Published on: Thursday, 19 April 2018
Last updated: Thursday, 19 April 2018
Improving customer service is in focus for Greater Anglia this week as Customer Service Director, Andrew Goodrum went ‘back to the floor’ to get first-hand experience of the company’s on board catering service.
Mr Goodrum joined the crew on the 1300 intercity service from Norwich to London yesterday and helped to stock the café bar and sell refreshments from the trolley service which travels through the train.
The exercise was part of the train operator’s Customer Service Week, held in conjunction with the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), which aims to identify and share areas of best practice to help Greater Anglia continually improve customer service.
After his experience selling refreshments, handling the catering trolley, serving coffee, biscuits and sandwiches and chatting to passengers, Mr Goodrum commented: “It’s really important to keep in touch with what colleagues are doing out on board, understand from our customers whether it’s the sort of service they want, and also get some first- hand feedback.
“I do travel on the train every day myself but it was really good to see what happens day-in, day-out on the train and ensure that our on board services are delivering the high standards of customer service that we continually strive to achieve.”
Greater Anglia’s Customer Service Week takes place from 16-20 April 2018 and the company is also asking passengers to nominate the staff and teams that they think deliver outstanding customer service. Nominations can be made all week at [email protected], @greateranglia or on the Greater Anglia Offers Facebook page.
Customers can nominate individuals or entire teams under five award categories: Station Staff, On Train Staff, Customer Relations and Social Media, Making Travel Safer, On Train and Station Cleaning Staff.
There will be 10 awards across the five categories and entries will be judged by the Greater Anglia Leadership Team who will assess each nominee for, amongst other criteria, the effort they make to exceed customer expectations and the level to which they know the value of excellent service to the business.
The winning individuals or teams will then receive a coveted ICS Customer Service Award.
Greater Anglia’s Customer Service Director, Andrew Goodrum, added, “Customer Service Week is a great opportunity to find out from our customers which station teams and individuals deliver the best customer service, helping us spread to best practice and raise standards across our network.”
In addition, a special ‘Meet the Manager’ session is to be held on board the the 07:58 Shenfield to Southend Victoria service today, 19th April 2018 when Greater Anglia managers will be available to listen to passengers’ queries, comments and feedback about the service.