Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization by Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon – This book offers a guide into building a customer-centric culture and delivering a service that leads to ultimate customer loyalty.
3. The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience by Shep Hyken – Shep Hyken shares his seven strategies for greater customer and employee loyalty.
4. Secret Service: Hidden Systems That Deliver Unforgettable Customer Service by John DiJulius – This book reveals the hidden systems behind the companies that provide the best customer service, as well as the actions they take, that any business owner can implement.

Articles:

1. 11 Ways to Deliver Excellent Customer Service by LinkedIn – This article outlines ways that individuals can personally become a great customer service professional
2. 10 ways to deliver good customer service: examples, principles and definition by Zendesk – Zendesk outlines ways you can take your customer service from good to great, also including examples of companies who do this successfully
3. Eight Tips For Providing Excellent Customer Service by Forbes – Saul Maslavi has compiled a list of the top things they found customers value when receiving excellent customer service.
4. 10 Ways to Deliver Consistently Great Customer Service by Help Scout – Help Scout identifies several ways to put your customer service at the top of the game, and even goes to break down their tips according to business type and industry.

Reports:

1. UK Customer Experience Excellence report 2022 by KPMG – This report by KPMG details how important it is to recognise customer loyalty in creating value, with examples of companies who do this effectively.

Podcasts:

1. The Modern Customer Podcast by Blake Morgan – The Modern Customer Podcast offers a deep dive into the evolving behaviours, needs and expectations of today’s customers.
2. The Experience This! Show by Joey Coleman and Dan Gingiss – Despite now ending in production, this podcast’s tips on attracting and keeping more customers still remain relevant today.
3. Amazing Business Radio by Shep Hyken – Amazing Business Radio features interviews with leading business professionals and other customer experience experts. Each guest shares tips and insights on how to succeed in business.

By leveraging the resources listed above, founders can make changes to ensure that their customers have the best experience possible. This will boost their retention rates, strengthen them against competitors and give their business it’s best shot at success.