In order for the world to keep turning, customer service is essential.
You might not often stop to think about it, but people who work in customer service make your morning lattes, book your car in for its service, help you find items in the supermarket, and in our case, help you secure a mortgage or to open a savings account. In fact, over 80% of the UK workforce is employed in customer-facing roles, dedicated to making our day-to-day lives easier.
Our Head of People, Emma Jones, describes how she views customer service as a profession and how its values are embedded in the Society's culture:
"Customer Service as a profession is often underestimated and, in my view, mis-understood. It's a highly skilled role, which requires knowledge, experience, and skill. You are required to connect, communicate and listen to another person, whilst being able to show empathy and understanding too. For me, ‘Customer Service’ is not a team or title, but a mindset. This mindset applies to numerous roles here at the Society as we care equally about interactions with both our internal and external customers.
These skills and abilities are required in many working roles. Some of these competencies can be trained, but mostly they are learnt through mentoring, coaching, on-the-job learning, and experience which enables you to put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
That is why, at Newbury Building Society, we facilitate workshops which help our people to ‘think like a customer.’ In the workshops we share experiences, learn from each other, and ensure our people have the tools and techniques to develop the skills required to support our customers in the best ways we can.
We have many inspiring examples of people who have progressed their careers successfully at the Newbury. This is because they have developed these skills and because they engage with the customer first approach that is ingrained in the culture of the Society."
Our customer service colleagues, who work in various roles in underwriting, mortgage payment support, mortgage intermediary sales and of course, our branches, are the life and soul of the Society. In celebration of National Customer Service Week 2023, organised by the Institute of Customer Service, we wanted to celebrate their contributions and asked them what they enjoy about customer service and their tips on what makes great service.
Talk to us
Our people are always on hand to support you with your questions or concerns, no matter how big or small. To book an appointment with a qualified savings adviser click here, or to book a mortgage appointment click here.
Your feedback, whether positive or not so positive, is vital to us. To share your thoughts and comments with us, please fill in our customer feedback form.
