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Home > News Extra> Innovate, Design & Operate
Pair pioneer new online training
Thursday July 10th 2008. Posted: 09:50
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Star performers Susan Willshee and Brian Virtue, with Stephanie Edwards
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BT customer service professionals Brian Virtue and Susan Wilshee don’t just ‘talk the talk’ when it comes to their commitment to improvement, they truly ‘walk the walk’ as well.
Both volunteered to join a new innovative, tutor-led, online training course for customer service professionals and were recently presented with their certificates, recognising them as the first people in the company to be trained to such a high standard in customer service. The course - run by Customer 1st International - is the first accredited, tutor-led, learning programme for customer service professionals to be developed in the UK. Brian - from BT Operate - and Susan - from BT Wholesale - joined the launch programme to assess whether the programme could support their own people. On the course they teamed up with 18 other students, including two from the United Arab Emirates, four from Singapore and two from Africa. The pair’s online tutor was Adele Cooke, who has held a number of senior positions within BT. She said: “I was able to help participants think about their own roles and responsibilities towards their customers and to share best practice through the online forums. “We had fun discussing real-world customer service issues such as the Terminal Five situation at Heathrow, how it could have been avoided and what the service recovery should have looked like. The forums also allowed me to customise the programme for participants, talking through topical issues and problems that occur in their own working environments.” And it was this customisation that Brian really appreciated, saying: “I found the other participants had some very thought-provoking comments and the online tutor really did make you think about some of the scenarios she posed.” Susan added: “Many courses aim at the very basics of customer service, however this one went much further and delved into the changes that could be made to bring about improvements. The main benefits were in prompting you to consider the organisation’s objectives, strategy, people and processes. “I would definitely recommend this course to my BT colleagues. It is an excellent course for people in a position to make a difference to organisation strategy.” Stephanie Edwards, managing director of Customer 1st International, said: “World-class service organisations are dedicated to a culture of continuous improvement to meet rising customer expectations and increased competition. “New recruits joining organisations in the next few years will expect to use e-learning for training and development. We have created two online courses that offer organisations a cost-effective solution for developing their people which is both flexible and also meets the global needs of businesses today.” To find out more about Customer 1st International and its second programme, The Award for Customer Service Managers which is being launched this month, go online.
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Last updated:
11:55