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National Customer Service Week 2023

This year’s National Customer Service Week (NCSW) ran from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October 2023. We celebrated customer service in our organisations with a series of themes, and prepared activities for each day, in addition to some helpful resources. Don’t forget to download the 2023 digital pack and check out what is going on each day.

Customer Service as a Profession
This year's themes:
M for National Customer Service Week. Robot in centre of M and cyber ckoud on the edge of M
Monday
The Future of AI
T for National Customer Service Week. Green heart in centre of T with 2 hands
Tuesday
Service with Respect Day
W for National Customer Service Week. Handshake between letter w
Wednesday
Customer Service as a Profession
T for National Customer Service Week. T with green graph
Thursday
Driving Sustainable Growth
Friday
Service Recognition Day

National Customer Service Week is a week-long opportunity to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays in successful business practice and the growth of the UK economy.

NCSW 2023 themes include:
  • Monday: The Future of AI
  • Tuesday: Service with Respect Day
  • Wednesday: Customer Service as a Profession
  • Thursday: Driving Sustainable Growth
  • Friday: Service Recognition Day

Monday 2nd October – The Future of AI:

We started this year’s National Customer Service Week by discussing the future of AI. Whilst AI has the potential to revolutionise the way we interact with customers, challenges arise when deployed as an alternative to human skills. We discussed the future role of AI as well as the ethical and social challenges governing AI-powered systems.

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Tuesday 3rd October – Service with Respect Day

Tuesday was Service with Respect Day. The cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on how customers treat frontline workers: join us in supporting our vital campaign and celebrating the change in legislation to protect all teams from abuse.

  • Support the campaign: anyone can pledge their support – join us in supporting the campaign if you haven’t already and spread the word to friends and family
  • Service with Respect Merchandise: get your Service with Respect pack to display your commitment and support your people against hostility and abuse.
  • Watch our latest Service with Respect video, where our CEO discusses the importance of this vital campaign and the change in legislation. Find out more about the impact of the campaign so far as well as the latest findings on abuse against customer-facing staff.
  • Read the latest guidance on body worn cameras and other technology from the Information Commissioner’s Office: if you’re considering using body worn cameras or other technology to help protect your staff and your business, it’s important to think about data protection from the very start. The ICO, which is a member of The Institute and supporter of our Service with Respect campaign, has released this guidance to help retailers build public trust and realise the benefits of the options available to them
  • Raising awareness: run a survey or hold a meeting with your customer-facing workers to openly discuss challenging customer interactions and encourage them to report incidents in the future
  • Support your frontline people: we have a range of workshops and courses designed to help your people deal with challenging situations and customer vulnerability with confidence
  • Spread the word: launch a dedicated social media campaign to spread awareness about abuse towards frontline staff. Encourage your teams to share stories, messages of support, and ways to help combat this issue
  • New legislation now in effect: find out more about the new legislation, display the campaign logo on your website and download our campaign resources, including social cards, pre-recorded phone scripts, email copy etc.
  • CEO Blogs & Statements: check out some of our articles on the importance of this campaign and some of the achievements accomplished so far, as well as Service with Respect in the news

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Wednesday 4th October – Customer Service as a Profession

On Wednesday, we assessed how customer service has evolved as a profession and discussed how to build recognition of service as a valued career and profession, with a significant voice and position in the boardroom.

  • Breakthrough Research: We recently launched our Breakthrough Research ‘Building the Service Nation: Changing Perceptions about the Profession of Customer Service’. The report gives an insight into the extent to which customer service is seen as a profession with defined skills, standards and career pathways, and how professional development is evaluated and supported. You can download the research here and rewatch the launch webinar if you missed it
  • Similarly, our ‘Leading by Example’ Breakthrough Research examines how values-based leaders will shape the future of customer service and includes perspectives from Senior Executives, frontline employees, Customer Service Managers and Team Leaders
  • Webinar session: our ‘Customer Service Skills Now and for the Future webinar session gave an insight into improving your service skills, competences and effectiveness whilst increasing your impact on your organisation’s performance.
  • Academy training & qualifications: register for our new Academy Workshop on Customer Service Root Cause Analysis and our ServiceFocus suite of training courses to support your professional development. Our Professional Qualifications will also help your teams develop a set of transferable skills and behaviours to improve business performance
  • Organise shadowing programmes: interested colleagues can spend a day shadowing customer service representatives – this firsthand experience will give them a taste of the day to day responsibilities and challenges faced in the field
  • Download our APPG minutes: the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Customer Service raises awareness of customer service amongst parliamentarians and establishes a dialogue with UK organisations across sectors. During one of our latest meetings, we discussed how to tackle skills shortages through professionalising customer service – download the minutes here
  • CEO Blog and CEO Statements: check out some of our posts on the importance of training and upskilling your teams, such as More than a summer job: Service as a Profession, ‘Invest now in the skills we need for the future’, ‘Let’s see some true service leadership’, or ‘Giving careers in service the respect they deserve’

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Thursday 5th October – Driving Sustainable Growth

Organisations need to consider the impact of their business practices on the environment, society, and the economy. On Thursday, we discussed the link between sustainable growth and long-term success.

  • Attend our Annual Conference 2024 – The Service Nation: Building a Thriving Future. You will hear from renowned speakers and thought leaders discussing emerging trends and best practice. You will also gain an insight into the evolving role of customer service and its potential for future growth – book your place here
  • Download our Service Experience Model: founded on five inter-dependent financial and reputational outcomes, our interactive model focuses on enhancing each of these elements in relevant and sustainable ways. Use the model to diagnose current performance, identify areas for improvement and set meaningful strategies for service development and sustainable delivery
  • Watch our member interview with Helen Luty, Customer Experience Manager at Landmark. Helen will talk about the journey her team embarked on to gain the ServiceMark accreditation and the impact it has had so far.
  •  Reshape your service strategy: benchmark your organisation against the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) Measure your customer satisfaction, identify your strengths and areas for development, and benchmark your performance with other organisations either in or outside your sector. Use the findings to develop a sustainability action plan
  • Measure your employee engagement: assess your employees’ view of how your strategy, culture and processes enable your organisation to deliver world class customer service. Members can survey their staff by using our redesigned employee engagement tool, ServCheck.
  • Breakthrough Research: our research has proved that organisations with higher customer satisfaction than their sector average have achieved stronger turnover growth. Download our latest report on ‘The Customer Service Dividend Revisited’ to find out more about the relationship between satisfaction and financial performance. Our recent Breakthrough Research report on Governance will also give you an insight into the extent to which the customer perspective is present in the boardroom and in corporate governance
  • Engage with all stakeholders: reach out to customers, employees, investors, and local communities to understand their sustainability expectations and concerns. Seek their input and involve them in decision-making processes to ensure alignment and foster a sense of shared responsibility
  • CEO Blogs and Statements: check out some of our CEO blogs and statements on this topic, including ‘The ROI of the service agenda is clear – and we need to keep getting the message across‘, ‘Time to move the dial on growth’, ‘Building the four pillars of a Service Nation’, ‘Coming together to define our Service Nation’ or ‘Running to stand still? Businesses need to find a way to move forwards’

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Friday 6th October – Service Recognition Day

It’s time to recognise your Service heroes: Friday was all about celebrating those people that have succeeded through adversity and made a significant impact on your customers.

  • Wall of fame: ask your colleagues to vote for their Customer Service Hero in your organisation and share your winners on LinkedIn and Twitter from 8am to 4pm on 6th October using the hashtag #cshero. Remember to give an example of their achievements, and we will then pick an overall winner for the day – good luck!
  • UK Customer Satisfaction Awards: start preparing for the Institute’s Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024 – during our UK Customer Satisfaction Awards webinar, we shared some top tips on writing winning award entries and heard from some of our previous winners. Have a look at the Award categories, download the Awards Criteria and check out our written Top Tips for your awards submissions. Deadline: 16 Oct, 2023
  • Appreciation messages: encourage customers, colleagues, and managers to submit appreciation messages for exceptional customer service representatives. Compile these messages into a digital or physical “wall of appreciation” that can be displayed in common areas or shared online!
  • Remember your remote teams: show your remote workers that Customer Service Week is about them, too. Surprise them and send rewards to their homes as a gesture of gratitude for their hard work – don’t forget to check out our NCSW shop!
  • Recognition ceremony: host a special ceremony or event to recognise outstanding customer service representatives. Present awards or certificates to individuals who have consistently delivered exceptional service and gone above and beyond to satisfy customers. Invite senior management, colleagues, and customers to attend and show their appreciation
  • External Recognition: consider taking the celebration outside of your organisation by letting your customers know about some of the people “behind the scenes” who deliver the service and support they need
  • Customer Focus Magazine: read our articles ‘Building Customer Service Success’ (Issue 31) and ‘Why Future Service Winners Have To Be Innovators’ (Issue 28). Remember to download the latest issue 39 ‘The Service Revolution – A Celebration of Excellence in Service’– here!

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In 2023, we once again celebrated customer service during the first week of October with a series of themes. Thanks to everyone who shared their activities with us!

We have collated some of the highlights below. We are sorry if you have not been featured, we had too many submissions to include them all.

We hope you enjoyed the week and we look forward to seeing your efforts in 2024!

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Please remember to follow us and tag us in your social media posts with the hashtag #NCSW2023

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