Colleges Offered Customer First Standard Accreditation

As national Customer Service Week draws to a close Stefan Drew Associates are challenging the UK education sector to use customer service as a tool to reduce front and back office costs.

With SFA CEO Geoff Russell recommending providers to take action to reduce front and back office costs and preserve the sector in financially challenging times Stefan Drew Associates are challenging the sector to recognise how improving customer service can help improve business processes, reduce costs and offer them national accreditation.

Stefan Drew said:

“Resources are tight and the situation will not improve in the near future. This means the sector needs to look at reducing its costs and improve efficiencies in a number of different ways.

"In a similar way to how IIP accredits against the internal HR function, Putting the Customer First, the national customer service standard will help providers determine how they perform against 30 standards in areas like maximising market awareness, building customer relationships and developing people.

"The process isn’t driven by huge portfolios of evidence and the advantages include improved customer loyalty, competitive differentiation, improved services and cost reduction."

Drew added:

“A number of the more astute providers, colleges and universities already have approved status and have seen the benefits. We are now challenging the rest of the sector to recognise the need. It is clear that those that don’t take action of some sort could become 'financially inadequate' and if the sector as a whole doesn’t respond to the challenges it faces the SFA may be compelled to take action. We believe customer service accreditation is one of the steps the sector needs to take if it is to satisfy the need for adequate provision across the sector.”

Source: Info: www.customerfirst.org / www.stefandrew.com.
 

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