The Institute of Customer Service has announced that Marks & Spencer has successfully achieved the Institute's TrainingMark accreditation for its customer service training programmes.
TrainingMark is the standard set by the Institute of Customer Service for company training programmes. Achieving TrainingMark demonstrates a commitment to delivering excellent customer service in all areas of the business through high quality training.
Marks & Spencer runs one of the UK's biggest retail customer service training programmes, 50,000 store colleagues covering full-time and part-time staff and managers.
Jo Moran, Head of Head of Customer Service for Marks & Spencer explains why TrainingMark is a key element of Marks & Spencer's customer service strategy:
“At Marks & Spencer, we differentiate ourselves through excellent customer relationships and service. To deliver this, it's essential that our people receive the highest standards of customer service training. TrainingMark accreditation provides independent assessment and benchmarking of our training programmes to ensure that our employees are equipped to provide the excellent levels of service our customers expect.
Jo Causon, Chief Executive of the Institute of Customer Service comments:
“Accreditation by the UK's professional body for customer service is a valuable endorsement of an employer's internal training. It's a powerful statement for any organisation to make to its customers, employees and
competitors because it demonstrates an unwavering commitment to deliver customer service of the highest quality.”
Notes for editors
About TrainingMark
TrainingMark is an accreditation of company training programmes which is assessed by the Institute of Customer Service. It is awarded to businesses and organisations that meet rigorous standards on customer service and demonstrate that their own training courses meet national standards for service professionals.
Accreditation is a valuable independent endorsement that companies' own training courses are of the highest quality – offering them a competitive edge over rivals.
TrainingMark accreditation is designed for:
- large organisations with established customer service or contact centre training courses
- organisations developing large-scale internal customer service or contact centre courses
- specialist service providers delivering many customer service training events.
The benefits of accreditation include:
- customer service development programmes are formally recognised and accredited by the UK's customer service professional body
- organisations receive independent measurement and feedback on their training courses
- service training initiatives can be tailored to the organisation's needs while being measured against national standards
- independent recognition of their professionalism increases individual motivation, job satisfaction and commitment
- people completing high-quality training are better placed to deliver improved service – this increases customer satisfaction, loyalty, bottom line performance and profitability.
About the Institute of Customer Service
The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) is the UK's independent, professional body for customer service. Its purpose is to enable organisations to achieve tangible business benefits through excellent customer service aligned to their business goals; and to help individuals to maximise their career potential and employability by developing their customer service skills.
The Institute has almost 400 organisational members across sectors including Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Boots, British Gas, Birmingham City Council, Vodafone, Simplyhealth, and over 3,000 individual members.
Members benefit from a range of services including:
- Research and reports on the latest customer service trends and thinking, including the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI)
- Benchmarking capabilities against other organisations
- Diagnostic tools to identify areas for improvement by surveying customers and employees
- Training and accreditation programmes for customer service professionals
- Professional qualifications for individual members at all stages of their career
For more information about the Institute of Customer Service or TrainingMark visit http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/
For More Information contact: Brian Weston
Email [email protected]
Telephone 01206216180 Mobile 07585 603446
Fax 01206 546688
ENDS
2012 Sustainability Corporate