other customer service standards interpretations

The British Institute of Customer Service (ICS) promotes best practice for customer service. The ICS provides its own interpretation of how to establish customer service standards, together with some supporting research and information. This is a helpful additional perspective of customer service alongside the BSI Code of Practice.

The ICS guidance for setting up customer service standards focuses on:

Defining the service standards outlines three sections -

* Timeliness - the essential time-related performance standards for each stage of customer engagement and process
* Accuracy - how reliably the customer's experiences match the supplier's promises
* Appropriateness - common-sense honesty, integrity and fitness for purpose

Creating the standards, identifies seven main groups who should have input -

1. Management
2. Employees
3. Existing customers
4. Potential customers
5. Lost or former customers
6. Competitors
7. Regulatory authorities

Other ICS customer service pointers -

* The number and extent of standards should reflect the situation and size of the organization.
* Measurement and technology are important aspects of implementation, for which senior management is responsible.
* Ownership, visibility and commitment are identified as crucial in implementation.
* ownership - starts at the top - there must be accountability somewhere for everything
* visibility - must enable awareness and two-way communications among all staff
* commitment - to customers and staff
* Standards enable performance to be properly managed and measured.
* Sales and marketing functions should resist making claims in promotional material and selling pitches until standards have been demonstrably met and sustained.
* Standards must be reviewed every 12-18 months, because fundamentally standards are market-driven, and the market is always changing.

some complaints statistics

The ICS also has some interesting things to say about complaints handling.

The statistics are from their joint survey with training company TMI in 2001 - shortly to be updated - some of which echo similar studies and anecdotal references used in customer services training courses.

* More people are complaining than used to be the case - especially older people, of which two-thirds of people over 50 apparently complain very often if dissatisfied about a product or service.
* Having a complaint resolved apparently causes most customers to recommend the supplier to friends.
* 80% of customers tell someone if their complaint is not handled well.
* Only 25% of staff feel qualified to deal with complaints.
* Only 33% of customer-facing staff have received specific training in dealing with angry customers.

The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) is a membership organization which promotes and defines educational and operational standards for customer service, including input to vocational customer service qualifications.