Business & Money | Sunday 28 June, 2015 10:07 am |

The GCC’s prestigious Service Olympian Awards, the only independent honours which recognise the region’s customer service leaders, has been revamped and expanded this year in line with the sector’s increasing competitiveness role.

The 2015 awards, which are free-to-enter for public and private sector organisations and open for applications from July 15th to October 15th, are organised by award-winning and UAE-headquartered Ethos Integrated Solutions (EIS), the region’s leading provider in delivering solutions for organisations striving to achieve for customer experience excellence.

“In the Gulf’s highly competitive commercial landscape, customer service is now crucial to success,” explained Robert Keay, EIS founder and Chief Executive Officer. “We operate in a digitally dynamic era when service achievements and failures can spread like wildfire via e-networks and mobility word-of-mouth. It is essential that service providers prioritise their customer experience particularly as sustainable success requires strong customer and brand loyalty and where the new dynamics mean the cost of one conquest sale far outstrips that of keeping current customers happy.

“In this globalised era and with the Gulf blessed by a geography which puts it within just three hours flying time of one of the world’s biggest emerging markets, the region has huge opportunities on corporate and sector specific fronts including finance, healthcare, tourism, hospitality and brand export. These opportunities will not be realised without world-class customer service to enliven and add value to selling propositions.

“We hope by recognising those who are leading the customer service experience in this region, we will bring added momentum to the issue here.”

This year there are 18 honours up for grabs all now built around the proven EIS Customer Experience Implementation model which focuses on defining, designing, developing and deploying a standout customer experience strategy then measuring the outcomes and innovating for future improvement and commitment.

The awards include: Best Customer Experience Strategy; Best Customer Experience Journey Maps; Best Customer Experience Employee Engagement; Best Employee Customer Experience Delivery; Best Customer Communications; Best Customer Engagement; Best Customer Loyalty;  Best Customer Education;  Best Employee Learning; Best Customer Experience Measurement;  Best Complaint Management;  Best Use of Measurement for Improvement; Best Service Innovation; Best Customer Experience SMART Applications;  Best use of Social Media;  Best use of Technology to benefit Customers; Leadership Commitment and  Best Customer Experience Delivered.

And the 2015 award will also feature a People’s Choice award with the public being invited to vote online for the company it believes delivers the best customer service. People voting in the People’s Choice category also go into a draw for a chance to win an iPad each month from now until November.

 

“It’s vital to hear the public’s voice as it as on the receiving end of customer service,” explained Keay. 

Following the October 15th application deadline, all entries will be assessed by a team of six international and local judges led by Philip Forrest, the Chairman of the European Business Awards and President of The International Customer Service Institute and including Dr. Alaa Garad, Chairman of the Advisory Board, University of Salford UAE and CEO, Investors in People, UAE. After assessment the shortlisted candidates will be asked to present their cases to the judging panel for final selection.

The 2015 Service Olympian Customer Experience Awards, the second in the series, will be presented in a gala ceremony at the prestigious Burj Al Arab hotel on December 8.

Winners of the inaugural Service Olympian Awards include: Dubai Police; Atlantis The Palm; The UAE Ministry of Interior; Emirates NBD; the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport; Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority; the UAE Ministry of Electricity & Water; the General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners Affairs; Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority; DIFC Courts; Abu Dhabi Airport Company; Dubai Islamic Bank; Trans AD; Al Foah; UAE Exchange and the General Authority of Islamic Affairs (AWQAF).