The Panda Customer Service Programme
CIA has always believed in great customer service but more than ever right now, in this current economic climate, it is important to show our customers just how much we value them.
So we have an internal initiative to make our customer service even better. We have called it the Panda Programme – because we want to pander our customers. Pip (as in ‘Pandering In People’) the panda is our mascot and he and his friends can be found throughout the office as a reminder to everyone that we are here to look after our customers and give them a great service.
Every year, all our staff undertake in-depth internal training in:
- Telephone Techniques
- Internal Relationships
- Face to Face Communication
- Writing Skills
- Customer Excellence
- External Customer Service courses
Team Leaders have taken NVQs which they have passed with flying colours, and are being encouraged to take further business qualifications to ensure that their departments deliver even better customer service.
Among the initiatives we have put in place are feedback mechanisms to ensure that all our customers can easily give positive and negative feedback. Our aim, of course, is no negative feedback but recognising that there is nothing worse than complaining and not having your concerns addressed, we have reviewed our customer complaints procedure and now strive to ensure that response is immediate.
We have introduced an Employee Recognition Award for the employee who goes that extra mile to please our customers. They are nominated by both customers and colleagues. It is so encouraging that everyone is making the extra effort and that these efforts are being noticed by our customers.
Because we are so passionate about customer service, we have worked hard to find out what our customers want from us and to make sure that we deliver.
To prove our commitment to the Panda Programme, these new standards have been incorporated into our quality manual. This means that they are regularly reviewed and our staff’s performance is constantly evaluated against them to make sure that the momentum does not slip. We want everyone to benefit – our employees through greater job satisfaction and our customers through the service they receive.
Thanks to everyone, staff and customers alike, for making Pip and the Panda Programme worthwhile for us all.
