Bury College actively took part in National Customer Service week (4th-8th Oct) by participating in a range of activities.
Bury College Business Solutions offered taster courses in Customer Service to Bury MBC. Members of staff from the following departments at Bury Council took part: Contact Centre (including Revenues and Benefits and Adult Care Services), Front of House Customer Engagement Team, Benefits, Revenues, Service Development (IT), Collections and Fraud, Administration Team.
The training was delivered in two half hour sessions on Monday 4th October, which focussed on handling difficult customers and handling complaints positively. Customer Service training was tailored to deal with issues specific to job roles at Bury MBC. Clare Nolan, Customer Service Advisor said, “This was a good refresher course, which gave me knowledge to assist me in my new job role within the council.”
Many companies have benefitted from Customer Service training with Bury College Business Solutions. Recognising the benefits training brings, Site Electrical have trained five employees to NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service and two members of staff to Level 3. Zoe Janicki who completed the Level 2 qualification said, “This course has greatly improved my confidence with customers and work colleagues. The NVQ is a step in my own development and has given me the chance to progress to higher level courses. In the future I aim to use my qualification to progress within the company.”
HR Manager Tracey Finney said, “The customer service training has benefited our business as a whole and our employees as individuals. It has reinforced employees understanding of the importance of good customer service and how this contributes towards the overall success of the company. They now have the underpinning knowledge to identify potential areas for improvement and can make well informed decisions based on their training. In these challenging times excellent customer service is vital in giving us a competitive edge.”
Amanda Wheeldon Customer Excellence Team Leader, Client Care Department at Northgate Arinso Employer Services added, “We have recently had a number of our existing staff from our Client Care team complete both NVQ2 and NVQ3 in Customer Service and this has helped them gain a better understanding of client care to both internal and external customers and improved communication. We have now taken on a school leaver who is currently studying for her NVQ2 Customer Service and the support which Bury College provide, along with our internal training, is helping her build confidence and gain the experience she requires to develop her career. We are very pleased with progress and support from Bury College, and we have now recruited further Apprentices via Bury College in various departments within the business.”
In addition to business training, Bury College held promotional days this week to gain feedback on the customer service offered at the College reception, cash office, call centre and guidance. Students and staff completed feedback questionnaires and had the opportunity to make suggestions on how the college could improve its service. Paula Klusiastis, Customer Service Co-ordinator at the College said, "Holding the Customer Services promotional days has been very exciting for us. We have received some very positive feedback, which will be taken and used to help improve services we offer to all. We have also received some lovely feedback verbally which has helped boost morale for all Customer Service staff." The College have also been able to offer Customer Service Apprentice Helena Palk a permanent contract as Customer Services Assistant.
If you would like to know more about how Customer Service training can help your business, please contact Bury College Business Solutions on 0161 765 3650.
