ServiceMark

instituteofcustomerservice.com

ServiceMarkthe standard for strategic excellence

05591 ICS 1 ServiceMark v6.indd 1 17/07/2012 10:18

ServiceMark

2 3

ServiceMark is the National Customer Service Standard from the Institute of Customer Service. It is an organisational accreditation scheme achieved through a combination of online diagnostics, analysis and actions followed by assessment through independent site visits. It is an opportunity for organisations, whatever their size or position in the market, to develop service capability and demonstrate their commitment to delivering excellent customer service.

Model for World-Class Service

The basis for many of the Institutes resources is based around evidence that world-class customer service delivery has to embrace three areas or dimensions of an organisation:

• Strategy and culture

• People

• Processes

The elements are inter-related and must be integrated, updated and constantly reviewed to meet the needs of your organisation, your customers, your stakeholders and the changing competitive or financial environment.

The requirements of the Institute’s model apply equally to large and small organisations in the public, private or third sectors whether the delivery channel is traditional or e-service.

The three Dimensions are split into six Elements which are defined as principles and not as rigid operational practices because it is recognised that other factors help to determine how any organisation implements the Institute’s Model and brings it to life.


3


Improving service levels brings several key benefits:

• opportunity to develop service capability

• demonstrate commitment to customer service

• increase profitability (or more efficient resource productivity)

• improve customer retention reducing the cost to serve per customer

• increase customer referrals and advocacy

• staff satisfaction improvements

• reduce staff turnover

• the opportunity to display the ServiceMark logo declaring that the national customer service standard has been met and that the organisation is committed to delivering ongoing service excellence.

Commitment

Service quality is a key corporate value, with associated goals, action programmes, measurement and top-level accountabilities

Creativity

Continuous improvement and innovation are nurtured and encouraged to flourish

Consistency

Processes are designed from a customer’s viewpoint and are consistently delivered

Capability

People are recruited and

developed against competencies that

give high priority to customer-

focused attitudes

Continuity

Retention, reward and recognition strategies focus on

world-class service delivery

Credibility

Promises are kept and superb service recovery systems are in place

World Class Customer Service

Reputation Performance

Growth Profitability

Trust

ServiceMark™ accredited

Strat

egy & Culture

People

Pro

ce sses

Commitm

ent CredibilityCapability

Continuit

yConsistency

Crea

tivi

ty


ServCheck UKCSI Business Benchmarking / or

Re-accreditation

Achieving and Maintaining ServiceMark

• meet a minimum benchmark score of 65 from the Institutes ServCheck online ‘internal diagnostics’ tool and develop appropriate action planning based on the results

• meet a minimum benchmark score of 65 from either the Institute’s UKCSI Business Benchmarking or your own source of survey (which will be subject to specific criteria) and develop appropriate action plans based on the results

• satisfy an independent Institute ServiceMark assessor to include:

o pre-assessment of the ServCheck and UKCSI results and associated action plans

o on-site assessment visit, interviews with selected employees

o assessment of action plans, evidence that actions have been progressed and where possible that some actions have been completed

• following accreditation the ongoing commitment to ServiceMark must be measured during the three year accreditation period which starts from the date of the assessment report. If this measurement is not undertaken the ServiceMark accreditation will be withdrawn. As the accredited organisation you should complete the following:

o re-visit the ServCheck and customer satisfaction measurement diagnostics surveys at least once during the second year of the accreditation period and provide survey results to the Institute; local Account Directors will provide support to organisations where scores fall below the required level during the interim review to ensure continuity of progress for the re-accreditation process

o undertake the ServCheck survey, the customer satisfaction measurement survey and the assessment visits prior to the third year anniversary to maintain the ServiceMark accreditation.

ServiceMark

4 5

Assessment visit

Interim review

Accreditation

Action Plans to be sent to the Institute with copies of CSM data

prior to assessment

Results reports

CustomerSatisfaction

Measurement


• an example of a week by week guide to how ServiceMark should be achieved in 6 months.

5


Week 1 identify ServiceMark Co-ordinator

complete application process

co-ordinator receives confirmation of ServCheck

application and link for distribution via

email to staff

receive portal link from research agency

and upload customer email addresses

co-ordinator receives daily updates of

ServCheck progressview UKCSI progress link

for customer response consider boosting response numbers

email received from the ServCheck system when

the required number of responses has been achieved - view reports

UKCSI responses complete - co-ordinator

receives results from the Institute of Customer

Service

share ServCheck results and action plans with

appropriate teams in the business

use ServCheck benchmarking data to identify strengths and areas for development

send action plans to the Institute

use UKCSI results to develop action plans

the Institute will contact the assessors for the

final stages of the accreditation process

start to implement action plan items

independent assessor contacts the

co-ordinator to arrange the assessment visits

assessment visit(s)

assessor sends report to the Institute with

recommendation

the Institute contacts the co-ordinator with the final accreditation

decision

Week 2-3

Week 4

Week 5-8

Week 9-16

Week 17

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25


Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does it take to achieve ServiceMark?

The time to complete the process is dependent on efficient data collection, reviewing results, committing to action plans and the implementation of the action plans. A four month timescale is realistically achievable, however the maximum time for achievement is 6 months from the start of the surveys; the assessment must be in place to review the internal and external survey results no later than six months from the start date of the first survey, either the internal or external, whichever commences first.

2. When is my organisation likely to be ready for the ServiceMark assessment?

The starting point is that ServCheck and UKCSI Business Benchmarking results meet the ServiceMark benchmark score of at least 65 and each dimension of the ServCheck survey score is more than 60. All surveys used should be no more than 6 months old when action plans are submitted for assessment. Your organisation should be ready to provide tangible evidence to the assessors that improvement plans have been substantially implemented.

3. What happens when my organisation achieves ServiceMark?

The Service Administrator advises your organisation by email that the assessment has been achieved and will send a copy to the Account Director. You will be entered onto the ServiceMark register at which time you will be permitted to use the ServiceMark logo on your stationery and website. A dated plaque will be provided for the Account Director to present to your organisation.

4. Can my organisation obtain additional copies of the ServiceMark plaque?

Yes, additional plaques can be made available and are chargeable. Please refer to your Account Director for the current prices.

5. What is the minimum and maximum size of organisation that can undertake ServiceMark?

ServiceMark is available to all sizes of organisations with more than 20 employees; the accreditation is available with the component parts to facilitate multiple site organisations that wish to benchmark internally and identify ‘best practice’ within its own organisation.

6. Can our organisation undertake our own customer satisfaction survey and use the results as part of the ServiceMark accreditation?

Yes, your organisation’s own customer satisfaction measurement is acceptable for the ServiceMark accreditation and this fits with the Institute’s philosophy of not imposing additional frameworks in place of the organisation’s own.

It would need to be of equivalent rigour and approved by the institute; it will be considered as acceptable for ServiceMark providing it satisfies the following criteria:

• the survey methodology meets Market Research Society guidelines (see www.mrs.org.uk)

• the survey questions are based on the researched service priorities of the organisation’s customers which are reviewed at least every four years

• the survey questions are rated on a minimum 7-point and preferably on a 10-point numerical scale

• the survey achieves a response of at least 100

• the targeted audience is chosen randomly

• the respondents are representative of the customer base

• the survey is repeated at least annually

• an overall score must be calculated using the weighted scores to each of the questions.

7. What happens if we don’t complete the surveys during the second year of accreditation?

The ServiceMark accreditation will be withdrawn.

ServiceMark

6 7


7



contact us at:Institute of Customer Service2 Castle Court, St Peter’s Street,Colchester, Essex CO1 1 EW

01206 571 [email protected]


ServiceMark

Documents

Transcript of ServiceMark