Award wins, human interactions and the importance of great customer service in communications
On Thursday 23rd June, dozens of the Thames Valley region’s most promising businesses came together at The Hilton Hotel, Reading to celebrate the achievements of the past year. Hosted by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Business Awards was an evening of celebration, not just for the awards themselves but to also to be together and celebrate together. Although the COVID lockdowns are hopefully behind us now, it’s only in the last few months that large business events have restarted. It’s at events like these that you realise how important human interaction is and that communication technology is only a small part of how we love to communicate and interact.
Positively outrageous service
That’s why we chose to sponsor the Excellence in Customer Service Award and were proud to present the award to the winners on the night: Moxy & Residence Inn Slough. What stood out for us in their entry was their focus on personality-driven recruitment, believing that happy and engaged staff translate into delighted guests. But of course, recruiting the right people is just the start, keeping them engaged and motivated is the real key to employee happiness and Moxy & Residence Inn achieve that through its award-winning company culture, creating an atmosphere where people feel supported, well-trained and can bring their full selves to work to deliver their trademark ‘positively outrageous service’!
An evening of celebration
We hosted a table with a few of our customers and the evening kicked off in the usual way – welcome drinks and opening speeches and then the unexpected happened – the waiters started singing and we were encouraged to start a Conga! It started slowly but grew at pace with strangers tapping each other on shoulders and weaving a longer and longer line through the tables. It was a great way to get people smiling and overcome barriers.
Chris Hollins, journalist, sports correspondent and Strictly Come Dancing winner joined us after dinner and held our attention with stories of the ups and downs of his career. A very funny, authentic and likeable character who stuck around for the rest of the evening chatting away to the local businesses with a sincere interest in what everyone was achieving.
Communications and customer service
So, as a communications technology provider, what can we learn from this night? Here are 5 things that we took away from the evening around communications and customer service:
Encourage colleagues to talk and share their experiences – they can learn from each other on how better to manage those customer queries
Always choose technology that’s easy for your colleagues to use and doesn’t detract from them being able to concentrate on the human interaction with your customers
Don’t shy away from having fun – either with colleagues or customers. A smile is a universal language and can break down barriers
Be interested – listening is a much more important skill than talking in any conversation or customer interaction
Everyone is human, whatever their role or position of power. Listen well and simply talk to them as a fellow human being.
We look forward to another promising year working with formidable businesses in the Thames Valley helping them find easier ways to communicate and connect with their customers and colleagues.
