The Innovation of the Year 2018 award was won by Homeserve; an organisation centred on people and customers. In achieving commercial success and building community engagement, front-line teams re-connected with the organisation’s purpose, to rebuild trust. Marked out by judges as one of the best entries they’ve ever seen, this is a story everyone can learn from and be inspired by. They were also presented with the Innovation Award for Social Transformation.
“CustomerFirst is the most important mechanism. When computer says no, it’s for them to say yes,” explains Greg Reed, CEO. “It gives everyone power to do something for the customer that they wouldn’t otherwise,” added Gary Hilton, Retention Team Manager.
The winners were selected by a team which included 10 experienced industry practitioners, many of them previous winners or finalists. Judges visited each of the shortlisted organisations, and then assessed them against a strict set of criteria.
"Every year, our judges tell us how much they learn from and are inspired by the judging site visits, and this year was no exception” explained Nicola Callan, Director at The Forum. “Our 2018 theme – Be your Personal Best – is about focus, training and teamwork. As professionals we can learn and share – continually striving for excellence and raising standards.”
Take time to learn from the stories of all the finalists, by reading the case studies, watching the presentations on Forum TV or signing up for the site visits in June.
Five further awards recognised innovation in specific areas:
The Innovation Award for Enterprise Planning was awarded to ADT Fire & Security, for delivering a step change in performance and accountability, creating a joined-up culture that shouts out “one team, one business”. A collaborative approach and brilliant use of data has engaged frontline engineers. Moreover, the planning team’s skills are now in high demand across the business.
The Innovation Award for Insight and Improvement was won by BT, who brought data together, to generate insight from disjointed sources. This sets managers and team leaders free to lead and manage, with high value coaching conversations that have real purpose and focused outcomes. It’s a federation of information that drives actionable insight!
The Innovation Award for Achieving Customer Excellence was gained by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme who transformedcustomer and colleague experience, with a new ‘customer mindset’, linked to commercial realism and effective process. This is underpinned by remarkable use of insight to drive decision-making – and a massive shift from ‘supplier’ to ‘partner’ relationships with outsourcers!
The Innovation Award for Enabling Learning was won by RS Components for demonstrating how a contact centre support team can power change in the organisation, putting ‘growth’ not ‘performance’ at the heart of the culture, personally and professionally. A passion for learning exudes across the business, their infectious energy building success on success.
Lastly, Sainsbury’s Bank swept away with the Innovation Award for Collaboration & Improvement. The culture in this operation allows everyone to work at the top of their capability. By making full use of insight and driving change, everyone, from front line agents to marketing and risk, is committed and empowered to champion excellence in customer service in pursuit of the brand’s success.
Forum Hero awards
Forum Hero awards were presented to three outstanding customer professionals, active in our Customer Strategy & Leadership Forum, recognising their exceptional personal contribution in developing professionalism and best practice. They join our growing rank of heroes, reflecting excellence at all levels in our profession.
The 2018 Heroes are:
Jasmeet Narang, Director, Santander Operations
Phil Coole, Senior Operational Planning Manager, LV= Insurance
Richard Brimble, Managing Director, Understanding & Learning
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