UK Customer Experience Awards: FAQs

FAQs

Can I get advice other than the benchmark report?

There are a number of additional sources of help:

White papers exploring topics of relevance to delivering great customer experience.
The write ups of previous winners.
Advice and guidance from our sponsors, all of which are actively involved in some aspect of helping companies improve their customer experiences.

How are entries assessed?

The self-assessment scores that you enter are processed by software (operated by ClickTools) where cross-checks, weightings and other factors are applied. The assessors then review each entry, focusing on the supporting evidence. Assessors are swayed by the quality of evidence and not the quantity! Based on this review, the assessors rate each vector in your entry. The sum of these scores forms the basis of shortlisting.

How were the awards designed?

The model underlying the awards was first developed in 1989 following an international research project involving 3,000 companies from Europe, USA and Japan. One result of this research was a self-assessment questionnaire. This has been refined and developed subsequently with the suport of our academic sponsor, Henley.

What is the history of the awards?

The awards were first operated by Management Today in 1995. The following year, Unisys took over sponsorship and administration of the awards, building on their expertise in the area of service and customer focus. The self-assessment questionnaire was built by Dave Jackson based on a model he had developed several years earlier.

Two objectives have guided the Awards since their conception:

To identify and recognise those organisations operating in the UK, which are the industry leaders at serving customers.
To help organisations identify their strengths and weaknesses, and provide benchmarks and guidance to help them improve performance.

What makes for a successful site visit?

Assessors have two prime objectives on the visit. The first is to validate claims that have been made in the self-assessment. Assessors want to see, feel and touch the things that you have included in your self-assessment entry. The second is to identify additional evidence to support your case. We are impressed by data that proves a point, the attitude of people across the business and innovative ways of delivering great customer experiences.

Unsubstantiated claims, irrelevant issues and waffle do not impress. We ask that visits include an opportunity to meet staff within the business because they are so important in delivering service excellence.

To be fair to all finalists and to meet the travel requirements of assessors it is important that finalists stick to the time allotted.

What makes the difference between finalists and the winners?

In most cases the margin of difference between finalists and winners is small. There are however a number of characteristics that makes winners stand out:

Visible commitment and involvement in the daily creation of customer focus from the organisation’s senior leadership team.
Proven linkages between customer feedback and actions that produce measurable increases in customer loyalty.
The active and visible engagement of all staff in the organisation.
Evidence of how ‘thinking outside the box’ has made a difference to customers, staff and business results.
An extensive belief and trust in the ability of people demonstrated in the words and deeds of senior managers.
Demonstrable industry leading performance.
And, of course, evidence that customers value the experience you deliver!

Can you offer any guidance for new applicants?

This advice will help you to make the best possible case for your organisation:

Address all five areas of the Customer Experience Capability model. Make sure you address all questions as completely and as accurately as you can. The Assessors are looking for information that is relevant to your case: keep your entry focused.

Find the context in the question. We apply the same self-assessment questionnaire across all award categories. Inevitably, certain questions may seem less relevant to your organisation or industry sector than the rest. This is particularly common within Public Services and Not-for-Profit organisations, and Charities. Entrants are encouraged to interpret such questions within their own context. So for ‘Customer’, you might read ‘Citizen’; for ‘Profit’, you might read ‘Benefit’; for ‘Recommend’, you might read ‘Value’. Use the space provided to clarify your response to any question where your context is different.

‘If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.’ Assessors are well versed at spotting half-hearted entries. No one is going to bestow, or win a national award based on ten minutes work. Consider using a team to build your entry. This not only enriches the entry but also provides a great learning opportunity. Many entrants tell us how they identified areas for improvements just from compiling their entry.

Beware assumptions. Remember that the judges may not have any experience of your industry and will probably not have time to research around your submission. The Assessor’s work is more difficult if they are unable to understand your industry, product or market from the information you have included. Do not however include everything ever written about your organisation.

Get the basics right. Get someone to proof read your application for spelling and grammatical errors. It’s very difficult to spot your own mistakes especially in something you may have already rewritten a couple of times, and spell check can miss the occasional ‘spilling’ mistake!

Answer the question. Answer each question in full and don’t rely on information that you may have included in a previous answer; if it is relevant then cross-reference it. Keep your answer relevant – don’t waffle. The Assessors value clarity and succinctness. Information should only be included if it is essential to set the context of your organisation, or it illustrates your ability to deliver service excellence. A blank response will always catch the assessor’s eye.

Substantiate your claims. Many entries are long on rhetoric and short on evidence. Assessors look for statements that are backed up by specific, pertinent data. The assessment process is focused on identifying the evidence that supports your claim to service excellence. Where appropriate, we look for hard numbers and meaningful examples.

Honesty is the best policy; modesty is not. There is no point fabricating answers or making claims that you cannot substantiate. Having read over 1,000 entries, the Assessors can spot false claims easily. At the same time, don’t be afraid to sing your own praises wherever you can! This is your first and last chance to sell yourself.

Don’t leave it to the last minute. In previous years we have seen lots of rushed entries and requests for extensions to the deadline, which are always refused. The assessment is designed to make you think and that does take time. Remember, it takes longer to write something focused and succinct than it does waffle.