FOCUS | CSIA Quarterly - March 2024

2024 Australian Service Excellence Awards

The 2024 Australian Service Excellence Awards are open for nominations. All the details for this year’s program in this issue.

Elevating the Shopping Experience

CSIA speaks to Pacific Fair Shopping Centre about how they are going about elevating the shopping experience.

Pipeline of Excellence

Iplex Australia talks to CSIA about their journey to certification to the International Customer Service Standard in 2023.

Welcome to the March ‘24 edition of FOCUS Magazine

It’s been a busy start to 2024 for CSIA with the launch of the 2024 Australian Service Excellence Awards program in February and all the planning for CX Showcase 2024 which is happening later this month.

If you missed our recent 2024 Awards program webinar you can view a recording of the session on our website. The webinar included a great segment on how to present a winning entry using storytelling by CX thought leader and long-time CSIA Judge, Luke Jamieson. Be sure to check this out.

We also have a forthcoming webinar “An introduction to the International Customer Service Standard” later this month which will be led by CSIA Assessor Steven Brett.

In this issue of FOCUS we speak to four-time Australian Service Excellence Awards winners Pacific Fair Shopping Centre and hear from Thomas McIntyre, Retail and Customer Experience Manager about how they are elevating the shopping experience.

Rosemary Hotten, Associate Director, Digital & Customer Strategy, Customer Science Group shares her thoughts on the crucial role of customer experience in healthcare and we interview Grant Brodie, Yvonne Newnes, Robert Kent, Matt Anderson and Corali Duncan about their experience winning their individual category Australian Service Excellence Awards in 2023.

And of course, there’s more news and events in this issue including a full run-down of the 2024 Australian Service Excellence Awards program and a preview of CX Showcase 2024.

I hope to connect with you soon and wish you well if you are preparing your 2024 Awards nomination.

Jeremy Larkins Executive Director

06

14

22

Co nte nts

04 News in Brief

06 Elevating the shopping experience

CSIA talks to Thomas McIntyre, Retail and Customer Experience Manager at Pacific Fair Shopping Centre about how they are elevating the shopping experience.

08 2024 Awards Program

Details and key dates are ready for this year’s Australian Service Excellence Awards.

12 CX Showcase

Details and speakers for CX Showcase 2024.

14 Pipeline of Excellence

CSIA interviewed Kylie Oakenfull, Iplex Australia’s National Customer Service Manager about their journey to certification to the International Customer Service Standard.

16 Interviews with 2023 ASEA winners

CSIA speaks to the winners of our 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards individual categories.

22 Navigating the Digital Frontier

Rosemary Hotten, Associate Director, Digital & Customer Strategy, Customer Science Group shares her thoughts on the crucial role of customer experience in healthcare

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

• 10 April 2024

• 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

• 17 April 2024

• 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

• 08 May 2024

• 9.30am – 4.30pm

• Virtual Classroom

• $440 per person CSIA members

• $550 per person non-members

Webinar

Introduction to the International Customer Service Standard

• 20 March 2024

• 9.00am – 10.00am

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.

CX Showcase - Sydney

• 21 March 2024

• 8.00am – 11.00am

• Sydney

CX Showcase is back in 2024

Join us on 21 March 2024 in Sydney for a business breakfast and networking event where you will hear about the CX journeys of five 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards winners.

Limited tickets are still available.

Elevating the Shopping Experience

Pacific Fair Shopping Centre epitomises Australian success. Not only did it achieve record -breaking sales in 2022 – the highest in its 46-year history – it also secured the esteemed Customer Service Team of the Year Award at the 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards Here we talk with Thomas McIntyre, Retail and Customer Experience Manager at The GPT Group, on why the centre wins customer service awards, why the customer experience is paramount and the keys to creating a positive shopping environment.

Congratulations on your award – how important is industry recognition to the team and to morale as a whole?

It is such an honour for the team to win this, our fourth over the years. It solidifies our hard work and dedication to customer experience. The recognition for the teams working out in-centre is what means the most to me; our cleaners, security guards, maintenance teams, parking/valet

attendants and the like, we all work so hard on ensuring the customer experience is world class.

What are the keys to providing a positive customer experience?

It’s about being genuine first and foremost, followed by a willingness to help. We are proactive and on the lookout for people who need our help. While we’d love every staff member to be an

expert on everything in our centre, the reality is we can’t know it all. The key is to make sure we all know how to find the answer and guide our customers to the best solution.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your current role as Retail and Customer Experience Manager with The GPT Group?

Customer service needs to be a constant conversation. In a centre of our size, staff across various departments and retailers across nearly 400 stores, there are a lot of opportunities to enhance customer experience. The moment we stop the conversation and become complacent is when we lose a significant point of difference.

How does Pacific Fair set the standard, and stay ahead of competitors?

It’s about getting the absolute basics right, uncomplicated ‘Customer Service 101’. Non negotiables are to be clean, attentive and available. We then overlay this with more detailed programs and services such as valet and our incentre taxi service. Without the basics in check, we can’t elevate the guest experience and deep dive to really enhance their day.

Generating record sales is an incredible accomplishment. What factors does Pacific Fair credit this success to?

It’s critical for us to focus on what we can control; the in-centre customer experience. We also have an absolutely beautiful asset but it needs to be well maintained, clean and have a great retail offering. Value-add services and exciting marketing events help further enhance the everyday. It truly takes a team to bring it all together – we all focus on the customer experience before anything else.

How important is ongoing training to ensure customer service facilitators and contractors are happy, highly-skilled and operating at their full capacity?

Training needs to be an absolute constant conversation and form part of a team’s culture as well. It’s all about balance; going to the same ‘Managing Aggressive Customers’ course six times a year gets boring, but constant conversations keep everything front of mind. We try to celebrate success when we hear great stories from our team members who go above and beyond. Contractor

collaboration is absolutely critical. At the end of the day, it’s the team on the floor day-in day-out. Our contract partners make up the bulk of the workforce interacting with customers on a daily basis and can have the biggest influence. Without this collaboration we would never win the awards we have won.

What is the Respectful Customer Service training program, and how has it benefited centre operations?

This training helps the team navigate situations such as someone with a mobility issue, assistance animal, or other sensitivities around parents' rooms and the like. It also includes being conscious of different beliefs and cultural backgrounds. In a centre with thousands of customers visiting each day, you’d be amazed at the challenges our team can come across. Assetlink, our main service partner, put this training together and it has provided such a unique platform to better understand different customer types.

What is the ‘RX’ – Retailer Experience program and why was it developed?

The RX program is aimed at taking our retailers on the same 'CX' Customer Experience Journey we have traditionally focused on. The goal Is to further grow our NPS scores while creating a strong community of retailers who are customer advocates like our own team members. We have a significant program in place to focus on retailer wellbeing, training and recognition – something not many other centres really do. In essence, we’re creating a centre-wide community all focused on enhancing the customer experience. As a bonus, it makes for such a pleasant place to work!

2024

Australian Service Excellence Awards

Nominations are now open for the 2024 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 2024 Awards program is now accepting entries until 31 MAY 3024.

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.

Key Dates 2024

2024 Gala

This year the Australian Service Excellence Awards Gala Dinner and Presentation returns to Melbourne at the new Grand Ballroom at the Ritz Carlton.

GOTO AWARDS PORTAL

2024 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.

INDIVIDUALS

Customer Service Executive of the Year

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.

2024

The Customer Service Institute of Australia in collaboration with Customer Science Group is proud to bring you the 2024 edition of CX Showcase.

CX Showcase is an opportunity to hear from organisations who have been recognised through the Australian Service Excellence Awards (ASEA) program about how they have overcome challenges and built and delivered exceptional customer experience.

This year's event is being held at 12 Micron in Barangaroo, Sydney and will be hosted by Michael Pope.

The event will include:

• Full 'sit-down' breakfast

• A series of speaker presentations

• Networking

EVENT DETAILS

• Date: 21 March 2024

• Time: 8.00am - 11.00am

• Address: 12 Micron - Tower 1, Level 2/100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo, Sydney NSW 2000

• Tickets:

• CSIA Members $25

• Non-members $45

BUY TICKETS

EVENT PARTNERS

CX SHOWCASE 2024 SPEAKERS

Mr

Sal Petroccitto OAM

Chief Executive Officer

National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

Ian

Pybourne

National Contact Centre Manager

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood

Silver Battikha

Customer Experience Manager

Jaybro

Eric Peterson

Head of Member Experience, Retention & Loyalty HCF

Daniel Crombie

Head of BT Platforms Contact Centre BT

Iplex is one of Australia’s leading manufacturers of locally produced, sustainable pipeline systems and water solutions for various sectors such as water authorities, agriculture, residential, urban subdivision, civil, and mining infrastructure. Here Kylie Oakenfull , Iplex Australia’s National Customer Service Manager, talks about the company’s recent ICSS certification, what makes them an industry leader and what they took away from the certification experience.

Pipeline of Excellence

Iplex prides itself on working and collaborating with customers and the industry to provide safe, secure and innovative water solutions. Here is how they achieve this.

In 2020 we introduced a refreshed corporate vision that encompasses six strategic priorities: Your Chosen Partner; Supply and Service Excellence; Digital and Design Tools; Sustainability at the Core; Profitable Growth, and Future Focused Innovation. To fulfil our commitment, we operate across 11 locations nationally to better serve our customers and deliver our strategic priorities.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about customer service through your current role as the National Customer Service Manager at Iplex?

I’ve embraced the significance of proactive problem-solving. Anticipating customer

needs and addressing potential issues before they arise enhances satisfaction and loyalty. I’ve learned that clear and transparent communication is essential, ensuring customers feel informed and valued.

Empowering frontline staff with the tools and autonomy to resolve customer issues promptly has proven to be instrumental. Exceptional customer service is not just reactive; it requires foresight, communication, and a proactive commitment to exceeding expectations.

What do you believe are the keys to providing excellent customer service?

A ‘one size fits all’ approach is not going to guarantee the perfect CX; rather, excellence in customer service lies in providing a combination of listening, empathy, communication, anticipation, empowerment and consistency. All of which is grounded in having an unwavering commitment to always putting the customer first.

Why did Iplex seek its first ICSS accreditation through CSIA?

Iplex has been committed to elevating the customer experience and aiming for excellence. We acknowledged the need to seek guidance at an internationally recognised standard. Our aim was to gain an independent assessment on the business that would not only validate our current achievements but also identify and roadmap focus areas to enhancement the Customer Experience over time.

How did you find the process of completing the ICSS certification through CSIA and do you believe the findings benefit your business?

The process was fantastic. The findings provided will significantly benefit our business, offering valuable insights into areas of improvement and aligning our practices with industry standards for enhanced customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

How valuable is knowing which areas of the company are core strengths and which to focus on for future improvement?

Iplex has improved many of its products and services to deliver good customer experiences. We are committed to continuous improvement and excellence in CX. The accreditation provided us with clear, targeted and actionable improvement opportunities going forward.

How important to the Iplex journey is looking at other companies in the same industry and identifying what best practice for customer’s experience looks like?

Iplex actively engages in collaborative partnerships with industry groups and

associations to proactively stay informed about emerging trends and issues that impact the industry and customer. This approach ensures that Iplex remains ahead of regulatory changes and market dynamics. This involvement provides us with a unique perspective on the industry landscape and helps shape strategies to align with international standards and advancements.

The Iplex team consists of approximately 540 state-based operational and management staff including a dedicated customer service and support team. How important is ongoing training, as well as recognition, to ensure employees are happy, highly-skilled and operating at their full capacity?

VITAL! Ongoing training sharpens skills and keeps employees abreast of industry trends, enhancing their adaptability. Recognising achievements not only boosts morale but also fosters a positive workplace culture, motivating employees to deliver their best, creating a positive ripple effect on customer satisfaction, loyalty and overall business success.

Do you believe the ICSS certification reiterates and supports Iplex’s commitment to the delivery of exceptional service to customers?

The ICSS certification serves as a powerful testament to, and reinforcement of Iplex’s commitment to delivering exceptional service to our customers. It not only validates our dedication but also provides an external acknowledgment of our commitment to prioritising customer needs, wants, and expectations. It demonstrates our continuous pursuit of excellence, ensuring that our service standards align with industry best practices, ultimately exceeding customer satisfaction and fostering lasting relationships.

Interviews with 2023 Australian Service Excellence Awards Winners

Congratulations on winning the 2023 Customer Service Advocate of the Year Award! How does it feel to be recognised for your efforts?

Oh my goodness, I must say that I am still over whelmed at having won this award. It truly means the World to me, to be recognised for the work I do, the work that I love.

How long have you been involved in customer service, and what motivates you to pursue excellence in this field?

I have been involved in customer service since the age of 19; so that’s 40 years now! I think my motivation to pursue excellence comes from seeing the difference you can make to someone; the way you can impact on a person’s day by just taking time to listen, to acknowledge their feelings and to work with them to find a solution. That’s what motivates me to do my best every day.

Yvonne

Newnes

Peoplecare Health Insurance Customer Service Advocate of the Year

Can you share the specific reasons or Initiatives that you believe contribute to your success in customer service?

I imagine my success in customer service comes from my genuine desire to make a difference, to always be looking for ways to provide that little bit extra, to always strive for excellence.

What challenges have you encountered in delivering excellent customer service, and how did you overcome them?

Over the years there have been some challenges, that’s only natural. But I see those challenges as another opportunity to look at things, to maybe try something different and reach an outcome that way. Customer service is challenging, there is no denying that, but is equally rewarding, and that’s what motivates me every day.

If you could give one piece of advice to customer service professionals, what would it be?

You have to love what you do, be passionate about your role, because that comes across. I am so lucky to work in an industry that brings me so much joy, I really believe that customer service comes from within, it truly comes from my heart.

Can you share the specific reasons or initiatives that you believe contribute to your success in customer service?

Robert Kent

Smartgroup

Customer Service Professional of the Year

Congratulations on winning the 2023 Customer Service Professional of the Year Award! How does it feel to be recognised for your efforts?

Pretty great actually. The lights, cameras and all the cheering of the awards night were all impressive enough, but now that I am home, it keeps going when work colleagues and management often bring it up and recongratulate me. I even got a mention in our new CEO’s communication to the business regarding updates and goals for the coming year.

How long have you been involved in customer service, and what motivates you to pursue excellence in this field?

I think we always present a version of ourselves, regardless of what we do, and we always want that version to be the best version. That simply transfers over into customer service when professionally you are also presenting a version of yourself. I want that version of me to be the best it can be. I try to gauge what the customer needs and expects from their perspective then apply that to my interactions with them. If you can do that and finish the day feeling like you have helped or made a difference to someone, then that’s a good thing.

Age… not that I am old, but I think age allows you more exposure to the customer service you receive over your lifetime. Some great, some not so good and that inspires me to aim for the great end of the customer service spectrum.

What challenges have you encountered in delivering excellent customer service, and how did you overcome them?

I have always been in sales-based Customer Service and the greatest challenges seem to be timing. It always seems to come down to timing for delivery of the customers vehicle or helping them through the hurdles involved with finance approvals, and even sourcing appropriate vehicles in given timeframes. It’s the relationships you cultivate in all the adjoining teams within your circle that allow you to accomplish this. I try to remember, those adjoining teams both internal and external to our business, are always deserving of a good customer service experience from me as well.

If you could give one piece of advice to customer service professionals, what would it be?

Easy… take a breath, deal with situations as they arise, and remember to smile. Even over the phone you can sense or feel a smile as much as you can a frown, so try to be cheery. I am also a big believer in sharing your knowledge. You acquired most of your knowledge for free and from someone else, you don’t own it, so pass it on as often as you can.

Customer

Congratulations on winning the 2023 Customer Service Leader of the Year Award! How does it feel to be recognised for your efforts?

Thank you so much. It feels amazing to be recognised for my efforts. I do this job because I genuinely have a heart to serve and my team’s development and growth is the reason I am still here. I love to create safety in my relationships so that each person can be their authentic selves and therefore bring the best version of themselves to work each day, which in turn means our customer get our best service.

How long have you been involved in customer service, and what motivates you to pursue excellence in this field?

I have been involved in customer service since my career began, working in a pottery gift store, then moving into a banking contact centre and the rest is history. I am a customer and know what service I expect and how I like to be treated, this is the reason I pursue excellence. We are all unique individuals, and each customer has their own story, they deserve to be treated with respect and go away from any interaction feeling satisfied and cared for.

Can you share the specific reasons or initiatives that you believe contribute to your success in customer service?

I believe in authenticity, inclusivity and a strong culture of safety and feedback. This creates a space where my team can be vulnerable, open to feedback and growth, feel safe that when they make a mistake they will be supported and encouraged to improve. This in turn plays out in their interactions with customers. I don’t buy into negativity or disbeliefs, I believe that if you really put your mind to something, you can achieve anything. The opportunity for my team to grow means they are always improving their own knowledge and skills to enhance our customer’s experience. I am very focused on my team’s development, ensuring the know the expectations of them in their role and how to grow outside of those as well as discovering what’s next for them. And unlocking their potential I don’t pretend to know everything and am not afraid to get stuck in and learn with my team. I recently created a Future Leaders Development program, which is focused on people that are interested in leadership but require the foundational level of knowledge and skills. We have a series of workshops where I share examples and learnings from over the years, I do role plays and we have guest speakers from across the organisation that they may not otherwise have had exposure to.

What challenges have you encountered in delivering excellent customer service, and how did you overcome them?

I find it challenging when I am working with someone, and our values don’t align. My core value is courage and when I work with someone that isn’t brave enough to try a new process or a new way of working, I find that challenging. How I have overcome this in the past is to adapt myself to their way of thinking and communicating. I will change the language I use, try to be visual, give different examples, and encourage my team members to bring their own suggestions to a change in the way they are working so that they have their own contribution. I believe that any challenge can be overcome with the right attitude and support in place, and I endeavour to find the solutions so that I can offer my best self to my team and in turn the customer.

Corali Duncan

Yarra Valley Water

Service Leader of the Year

Congratulations on winning the 2023 Customer Service Manager of the Year Award! How does it feel to be recognised for your efforts?

Thank you, it is quite humbling. Winning is still quite surreal and has not yet fully sunk in. The primary feelings are of pride, appreciation and motivation.

How long have you been involved in customer service, and what motivates you to pursue excellence in this field?

I have been in customer facing/service roles for over 20 years. My specific field is General Insurance and the majority of my career has been in property claims. Customers generally only engage with my team and I when they have suffered a loss and rely on us to support – often following large natural disasters. The want to help people and get their home/possessions/family life back to normal as soon as possible is one of the key motivations. The other aspect that motivates me is to exceed customer expectations. That could be by way of finalising their claim more quickly than they expected, repair their home ahead of schedule or make the experience far easier and less stressful than they expected. I enjoy the challenge that exceeding expectations brings and find doing so really rewarding.

Can you share the specific reasons or initiatives that you believe contribute to your success in customer service?

I think one of the key things that I try to do is make sure that in any decision I make within my business, there is always customer lens that is considered as a part of the decision making process. My team and I could be working through a risk item, supply chain decision, resourcing change or a process change –regardless of the background to the initiative we always consider the overarching customer impact. This becomes habitual and that type of behaviour becomes cultural.

What challenges have you encountered in delivering excellent customer service, and how did you overcome them?

Scalability during times of significant volume is one of the biggest challenges. One of the ways we overcome these challenges is by learning, taking a critical view of how we performed and use those learnings to help shape our plan for

Matt Anderson Hollard Customer Service Manager of the Year

next time. It is important we understand where our opportunities are, where our customers are telling us we need to improve but equally important is that we understand what we have done well and ensure that helps shape the plan and the response next time.

If you could give one piece of advice to customer service professionals, what would it be?

Keep challenging yourself to improve and try things. Even if something does not work as planned, you have learnt something and that gives you a data point that you can use to help on your way to optimising customer experience.

Grant Brodie

Australian Taxation Office Customer Service Executive of the Year

Congratulations on winning the 2023 Customer Service Executive of the Year Award! How does it feel to be recognised for your efforts?

It’s an amazing feeling of recognition for the team, I only received this award as a result of the fantastic work that the team do, day in, day out. Receiving this award puts the team on the map for all their hard work and achievements, I am so proud of them.

How long have you been involved in customer experience, and what motivates you to pursue excellence in this field?

My entire career spanning over 35 years has all been in customer facing roles, putting the customer/client first and at the centre of everything we do is what comes naturally to me. I guess having had this experience I then fully appreciate the power and importance of providing good quality customer service and the benefits it can have to your business/organisation. I’m also highly motivated in making people’s lives better whether it be a team member of a customer, the integrity of doing the right thing for the customer is so important and rewarding, the benefits to the business from this are endless….

Can you share the specific reasons or initiatives that you believe contribute to your success in customer service?

Listening…… I always say that you learn more in a day out on site with the team than you do sitting in front of an online screen all week. My view is that the team have the solutions to problems and opportunities that exist, my job is to remove the roadblocks that are in the way of allowing them to happen. Encouraging my immediate exec team to do the same is so important. Its also important to listen to the client/customer – they will tell you all you need to know about your business, what’s right?, what’s wrong? Where the opportunities are… you just need to be prepared to listen, one of my favourite sayings is “feedback is a gift”.

What challenges have you encountered in delivering excellent customer service, and how did you overcome them?

We all work within the confines of a budget and a continual push to do more for less, its easy to see sacrificing service as a way to come in on budget, I have experienced this challenge throughout my career. Overcoming this is best done by having a means of continual improvement embedded into the team, improving processes and procedures and a continual strive to do better frees up capacity to enable you to protect the level of service that is so important. It is vital however to build a culture in the team where ideas are encouraged and recognised and most important enacted on, otherwise the team will see no point in feeding them through in the first place.

How do you foster a culture of customer service excellence within your organisation?

Walk the talk!! This is so important, just saying your client/customer obsessed is simply not enough, it’s important that you demonstrate it in everything you do and say, the more senior you are in an organisation, the more people are watching you, looking and testing to see if you practice what you preach…..

We also launched a program called ‘Client obsession’ about 18 months ago, I am very conscious I can control how long customers wait, or the hours we operate but what I cannot control is that individual experience a client has on the phone. Client Obsession was not a program that people go through and 6 weeks later, your client obsessed…. This was a program that rewarded you for doing your day job, and

doing it well, also encouraging the team to submit stories about great examples they had either delivered themselves, or, seen others deliver, we publish the stories and reward people. The program was designed to get people excited and passionate about wanting to create the best possible client experience… It is also very important to be careful what you measure, and what you reward. For example, whilst the average handle time of a call is important for productivity, measuring it publicly across the team can have a negative effect, if the team think it's one of the most important measures, then it's easy to improve but most likely will come at cost of service.

Fostering great customer service takes time, it has to be inground into your culture and practised and rewarded continually….

How do you measure the success of your customer experience initiatives? Are there specific metrics you find most valuable?

Nothing beats real customer feedback, whilst we have various metrics through the organisation that capture compliments/complaints/NPS/productivity etc I am always really interested in the natural ones, social media is fantastic source, again you have to have that mentality that ‘feedback is a gift’, with that you will get so much more out of the feedback you read and hear….I’m always very interested when someone takes the time out to raise a complaint, particularly if it comes directly through as its often a sign something has failed badly, firstly how you deal with a complaint can see a client go from being a detractor to an advocate of your business for life, secondly followed through correctly it will provide you so much more feedback about

your business than the specific nature of the complaint itself. Taking time out on a regular basis to listen to calls is also critical, again you learn so much from this, its priceless….

What advice do you have for other organisations striving to achieve service excellence?

Listen - To both your customer and your staff. To achieve service excellence, you have to know what’s really going on, the best way to do that is to submerge yourself into the frontline of your business and listen, you have to do this continually, not just one off, talk to your customers….remember ‘Feedback is a gift’, there is something to learn from every single bit of feedback that you get.

Act - Armed with that feedback the worst thing you can do is nothing, act on the feedback and do it with speed, you cannot expect your team to do what you ask them to if you don’t do the same thing yourself.

Reward - It's important to reward the right behaviour, embed something in place that gets people excited and encourages them to provide great service, this is so important as you can't monitor every interaction, everyday so you need to foster a culture where your team want to provide great service and will call it out, equally will also call it out if they see someone falling short…

One final point is ‘Keep it simple’, providing great service is not rocket science, keep things simple and make sure you put yourself in the shoes of your customer/client and fully appreciate their experience!

Navigating the Digital Frontier: The Crucial Role of Customer Experience in Healthcare

In the ever-evolving landscape of Australian healthcare, the importance of customer experience (CX) – or patient experiencecannot be overstated. While leveraging data remains the linchpin of engaging customers, patients, carers, stakeholders and funders, healthcare’s unique environment and regulatory framework, emphasises the need for effectively managing innovation with good governance and information management.

In this article I delve into the multifaceted relationship between CX, data, and the Australian healthcare system, exploring its potential for accelerating benefits in customer connection, operational optimisation, information reliability, and care outcomes through your transformation journey.

Data Management for Security Safeguards

Patient information, including access restrictions, personal health preferences, advanced care plans, allergy, and adverse reaction management through to optimising patient-facing time for clinicians demands strong governance. Reviewing data management practices and business intelligence frameworks is a hot topic at present as many healthcare organisations grapple with their changing world, and security is a core focus. A current state review and understanding of the forward needs to support your strategy and growth plans can swiftly tweak governance from a ‘controlling’ to a ‘supporting’ function in an organisation.

Embracing the Opportunity

Opportunities to adopt technology into the service delivery and operations mix to manage an increasing amount of data abound, however, it remains true today – identifying and leveraging the interrelationships between such technology, people and processes throughout the patient journey is what will deliver real and measurable impact outcomes and differentiation. We often hear ‘technology is the easy bit’. Supporting your teams, and appropriate frameworks to get the most out of technology, will see the conversation morph from ‘tools’ to solutions and cement sustainable impact.

Demonstrating Value and Impact

A human-centred design approach to streamlining processes and supporting staff in change management practices to eliminate those tempting ‘workarounds’ is demonstrated to enhance overall patient, and clinician, experiences.

A recent analysis released by Gartner, looking at data from 917 organisations, shows that the number one reported enterprise-level outcome of AI as a technology solution was customer experience (reported by 60% of organisations) closely followed by improved operating margins (reported by 55%). source *Gartner 2024 CIO and Technology Executive Survey.

Leading healthcare organisations are actively focusing on understanding what success looks like from their budget allocations – baselining and often very simple monitoring measures aligned to a reputable benefits management framework, can be very powerful to demonstrate the impact you are making in value creation, patient engagement, and care outcomes.

Highlighting measurable impact outcomes is key to service excellence in healthcare delivery. It is increasingly representing a competitive advantage for progressive health organisations and can unlock future funding. The impact? It’s a convincing pathway to rally stakeholders to adopt healthcare innovation and customer – or patient and clinician - engagement.

In closing, the pivotal role of CX in Australian healthcare's digital evolution is evident. By embracing the opportunities presented by mass health data and navigating the challenges of privacy and security, the sector can welcome in a new era of efficiency, accuracy, and patient-centric care. As stakeholders evaluate the readiness to invest, the importance lies in demonstrating the tangible benefits, both in terms of cost savings and improved patient outcomes.

The healthcare sector's journey towards a digital future must be guided by a commitment to privacy, an understanding of patient experience, and an unwavering dedication to ethical healthcare practices.

Success lies in the interaction of technology, people, and processes in 2024.

Rosemary Hotten, Associate Director, Digital & Customer Strategy Customer Science Group.

*Gartner2024CIOandTechnologyExecutiveSurvey.