--KATHLEEN PETERSON
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE IMAGES
FROM THE INDUSTRY
In discussing what we think would make impactful stories to tell about Customer Service Week celebrations, we thought it only appropriate to ask our colleagues who have spent lots of time in many organizations, across industries and sizes, to share with us their perspectives.
They have spent much time consulting, training, managing and investigating the processes to see what makes good contact centers great. They have seen various work cultures and people processes in their work and share what makes a difference in our celebration efforts to have a lasting impact.
CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK IS OUR ANNUAL REMINDER THAT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A TEAM SPORT— PLAN IT, FUND IT, AND STAFF IT SO EVERYONE CAN TAKE PART.
--KATHLEEN PETERSON
KATHLEEN M. PETERSON
CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK: BEYOND THE GIMMICKS
1984 wasn’ t just the title of a fascinating book— it was also the year the International Customer Service Association( ICSA) launched Customer Service Week( CSW) to highlight the vital role of customer service professionals and foster stronger customer relationships. In 1992, the U. S. Congress made it official, designating the first full week of October as“ National Customer Service Week.” This recognition underscored what we already knew: organizations with excellent customer service consistently perform better across multiple measures.
The contact center quickly embraced the celebration, and for decades has carried the CSW banner with varying levels of enthusiasm. But somewhere along the way, the scope narrowed. What began as an enterprise-wide recognition of customer service has, in many organizations, been reduced to a contact center-only affair. That shrinking purview reflects a larger challenge— the operational, organizational, and even emotional isolation of customer service.
4 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE