A year of hard work and innovation has seen Sutton Council’s Customer Services team retain their excellent rating for the 16th year running.
The Customer Service Excellence standard, which is monitored by the Cabinet Office, checks that services meet the Five Es – efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering – and always put residents’ needs first.
Following this year’s assessment, London Borough of Sutton – Customer Service were found to “have a deep understanding of, and commitment to, customer service excellence. The commitment was displayed from senior management levels through to operations and front-line staff.”
The last twelve months has seen big changes for the Sutton Council’s customer service team with workers now deployed as floorwalkers and greeters to help customers take greater control of their queries. A complete re-development of the main reception area has also taken place, now offering a business zone where customers can now engage in preparation and processing of their transactions, where before the space was effectively a waiting area.
Cllr Colin Hall, Deputy Leader of the Council, said:
“The main reception staff are the first point of contact for over 160,000 people per year, all with vastly differing needs. It is a fantastic tribute to the hard work and professionalism of everyone involved that for the 16th year running Sutton Council’s customer service team has been rated as providing an excellent service.”
The assessor highlighted several areas of good practice including:
- The product knowledge of all customers facing staff was extremely impressive
- Customer service are alert to all imminent developments across the services they offer and are already looking to ways they might assist in developments, such as individual voter registration and the renewal of Freedom Passes in 2015
- Members of the Customer Focus Group were fully involved in consultations over the remodelling of the reception area and the introduction of the new telephone system
- The provision of large digit telephones and a “dementia friendly” layout and colour scheme for the remodelled area demonstrates your awareness of customer needs
- You work with a wide range of complementary partner organisations and have allocated space in the remodelled reception area for the Family Information Service, Department of Work and Pensions, Citizens Advice Bureau and the local Credit Union so that customers access their services on the same site