FOCUS | CSIA Quarterly - March 2023

CSIA Quarterly March 2023

Delivering a fair outcome for all David Locke, CEO of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shares how the authority manages complaints and supports Australian consumers.

Creating a great customer experience

2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards

CXCP Susan Jeffery talks to CSIA about her experiences and insights in building exceptional customer experiences.

Everything you want to know about the 2023 program including the new nomination process and this year’s categories.

Welcome to the March ‘23 edition of FOCUS Magazine 2023 seems to be racing along and it’s incredible that Easter is just around the corner.

We’ve had a busy first quarter at CSIA with the launch of our new online self-assessment portal for both International Customer Service Standard and Complaints Handling Framework certifications.

The new members portal has also gone live in February and we hope you have taken the opportunity to login and access some of the resources and opportunities.

The 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards program has also been launched, opening for nominations on March 1st. You can read more about this year’s awards program inside.

In this issue of FOCUS we also talk to David Locke, Chief Ombudsman and CEO of the relatively recently formed Australian Financial Complaints Authority about how the authority handles complaints and why their services are important for Australian consumers.

Susan Jeffery CXCP shares her extensive experiences and learnings as a customer experience practitioner and our own Mei Tan introduces the new online self-assessment portal.

I’ve also included an article about what makes a great nomination including my tips to make your awards entry stand out to the judging committee.

And of course, there’s more news, events and featured members in this issue.

I hope to connect with you soon and wish you well if you are preparing a 2023 Awards nomination.

Jeremy Larkins Executive Director

MARCH 2023

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Contents

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News in Brief

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2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards

Everything you need to know about the 2023 Awards program.

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Make your nomination shine in 2023

Jeremy Larkins, CSIA’s Executive Director shares his thoughts on what makes a great Australian Service Excellence Awards nomination.

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CSIA’s online selfassessment portal has arrived

Mei Tan, CSIA Client Services Manager explains how the new online portal will make ICSS and CHF selfassessments easier and more collaborative.

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Delivering a fair outcome for all

CSIA talks to David Locke, Chief Ombudsman and CEO the Australian Financial Complaints Authority about their work to manage consumer complaints.

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Member Spotlight

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Creating a great customer experience

CXCP Susan Jeffery talks to CSIA about her experiences and insights to building exceptional customer experiences.

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Member Spotlight

Shika Sastika Prasad

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News in Brief Certified Customer Service Leader Training Workshop The Certified Customer Service Leader (CCSL) is about equipping your leaders with a true customer service mindset and about helping leaders understand why customer service is so important and their role in ensuring great customer experiences, as well as providing practical tools to motivate, coach, and reward their team members.

Public Training Workshop

FIND OUT MORE

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10 May 2023 9.30am – 4.30pm Virtual Classroom $440 per person CSIA members $550 per person non-members

Certified Business Relationship Manager Training Workshop Our Certified Business Relationship Management (CBRM) program is designed to support people in account management roles to improve service levels, customer success, retention and account growth. The program focuses on understanding strategy and customer value along with the key skills to support, empower and grow accounts.

Public Training Workshop

FIND OUT MORE

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07 June 2023 9.30am – 4.30pm Virtual Classroom $440 per person CSIA members $550 per person non-members

Certified Customer Service Excellence Training Workshop The Certified Customer Service Excellence (CCSE) program focuses on the essential skills and techniques that make customer service better. The program helps build cognitive and empathy skills and trains participants to deliver customer service excellence as part of the wider goal of improving customer service and customer advocacy.

Public Training Workshop

FIND OUT MORE

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21 June 2023 9.30am – 4.30pm Virtual Classroom $440 per person CSIA members $550 per person non-members

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Webinar Introduction to the International Customer Service Standard 26 July 2023 9.00am – 10.00am

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REGISTER (FREE)

The International Customer Service Standard (ICSS) is a framework that enables any organisation to understand how to implement best practice customer service management and create optimal customer experiences.

ICSS enables an organisation to understand how well their strategy, structure, systems, people and processes are contributing to customer success and overall organisation performance.

Join us for a webinar which is designed to introduce you to the current version of the Standard (ICSS: 2020-2025) and explain how any organisation can utilise the framework through CSIA’s certification process.

2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards Gala • •

Friday 03 November 2023 The Star Gold Coast

Save the date! The 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards Gala Dinner and Celebration is booked for 03 November at The Star Gold Coast.

Michael Pope will be back as MC in 2023 in a night that will feature special guests, fun, prizes, great music and of course, the awards.

Tickets and more information will be available on CSIA’s website from 03 July 2023.

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2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2023 Awards program.

The Australian Service Excellence Awards (ASEA) are Australia’s premier customer service awards program, attracting hundreds of nominations each year. The Awards recognise best practice, performance and innovation in customer service, highlighting their importance in today’s business climate.

The Awards are open to all individuals and organisations servicing Australians. The Australian Service Excellence Awards recognise individuals at all levels within organisations, as well as big corporations right through to government departments, not-for-profits and small businesses.

The 2023 Awards program is now accepting entries until 02 June 2023.

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Who can enter the Awards?

As Australia’s premier customer service organisation, CSIA is dedicated to championing customer service across all organisations, whether it is a business of one employee or one thousand. The ASEA are open to all individuals and organisations servicing Australians.

Why Enter?

The Awards are an opportunity to recognise achievements in customer service and acknowledge contributions to service excellence.

Entering the awards elevates customer focus, celebrates customer success and is an opportunity to showcase excellence both internally and externally.

How are the awards judged?

CSIA appoints a lead judge who is supported by a panel of judges who are CSIA members, ASEA alumni and industry experts.

Nominations are shortlisted into finalists for each category, and these finalists present to the judging panel.

Each finalists is judged in accordance to the four perspectives of the International Customer Service Standard.

How can I enter the Awards?

Submitting your nomination is easy.

Visit the Awards Portal (see below) and follow the steps to submit your entry. You will need to register (for free) to access the portal and then download the individual or organisation nomination questionnaire. You will also find useful information including a nomination checklist and FAQs in the portal.

Once you have completed the questionnaire, return to the Awards Portal and complete the online entry form, and upload your questionnaire.

ENTER AWARDS PORTAL

Key Dates 2023 01 March 02 June 16 June 24 July 16 September 03 November

Nominations Open Nominations Close Finalists Announced Finalists Judging Commences Finalists Judging Concludes Winners Announced

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2023 Categories ORGANISATIONS Customer Service Project of the Year Project of the Year recognises specific and distinct projects completed in the 12 months preceding the Awards which demonstrate innovative problem solving and an improvement to customer service delivery and/or business performance as a result.

Customer Service Team of the Year This category targets groups of individuals in an organisation that have delivered and demonstrated improvement to customer service delivery and/or business performance.

Unlike the Project of the Year, this award is focused on a team of individuals that, by working together, have created a benchmark for how customer service should be delivered by an organisation.

Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Large Business This category recognises organisations that have championed customer service throughout the business in the past year, and is open to organisations (or autonomous divisions or business units) with more than 500 full-time employees.

Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Medium Business This award recognises organisations that have championed customer service throughout the business in the past year, but targets businesses (or autonomous divisions or business units) with 90 to 500 full-time employees.

Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Small Business Targeting businesses (or autonomous divisions or business units) with fewer than 90 full-time employees, this award recognises smaller organisations in the Australian market.

Service Excellence in a Large Contact Centre This award recognises frontline teams of more than 100 staff in larger contact centres, for the critical role they play in customer service delivery.

Service Excellence in a Medium Contact Centre This category recognises frontline teams of 20 to 100 staff in mid-size contact centres.

Service Excellence in a Small Contact Centre This award recognises frontline teams with fewer than 20 seats in smaller contact centres.

Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Government/Not-for-Profit CSIA understands that there are specific legislative requirements and budget limitations for government and not-for-profit organisations that mean customer service excellence needs to be delivered in a different (and often creative) way. This category levels the playing field in providing a specific category for these vital organisations.

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This Award is open to C-level executives who seek to drive customer centricity within the organisation, including Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Managing Directors, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), Executive General Managers, and Vice Presidents of Customer Service.

Customer Service Manager of the Year This Award suits individuals with roles behind the frontline but below C-level, and can include Customer Service Managers and Customer Experience Managers.

Customer Service Leader of the Year This category is aimed at leaders managing a team that services internal or external customers. While they might also take a frontline role in working with customers, their role is predominantly focused on managing a team of frontline service professionals.

Customer Service Professional of the Year This award champions individuals who deliver customer service everyday - frontline team members who work with internal or external customers.

Customer Service Advocate of the Year Advocate of the Year is aimed at recognising customer champions at any level in a business, from the frontline to the C-suite. These individuals demonstrate true passion for customer service excellence in everything that they do, and inspire work colleagues with their zeal and commitment.

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Make your nomination shine in 2023 Customer Service Institute of Australia (CSIA) Executive Director, Jeremy Larkins shares his insights into how to prepare a standout nomination for the 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards

I'm often asked about what is the best way of presenting a successful nomination for the Australian Service Excellence Awards.

sub-categories are determined by the awards judging team and don't require your consideration.

Nominating for the Awards is a great way to showcase the exceptional service provided by your organisation. The awards recognise individuals and organisations that excel in customer service and satisfaction, and winning an award can bring many benefits, including increased visibility, improved reputation, and increased customer loyalty.

The Awards are judged using the four perspectives of the International Customer Service Standard: Learning and Growth; Operations; Service; and Finance and Governance. You can contact CSIA for a copy of the Standard.

In this article, I hope to provide some useful guidance to help you prepare for an organisation category nomination.

Once you have chosen the category/s you want to enter, you need to start gathering information about your submission and the service you provide. This may include customer feedback, testimonials, case studies, and other evidence of outstanding service. You should also gather data on key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Understanding the Awards Before you start the nomination process, it's important to understand the different categories and the awards criteria. The Australian Service Excellence Awards are divided into four primary organisation categories: Organisation of the Year, Team of the Year, Project of the Year and Service Excellence in a Contact Centre. Each category has three or four sub-categories related to the organisation/team/contact centre size. Project

Gathering Information

Writing the Nomination The nomination questionnaire is your opportunity to showcase your organisation and the exceptional service you provide. Make sure you follow the guidelines and address the

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nomination criteria. Use the organisation questionnaire and complete each of the five sections clearly and concisely and illustrate your nomination with examples and evidence. CSIA expects you to provide around 250 words per section.

It is important that you address the specific criteria in each section. Guidance is provided in the nomination questionnaire, and you are always welcome to contact the CSIA team if you need assistance.

Further information, videos, case-studies, customer testimonies etc. that you may wish to provide to support your nomination can be uploaded with your submission in a zip file.

Centorrino Technologies have been finalists in the Awards every year for the past ten years and were crowned Best of the Best in 2020.

Telling your story well Successful Awards submissions tell the story about their organisation/team/contact centre/project in a compelling manner and entries more likely to be shortlisted as finalists have a nomination questionnaire characterised by my key tips below: 1.

Highlight achievements and focus on the most significant milestones and achievements.

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Support your submission with evidence by highlighting data, testimonials, and other forms of evidence that demonstrate the impact made to delivering service excellence. You may choose to reference these in your submission and provide extended information in a supplementary supporting data file.

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Use specific examples and details to illustrate your achievements.

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Keep it concise and be succinct and to the point.

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Project of the Year submissions should highlight the problem, explain how the solution was designed and executed and what was the outcome.

Organisations such as American Express, HCF and Centorrino Technologies have featured consistently as finalists and winners in the Awards over the past ten years, because they have made their submissions both compelling and easy to absorb.

In 2022, HCF became the first winner of Best of the Best two times in after winning the same category, repeating their success from 2013.

American Express won Service Excellence in a Large Contact Centre nine years in a row and won Best of the Best in 2016.

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Submitting the Nomination Once you have completed the nomination form, make sure you review it carefully to ensure that all the information is accurate and complete. You may also want to ask someone else to review it for you to ensure that you have not missed anything. When you are satisfied with your nomination, submit it before the nomination deadline.

We often hear that preparing a nomination for the Awards is a rewarding exercise that provides an opportunity for reflection and celebration, so I wish you well as you prepare your nominations.

And please remember the CSIA team is always available to help.

Best of luck in 2023!

Jeremy Larkins Executive Director, CSIA.

You can find information about submitting your nomination on the Awards Portal.

Celebrating Your Success If you are selected as a finalist, it's important to celebrate your success and share it with your customers and employees. Use social media and other channels to promote your achievement and thank your customers and employees for their support.

How to nominate for the 2023 Awards 1.

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Register to access the Awards Portal.

Download the organisation or individual nomination questionnaire.

Download the nomination checklist.

Download the Awards Entry Terms and FAQs. Complete the nomination questionnaire.

Submit your nomination using the form on the Awards Portal.

Accessing the Awards Portal The portal is an open access page within CSIA’s members portal. If you are not a CSIA member that’s ok, you can register for free and access the Awards Portal to download the resources and submit your nomination.

The portal can be found at members.csia.com.au/awards or just click here.

MARCH 2023

CSIA’s online self-assessment portal has arrived After over a year of development, the new online self-assessment portal has gone live. FOCUS asked CSIA’s Client Services Manager, Mei Lian Tan, about the new portal.

Tell us about the new CSIA Self-Assessment Portal.

We have recently launched an easy to use, secure online portal designed to assist organisations undertaking Certification to either the International Customer Service Standard or CSIA- Complaints Handling Framework.

The Portal has been built on Standard & Performance Pathways (SPP) which is an online solution for accreditation, standards compliance and quality management that carries all the main Australian national and state standards.

What advantages do organisations have in using the Portal and how does this impact the Certification process?

At CSIA, we are excited for this latest addition as it provides organisations an enhanced experience when completing their selfassessment and eliminates the issues we previously faced with data transfer.

Not only is the interface simple and straightforward, this one-stop shop Portal has many practical features such as workflow management, assessment collaboration tools, quality improvement action plans, downloadable assessment summary reports and the ability to track your progress.

Organisations are also able to archive their selfassessments and store evidence in their document library for future reference and expedite rapid completion of future recertifications.

Confidentiality and privacy of information are concerns for organisations – are there policies around this?

On the Portal, each organisation has its own segregated account. The only people who can access your account are colleagues that you invite into the platform as well as the CSIA team that will review your work.

The web application servers are located off-site in a high-tech Sydney-based secure facility, managed by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Certifications and Independent Attestations for AWS infrastructure and services are available here: hhtp://aws.amazon.com/security Anything further to add?

There are no additional costs for electing to utilise the CSIA Self-Assessment Portal.

If you are currently a Certified Organisation, please feel free to get in touch with us to arrange a short demo of the Portal.

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Delivering a fair outcome for all

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Having an issue with a financial firm, service or product can be a daunting prospect for consumers and small businesses. What if a satisfactory outcome through the firm’s dispute resolution service can’t be reached and you need free, impartial and independent advice?

Here we talk to Australian Financial Complaints Authority Chief Ombudsman and CEO David Locke about ways the authority can help, how complaints are handled, and why its services are important to Australian consumers.

Why was the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) created?

AFCA was established in response to the 2017 Ramsay Review, the first comprehensive review of the financial system’s EDR framework. The three-member panel, led by Professor Ian Ramsay, proposed a one-stop shop to handle all financial disputes, replacing three separate dispute resolution bodies – the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO) and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT).

The panel found that having multiple EDR schemes meant it was difficult to achieve comparable outcomes for consumers with similar complaints, and there was an increased risk of consumer confusion and complaints falling through the gaps.

What types of complaints does AFCA handle?

Banking and finance; general and life insurance; investments and financial advice; and superannuation. We try to help resolve complaints through informal methods but if we can’t help parties come to an agreement, one of our ombudsmen, or a panel of decision makers, will decide an appropriate outcome. We’re an impartial and independent not-for-profit company that offers ombudsman services under the authorisation of the Federal

under the authorisation of the Federal Government and the oversight of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

We also have a systemic issues function which identifies where there may be issues that are impacting a whole class of consumers or there are potentially serious contraventions of the law.

At what stage in the complaints process can AFCA become involved?

Individuals and small businesses (classified as those with less than 100 employees) can use our service if they have sought resolution of a complaint through their financial firm’s internal dispute resolution process. Firms generally have 30 days to address a complaint internally (or 45 days for superannuation trustees). If that timeline isn’t met, or the complainant doesn’t agree with the outcome of that internal process, they can then come to AFCA. What are the golden rules for efficient complaint handling?

Complaints are often about people and relationships. I think that’s at the “core” of fair, effective and efficient complaint handling.

Good relationships based on mutual trust and respect result in issues being communicated and resolved early, but when communication breaks down, things can quickly get messy.

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Complaint resolution works well when the human behind the complaint is considered and the customer is seen as a valuable asset.

What are some of the ways in which AFCA is resolving complaints for consumers?

We first try to resolve a complaint via informal methods through negotiation or conciliation before moving to more formal methods. We might provide a “preliminary assessment” addressing the merits of a complaint which sometimes sees the parties involved come to an agreement. If not, the next step is a formal decision, also known as a determination. Those formal decisions are binding on the financial firm if the consumer accepts the decision.

Consumers, however, retain the right to reject the decision and to pursue their complaint elsewhere – through a court, for example. (The exception is superannuation complaints, where any determination we make is binding on both parties.)

How efficient is AFCA? Last financial year we closed more than 71,000 complaints, taking the total since we opened our doors in 2018 to more than 320,000.

Consumers have received over $981 million in compensation as a result of AFCA’s work so far.

In the 2021-22 financial year, the average time to close a complaint at AFCA was just 72 days and about 60% were closed within 60 days. As a 2021 Independent Review of AFCA, led by the Federal Treasury noted, having an accessible and efficient ombudsman service promotes efficiency in the financial system overall.

Consumers, small businesses and financial firms can participate in the financial system with confidence that a robust process is in place in the event of a dispute.

What are some potential outcomes?

ABOUT DAVID LOCKE

AFCA can award compensation for losses suffered because of a firm’s error or inappropriate conduct. Interest or fees can be waived, a debt forgiven, or the amendment or setting aside of a contract, among other things.

We’re proud that in the past financial year 93% of complaints were closed by AFCA without requiring a formal decision. That’s a good result for both consumers and firms.

David is AFCA’s Chief Ombudsman and Chief Executive Officer, and he leads the organisation. This includes representing AFCA with key stakeholders, leading AFCA’s people and having overall responsibility for delivering AFCA’s services and implementing their strategy.

He started his career as a solicitor and worked in the private, government and not-for-profit sectors including 10 years in community legal centres in London and a similar period at the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

David moved to Australia in 2011 to help establish the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC).

Those experiences led to his appointment in June 2018 as AFCA’s first CEO and Chief Ombudsman.

How important is AFCA to consumers and small businesses?

AFCA plays a critical role in providing consumers and small businesses with access to a binding, out-of-court dispute resolution service. The alternative would be potentially costly and lengthy legal proceedings that create stress and anxiety for consumers and small businesses.

Financial firms also benefit from AFCA’s dispute resolution service as an alternative to a court or tribunal process.

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Member Spotlight What was your first role in customer service?

My first role was as an Insurance Property Underwriter for corporate customers. In this role, I worked with both corporate customers and their insurance brokers to find creative solutions for their specific insurance needs. On one occasion, I needed to provide protection for a business that made the black data strips for the back of credit cards (also the same product that made VHS video tape). A very volatile substance, but important for the banking sector.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Geoff Henderson Chief Executive Officer Unimutual Limited

”Actively Listen” to your customers. Show that you are interested in them, and you’ll likely uncover the real problem they want solved. If I can sneak a second one in, it would be to “Keep Your Word”. If you say you are going to do something, then do it (and try to do it faster and better for customers).

What is your proudest achievement in customer service?

Winning the CSIA Australian Service Excellence Awards 2018 “Customer Service Project of the Year – Continuous Improvement”. It was wonderful recognition for a team dedicated to supporting injured workers in recovering and getting their life back on track. The award provided profile to the outstanding work done by the team, and then to role model great customer service principles for the rest of the industry.

What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career?

Treat your customers the way you would want your family treated.

What is the best thing about working in customer service?

The satisfaction of knowing you have made a difference. Whether a big or small contribution, if you have made life easier for someone else, you should be proud.

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Creating a great customer experience A positive customer journey and experience is crucial to the success of any business. Here we talk with customer experience practitioner, Susan Jeffery about her role and experience, and her tips and insights into how you can provide the very best customer experience.

What does a CCXP do?

Most organisations want to deliver an excellent customer experience but sometimes can’t determine how the people, process and technology come together in an orchestrated and systematic customer-led approach. An experienced CCXP acts as a catalyst who enhances an organisation’s results by understanding, designing and improving experiences across the entire customer relationship. I help organisations develop a holistic customer understanding, shape the direction for their customer strategy and build the case for an experienced team and organisational design.

Do you believe customer experience can make or break business?

Customers are becoming more and more savvy; expectations are increasing and the experience they are having with leaders (i.e., Amazon or Apple) are setting the bar for all others.

Customers want to be treated as an individual person – not as a series of unconnected product or service decisions. They want the experience to be humanised and deliver to their needs. When this doesn’t happen, they aren’t afraid to tell everyone about it. Social media and online reviews are now outstripping word of mouth as preferred recommendation sources.

Combined with the increasing commoditisation

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of products and services, customer experience can be either a differentiator or the thing that breaks your business.

What do businesses need to do to be able to devise and deliver relevant customer experience strategies?

How can you measure the customer experience you’re providing?

One of the initial steps I often take is to do a maturity assessment to understand the current state of CX in the organisation, where they are stronger, and where they should prioritise their effort. Are they strong in customer understanding but weak in metrics? Can they articulate the commercial linkage between the experience and business levers? Using this approach provides a compass to guide the evolution of CX and by engaging the leadership teams in this process helps to build understanding of what it means to be a customer experience-led organisation.

Using a combination of operational data and metrics, along with customer experience measures (such as CSAT, NPS or customer effort scores) and employee experience metrics should provide a strong measurement framework to measure and communicate across the organisation in a meaningful way.

What are the warning signs that your customer experience is sub-par?

Loss of revenue, increasing operational costs or churn, increasing call centre volumes, increasing complaint volumes are all red flags. Frontline teams such as call centre staff and sales teams will often see trends so ensure you tap into these teams. Employee engagement scores are also important as unhappy employees often lead to unhappy customers.

How do personalised customised experiences contribute to the success of a business and/or brand?

At the heart of human behaviour is the desire for connection; to be known and understood.

Businesses that can capture and leverage customer knowledge to deliver an experience tailored to that customer’s needs can build an emotional connection with the brand.

How we interact with brands and what we require from them has changed dramatically in recent times. What has driven this change?

Advances in technology mean customers are experiencing faster responses and better, more tailored experiences and so the bar gets set higher. The digital environment has given us more choice than ever, social networks and digital devices have enabled customers to share their experiences and opinions with others. The power has shifted from brands to the customer.

And if they are not happy, they can simply vote with their feet.

Do great customer experiences have the power to customer acquisition, customer loyalty, customer engagement and promote growth?

McKinsey found that across industries, successful projects for optimising the customer experience typically achieve revenue growth of 5 to 10% and cost reductions of 15 to 25% within just two or three years. Foresters’ analysis on revenue growth shows the growth in customer experience leaders is on average 14% faster than the revenue growth in laggards. And not to mention that employees in customer-obsessed organisations are 40% more likely to say they are happy at work.

ABOUT SUSAN JEFFERY: Susan is a globally certified customer experience practitioner (CCXP) with experience across many sectors. She works with organisations at any stage of their experience journey and looks to support organisations who need an experienced practitioner to step in and hit the ground running on a project or solving a problem, whether it’s facilitation, discovery or strategy development. She joined the global Customer Experience Practitioners Association (CXPA) to connect, share and learn from global experts.

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Leadership buy-in and support for the customer experience strategy is critical to success.

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Susan’s five tips to provide excellence in customer experience:

Build a systematic way of listening to your customers and understanding their journey.

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Understand how the experience generates value – how does the customer experience drive the key levers of the organisation?

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Establish a clear set of metrics and governance and embed across the organisation with a clear governance framework.

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Don’t forget that your employee experience = your employee experience is as critical as your customer experience. EX = CX

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Member Spotlight What was your first role in customer service?

My customer service journey started with my initial employment as a receptionist in a tax agent firm.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

During one of our team bonding event, I remember our CS Lead telling us the importance of being a customer service champion “being the frontliner, we represent the organization as a whole specifically when dealing at international level, therefore we must always leave a positive impression with all our stakeholders”.

Shika Sastika Prasad Assistant Rates Clerk Lautoka City Council

What is your proudest achievement in customer service?

The proudest achievement was when I received commendation letter by my former employer, Fiji Revenue and Customs Services. They recognized my effort, hard work, enthusiasm, and delivery particularly, in providing an exceptional service to the Revenue Management Division team for the financial year 2019/2020. Receiving that recognition made me honoured and kept me motivated.

What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career?

There are a set of skills and personality needed to have a customer service career, your personal performance and attitude toward a customer matters. Effectively listening and understanding customers’ needs, and at times going beyond your boundaries to assist them to achieve customer satisfaction. Working in customer service can be challenging at times, therefore it is also important to take care of yourself physically and mentally.

Make sure to take breaks and seek support from colleagues and supervisor as and when needed.

What is the best thing about working in customer service?

Working in customer service provides a sense of purpose and meaning, as you are part of a larger team that is dedicated to serving and satisfying customers. This can be a source pride and fulfilment as you interact with a diverse group of people, resolve problems, ensure customer satisfaction and personally evolve at the same time.

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