For the 1 in 3 of us across that country that owns a Premium Bond, we can be reassured that the customer service on offer will be at a premium itself.

As a CCA Standard© bearer for many years, NS&I can be confident of the service it delivers to customers knowing that it has been externally assessed against the key principles of best practice.

NS&I is a government department and Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and exists to bring in cost effective debt financing through their range of popular retail savings products, including Premium Bonds. From the 2006-7 of the Public Sector Service Transformation Review (also known as the Varney Review), a key recommendation was that all public sector contact centres (whether outsourced or not) should have some form of accreditation. For NS&I, their journey with CCA Global Standard© began and they are still on it today.

 

The importance of partnerships

Working in partnership with Atos, the Standard has helped NS&I provide consistency in approach between sites as well as identifying gaps and weaknesses that can be addressed in a continual improvement approach.

Colin Ross, Head of Digital Operations Assurance at NS&I said, “Accreditation is all about best practice. It sets the benchmark in terms of what contact centres should have in place and it has given us increased confidence. We know our policies and procedures are appropriate and relevant, and we know we’re compliant with the Service Transformation Review.

“Global Standard© underpins a closer and more collaborative relationship with Atos. We have a strong partnership ethos and we’re very clear about what constitutes best practice, and what we need to achieve together. We work closely as a team – especially in regard to accreditation – with tightly aligned objectives.”

“Accreditation has been a positive catalyst for change too, reinforcing a sense of enterprise-wide collaboration, collective activity and organisational self-worth. All this means we can be justifiably proud of our contact centres.”

 

Questioning the why?

Anne Marie Forsyth, CEO, CCA commented, “Having the confidence and reassurance of sound practices at the core of your service operation is critical for success. Knowing that you have external validation and are utilising it to continually improve what you offer to customers by way of service, offers immeasurable value.

“Good practice is all about questioning the ‘why’ – it’s not just about a point in time. Putting into practice those habits to question what you do, why you do it and how you do it, whilst putting the customer at the centre of that thinking, can only help organisations improve and succeed.”

CCA Global Standard© is both an opportunity and a challenge for all customer service operations. If you haven't looked at it recently why not get a copy of the latest update sent to you? Contact the Team and view more info here.