Service Excellence Awards

The Service Excellence Awards is a term that refers to any Awards that seek to reward and recognize organizations and individuals who excel in serving clients whether in private organisations (Customer Services) or public organisations (Public Service). The term first came to prominence after its adoption by the Customer Service Institute of Australia in 2001.^[1] The Australian Service Excellence Awards started 14 years ago and has grown to be the premier multi-industry and government awards in Australia. The Awards recognise and showcase the highest achievement in customer service excellence of professionals and organisations. Since then, various organisations and countries have emulated and adopted the term for use for their own customer service awards.

Service Excellence Awards in Africa

In Africa the following countries have adopted the Service Excellence awards

Zimbabwe - 2012 ^[2][3] Kenya - 2014 ^[4] Zambia - 2015 ^[5] Malawi - 2015 Namibia - 2015 Botswana - 2015

Zimbabwe Service Excellence Awards

After noting the success of the Australian Service Excellence Awards and their influence in promoting service excellence, the Zimbabwe Service Excellence Awards were announced in 2011 and were first held in 2012. They are organised and managed by the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe in partnership with Ministry of Tourism, Consumer Council of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. The CCAZ is the sole association of call centres and customer service professionals and industry in Zimbabwe; it was founded with the following initial customer service objectives:

• To promote customer service as a profession and to improve the level of its practitioners’ professionalism through assessment, accreditation and certification. Recognition of members’ professional standing is provided through the Service Excellence Awards thus improving the pride, motivation and self-esteem of customer service professionals.

• To provide people working directly or indirectly in customer service (Public or Private sector), with the education and professional standards that will enable them to reach their full potential in their chosen field.

• To develop and promote the Zimbabwe Customer Service Standards (including a customer charter), which will help organisations develop and sustain a customer ethos through improvements to the design, delivery, quality and effectiveness of customer service strategies, policies and systems.

• To improve knowledge of the components of customer service excellence through the Zimbabwe Service Excellence Awards, research, training and development programmes, publications, conferences and customer focus groups.

• To provide a voice for customer service professionals and enhance the status of these individuals and customer service issues via the media and public education forums. With customer expectations continually rising, the wider community is becoming aware of the value and role that Customer Service plays in achieving business success. This highly demanding area is arguably the critical success factor for many organisations and the country at large. For this reason it is important that the country has its own National Customer Service Awards to recognise, promote and reward excellence, professionalism and outstanding achievement in all sectors.

Reasons to enter: • Fair and unbiased - we don't invite consultants, sponsors or vendors to help judge - the awards are judged by the local and international industry professionals and academics. • Premier - the ultimate in awards programs anywhere in the world and they are endorsed by more local and international industry associations than any other award program in the country • Every awards entrant who participates in the SEA receives benchmarking data from the entire group • Entering helps you streamline your strategy and focus on what you do best as well as learn what you can improve • Awards for individuals within your organisation and the organisation as a whole mean you have opportunities to recognise every aspect of your operation • All entrants will be ranked and receive an official ranking showing their relative position in the industry. Benefits • Recognition of participating organisation's achievements in Customer Service, increasing and enhancing its credibility and image in the market place • Increased customer perception and confidence in dealing with the organisation • Continuous improvement opportunities and benchmarking of the organisation's Customer Service efforts through SEA's comprehensive CRM Benchmarking program • Greater focus on Customer Service throughout the entire organisation • Increased morale at all levels of the organisation

Zimbabwe Service Excellence Awards 2013 and beyond

After notable success with the 2012 and 2013 awards, various stakeholders in different countries met and formed the Chartered Institute for Customer Management. Through this global body, various organisations under this institute were launched across Africa in 2013 with the Service Excellence Awards as part of each subsidiary's portfolio. As such, the Service Excellence awards for Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Malawi were announced at the respective launches of the institute in each country. Although the awards were announced in 2013, we are only seeing them being carried out this year with Zambia, Malawi and Botswana in the forefront.^[6]

Kenya Service Excellence Awards

The Kenya Service Excellence Awards, is a Kenyan award ceremony intended to celebrate the success of organizations and individuals that provide exemplary customer service in Kenya The Kenya Service Excellence Awards:

1. Brings to focus the importance of excellence customer service as a strategic tool for business success.
2. Serves to raise the profile of customer service practice and professionalism nationwide by providing a platform to showcase Customer Service Excellence.
3. Provides an opportunity for Kenyan organizations to benchmark themselves and to learn best practice from service excellence leaders

The Service Excellence Awards is simple and only incorporates the most important element in customer service which is the Voice of the Customer (VOC). The awards source information on service performance directly from customers who have a direct impact on the bottom line.

Service Excellence Awards Corporate Sectors The Kenyan Service Excellence Awards incorporates multiple sectors including:

• Banking
• Insurance
• Restaurant chains
• Telecommunications
• Supermarkets and
• The Public Sector.

Methodology For Awarding The Award Winners To determine winners, A Service Excellent Awards survey is conducted on a mobile telephone platform where respondents are requested to complete the Service Excellence Awards survey using their mobile phones. Responses are then collated and analyzed in real time by mSurvey, the SMS data collection tool.^[7] The final results are then validated by the Service Excellence Awards Knowledge Partner – Dalberg www.dalberg.com

The Service Excellence Awards corporate category is based on the Net Promoter Score.^[8] The primary purpose of the Net Promoter Score methodology, which is based on one main question, is to evaluate customer loyalty to a brand or company and to evaluate their satisfaction with particular products or services.^[9]

The Service Excellence Awards is awarded to the top three organizations that will have received the highest rating on the Net Promoter Score. The Service Excellence Awards individual category, on the other hand, is based on nomination of individuals by the public for their excellent customer service. The survey is entirely based on customers rating the organizations they interact with and nominating individuals they feel have consistently given them excellent customer service

Kenya Service Excellence Awards 2014

The Service Excellence Awards 2014 results were announced at the ICS Service Excellence Awards Gala dinner on 10 October 2014 The inaugural Kenyan Service Excellence Awards were awarded on 10 October 2014 to the following organizations in the multiple sectors surveyed:^[10][11]

Banking Sector

• Winner – Equity Bank^[12]
• 1st Runner Up – KCB
• 2nd Runner Up – Coop Bank

Mobile Communications Sector

• Winner – Safaricom ^[13]
• 1st Runner Up – Airtel
• 2nd Runner Up – YU

Universities

• Winner – University of Nairobi
• 1st Runner Up – JKUAT
• 2nd Runner Up – Kenyatta University

Supermarkets

• Winner – Nakumatt ^[14]
• 1st Runner Up – Naivas
• 2nd Runner Up – Tuskys

Public Service Sector

• Winner – Huduma Centers
• 1st Runner Up – NHIF
• 2nd Runner Up – NSSF

Petrol Stations

• Winner – Total
• 1st Runner Up – Shell
• 2nd Runner Up – Oil Libya

Insurance Sector

• Winner – ICEA Lion
• 1st Runner Up – APA
• 2nd Runner Up – CIC

Kenya Service Excellence Awards 2015 The Service Excellence Awards 2015 results were announced at the ICS Service Excellence Awards Breakfast on 3 September 2015 The second Kenyan Service Excellence Awards were awarded on 3 September 2015 to the following organizations in the multiple sectors surveyed:

Banking Sector

1. Winner – National Bank
2. 1st Runner Up- Equity Bank
3. 2nd Runner Up - KCB Bank

Insurance Sector

1. Winner – Jubilee Insurance
2. 1st Runner Up - BRITAM
3. 2nd Runner Up - CIC Insurance

Government Sector / Public Sector

1. Winner – Huduma Kenya
2. 1st Runner Up - HELB
3. 2nd Runner Up - NHIF

Retail / Supermarket Sector

1. Winner – Naivas Supermarkets
2. 1st Runner Up - Nakumatt Supermarkets
3. 2nd Runner Up - Tuskys Supermarkets

Mobile Operators' Sector

1. Winner – Safaricom
2. 1st Runner Up - Airtel

Petrol Station Sector

1. Winner – Kenol Kobil
2. 1st Runner - Up Oil Libya
3. 2nd Runner Up - National Oil

References