Isos Housing is hitting the mark when it comes to delivering first-class customer service.
For the North-East based not-for-profit housing association has – once again – achieved ServiceMark accreditation from the nationally recognised Institute of Customer Service.
The accreditation, which Isos will hold until May 2019, underlines the company’s current high standards of customer service and its commitment to improving the customer experience.
Group executive director for Customers and Communities, Tina Drury, said: “Good customer service is about being responsive to customers’ needs, but excellent customer service is about putting them at the heart of everything we do – and that’s what this accreditation recognises.
“During assessment our customer focused attitude and the way our staff continually work towards improving that level of service, came across loud and clear – I’m delighted we’ve retained this accreditation.”
To achieve re-accreditation Isos carried out a comprehensive customer survey to benchmark overall satisfaction with the company, identify any areas that needed improvement and establish how the company compares to its competitors.
An online survey of staff to assess their view of the company’s strategy, culture and processes was also completed prior to a four-day on-site assessment. This involved over 40 members of staff who were interviewed about all aspects of customer service – from problem solving to professionalism and the five ‘C’s of credibility, capability, continuity, consistency and creativity.
Isos scored particularly highly when it came to professionalism, with the assessor noting just how enthusiastic and open staff are when interacting with customers.
Major strengths, too, were how willing staff are to resolve customer issues, the company’s customer focused attitude and how the “channel choice” Isos offers across social media is effectively and efficiently coupled with more traditional methods of communicating with customers.
In summing up the ICS assessor praised the “extremely helpful, friendly, professional” attitude of all staff, adding there was a real eagerness for Isos to “maintain a world-class customer service, to retain ServiceMark accreditation and to continue its strong focus and culture of continuous improvement.”
Group assistant director for Customers and Communities, Richard Tate, said: “The accreditation validates the hard work of all staff in continuing to improve customer service across the organisation whilst also providing a framework to help us improve even further.”
CEO of the Institute of Customer Service, Jo Causon, said: “By achieving accreditation again Isos is demonstrating the importance of a well thought out customer service strategy and how it can positively affect the bottom line.
“By striving for ServiceMark Isos is also revealing a commitment to continuously improve customer service standards and constantly evolve plans for service improvement.”