A volunteer from Aylesbury has won a national award for her hard work at Young Enterprise.

The national charity that aims to motivate young people to succeed in the world of work relies heavily on it’s 6,500 volunteers.

Helen Pettifer been volunteering with Young Enterprise since 2017 and has been awarded with the charity’s national ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award.

According to Ombudsman Services research, poor customer service costs UK businesses £37billion each year. Can you believe that? £37 billion! Dealing with upset customers is a real challenge and one, which can be often a deal breaker leading to the loss of customers. But worry not; help is at hand to help you keep them with Helen Pettifer Training’s Handling Upset Customers Online Course.

There are a whole host of reasons as to why someone may be regarded or regard themselves as vulnerable. According to the Financial Conduct Authority’s 2017 Financial Lives Survey up to half of UK adults display one or more characteristic of being potentially vulnerable. That’s approximately 26 million people! Helen Pettifer Training’s Understanding Vulnerability Online Course is designed to enhance your understanding of what vulnerability is and the effects that it has. As a new breed of ‘worried well’ emerge as vulnerable consumers to join the already extensive list, understanding and supporting those who are vulnerable is more important than ever. This isn’t just an ‘interesting to do’ course, this is an absolutely ‘must do.’

Expert of the day, Helen Pettifer on how we all need the human touch

In recent weeks, the importance of good customer service has become paramount. We’ve all seen examples of businesses that are doing well when it comes to supporting their customers through these tricky times. However, we’ve also seen some businesses getting it spectacularly wrong too.

That’s why we’ve asked customer service specialist, Helen Pettifer, to be our expert of the day today. Helen has two decades of experience in this most vital of fields and is currently helping businesses and their customers manage everything from getting help to support with isolation during the pandemic. Over to you Helen!

Happy New Year everyone! Not sure when it’s etiquette to stop saying that but as this is the first breakfast of 2020, I’m saying it anyway. I hope you had a fabulous Christmas and are surviving the return to work period. It’s back to business today too as I kick off the New Year by having breakfast with the inspirational Customer Service Consultant and Trainer Helen Pettifer.

An interview with a customer service expert who is passionate about all aspects of Customer Service. Training provider, Customer Service consultant and public speaker.

We share everything from customer service training activities to ideas for fun coaching games, as we help to freshen up your contact centre coaching programme.

1. Think About the Different Ways People Learn (VARK)
2. Stop Thinking of Training as Just a Classroom Activity
3. Teach Team Leaders to Help Advisors to Spot Their Own Skill Gaps

Helen Pettifer discusses how a technique called “signposting” can improve your customer support, particularly when dealing with vulnerable customers.

Many of your customers will approach you with multiple requirements. Whilst they have your attention, they are looking to you to help them complete a range of actions. Some may be routine; others are a little more complex or bespoke.

When it comes to vulnerable customers, their needs may be incredibly diverse. As an organization, you should make every effort to support them. Even with the best intentions, it is unlikely that you can meet all needs in-house. As part of your toolkit, signposting can be a valuable extension to what you offer.

This article explores what signposting is and what you need in place to action it.

Helen Pettifer, Director of Helen Pettifer Training, discusses how you can identify vulnerable customers in the contact centre and better support them.

Every customer deserves to be treated fairly and with respect. It sounds simple enough, yet many company policies, procedures and attitudes create unnecessary barriers, especially when it comes to vulnerable customers.

From plastic surgeons to bankers, there is a growing realization that organizations are often falling short of good practice when it comes to vulnerability. Moves are underway to regulate industries in order to deliver services with a greater customer focus.

Every customer deserves to be treated fairly and with respect.

It sounds simple enough, yet many company policies, procedures, and attitudes create unnecessary barriers – especially when it comes to vulnerable customers.

From plastic surgeons to bankers, there is a growing realisation that organisations are often falling short in good practice when it comes to vulnerability. Moves are underway to regulate industries in order to deliver services with a greater customer focus.

The 2018 UK Complaint Handling Awards took place in London in February, and as a Customer Service Trainer, I was honoured to be invited to join the panel of judges.

Our panel was given responsibility for judging the Proactive Complaint Handling in the Utility Industry category. Five companies had been shortlisted and each one provided us with a written report and presentation. The aim was to highlight their approaches to both reduce complaints, and effectively manage complaints when they were received.