ICS Qualifications

Qualifications for world class customer service delivery

Qualifications for world class customer service delivery

This animation, from the Institute of Customer Service, outlines how it’s qualifications enhance professional development and skills for customer service professionals.

Script

Seventy per cent of the UK’s workforce are in customer-facing roles, making customer service a major differentiator for organisations in every sector.

While more than half the UK’s employees believe they are incentivised to provide good customer service, four out of ten think their organisation should build a more focused strategy for dealing with customers and improve staff development.

The Institute of Customer Service delivers a range of qualifications that support and enhance professional development and skills for customer service professionals.

Individuals benefit by building and maintaining transferable skills, while organisations benefit through improved staff motivation and bottom-line performance.

Our qualifications are open to all member organisation employees, are relevant to all job roles and are delivered in a modular, progressive, non-hierarchical way.

That flexibility means the scheme complements existing training and development processes that might be in place.

Performance is assessed through the collection of evidence against a set of criteria, which are based on the National Occupational Standards for Customer Service and the Institute’s own Professional Standards.

There are four qualifications in the Institute’s suite:

Communications – covering essential skills for those dealing with customers, or those managing and leading customer service organisations

Solutions – aimed at identifying, creating and providing solutions for improvements to customer service

Innovations – aimed at providing, proving and implementing improvements to customer service to achieve tangible results

And finally, Customer Service Coach – aimed at those who coach individuals taking other qualifications or work in a customer service environment

Each qualification covers four main areas ensuring practitioners are considering customers,   
colleagues, the organisation and their own personal development.

Membership of the Institute entitles you to the support, knowledge and training needed to successfully implement a qualifications programme within your organisation. Additional costs for practitioners are competitive, with completion of single qualifications taking 3-6 months.

To set up a qualifications programme, you would need to nominate a Qualifications Programme Manager from within your organisation.

They would work with your Account Director to establish an implementation plan and then coordinate the programme on a day-to-day basis.

Organisations can work towards becoming Approved Centre accredited, which signifies that you are operating the Institute’s professional qualifications framework in accordance with our requirements and quality assurance.

It also allows you to conduct a higher percentage of assessments via internal accredited assessors.

Employees who successfully complete a professional qualification are entitled to become individual members of the Institute, enabling them to enjoy the wide range of knowledge and professional resource materials membership brings.

And you will have a more motivated and engaged workforce who will bring the performance benefits associated with world class customer service delivery.

To find out more, visit our website.