The Important Role of Customer Service

This week is National Customer Service Week, and it’s more important than ever this year given the landscape we’ve been working in over the past 18 months. The week is an opportunity to raise awareness of the vital role customer service plays in successful business practice and economic growth in the UK, and I’m proud of the hard work our people have put in over a particularly busy and challenging period.

Friday’s theme is recognition, which is all about identifying and celebrating those people that have succeeded through adversity and made a significant impact that has benefited our customers. We’ve seen first-hand just how impactful our employees have been in delivering quality customer service over the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how important it has been for our customers and clients to keep receiving our services across the UK.

This year we have been looking at how we can further strengthen our culture and ensure our customer teams feel supported to deal with changing customer expectations and behaviours. We have developed a brand-new customer care training programme that focuses on helping frontline staff to identify and anticipate customer needs.

We know that communication is key – between MSPS as a business, our employees and our customers. To operate effectively we all have a role to play in listening to each other, being accountable, and showing respect and understanding.

Our Rant and Rave customer engagement and feedback tool has proven just how hard our people have been working to deliver our services. The platform works by triggering a short survey to residents at key points in the repair service journey, by text or email. It uses intelligent technology to capture the real essence of the feedback.

The insights not only help us to identify areas for improvement and react quickly to any issues that emerge, but also to reward and empower our people. The tool also supports our customer-focused behaviours: putting our customers first, doing the right thing, being passionate about what we do, growing together and striving to be sustainable.

I’m confident with the support from all our fantastic employees, we will continue to deliver quality service to our customers and clients.

Natasha Kyriakou, Customer and Communications Director