Industry invited to help set excellence for customer service across Europe
Press release - 30th August 2012
BSI is calling for experts from the service industry to input into the development of a new European standard for customer service excellence.
The standard is the first of its kind in Europe and is likely to be based upon the German standard, Achieving Customer Delight through Service Excellence published in 2011.
Customer expectations continue to evolve as a result of globalization and technology. There is also clear evidence* that those organizations which focus beyond quality and provide a value-added service reap the benefits of greater customer satisfaction and loyalty. Consequently organizations are under increasing pressure to ‘go the extra mile’ to provide service excellence. In the quest to exceed customer expectations, this new European standard is looking to pool know-how from thought leaders in customer services and to provide organizations with an internationally recognized benchmark to help them demonstrate good practice in service excellence.
BSI wants to engage with industry professionals with an established reputation for customer service excellence in industries such as retail, leisure and hospitality, banking, ICT, automotive and telecommunications.
Specific focus areas of the standard are likely to include: building a culture of service excellence; managing partnerships and networks; effective benchmarking and customer experience mapping.
The development of the service excellence standard is part of a wider European standards programme looking at how services are delivered across Europe and complements BSI’s other work in this area with standards for Inclusive Service and Complaints Handling already established.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the UK to play an influential role in developing a pan-European standard that should set an important benchmark for the delivery of customer service excellence,” said Michael Hill, a director of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Europe (SOCAPiE). “Today’s consumers expect to be served from anywhere, at any time through any means whilst at the same time expecting good service, prompt answers and solutions to any problems experienced. Organizations therefore need to deliver customer service that both meets the high expectations of customers and gains their long-term trust and loyalty.”
* BSI Excellerator research 2011
