And the Gold medal for Customer Service Excellence goes to...

Following discussion in the previous blog entry, the UK has spent the years fretting over London’s preparedness to meet customer service expectations (Institute of Customer Service, 2010). However, having spent the past couple of weeks glued to the TV set watching the finest athletes from around the world take centre stage, the 2012 Games have been hailed as an overwhelming success throughout the UK and indeed from all over the world. However some individuals deserve a particular thank you for going that extra mile.

"An organisation’s success is dependent upon the quality of service delivered to its customers. In today’s market, this means providing an exceptional service at all points of interaction with the customer.”

In this case, the ‘organisation’ was London and the UK, and the customers, tourists from all over the world. Equally, ‘at all points of interaction’ in this case has been everything from hotels, to the transport system to the Olympic event itself. Accordingly, introducing the unsung heroes of the Olympics, delivering unequivocally British customer service excellence:

·         The Army – After the ‘humiliating shambles’ that was G4S Security, HM Armed Forces stepped in to fill the embarrassing void. The Army’s presence was met with a warm public reception as they performed security checks with integrity and efficiency

·         The Police – Smiling in photos with the public and keeping London safe

·         The thousands of Games Volunteers - Bringing a cheeriness money can’t buy to the Games with their big foam fingers

·         The Hyde Park Live Staff – Going the extra mile to deliver exceptional customer service to visitors, one security official directing people learnt “Please stand in this line and have your bags open ready for it to be searched, thank you” in 6 languages especially for the Games

·         The Cleaners – The Olympic venues have been praised for being exceptionally clean which has undoubtedly had a profound effect on the overall customer experience of visitors

·         The Transport Network – Employees dealing with everything from lost tourists to lost Olympic tickets and one tube conductor in particular kept the early morning commuters smiling:

@SmashBri : Station announcer at Victoria Station: "Train is ready to depart, on your marks, get set, go!" #GoodBanter #London2012 #Olympics

@mossy99 : Love the guy on the platform at Victoria station welcoming people to #london2012 and telling trains to get on their marks, get set and go

@LorenNaish: Loving #VictoriaStation tube platform announcer & Team Jamaica fan: "Driver, on your marks, get set... & go, like Usain Bolt" :) #London2012

So that your business can draw on the momentum of these fantastic Olympic Customer Service examples, find out more about the Customer Service training we can offer here. Or for more details please contact us on 0800 022 3410 or email us with your query: enquiries@capita-ld.co.uk