Coloplast manufactures medical products ranging from dressings and gels to catheters and colostomy bags. Its ‘mission’ is to make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions.
Over the course of a week staff were shown how important customer service is, with a range of events taking place. The week saw several users of Coloplast’s products visiting the company’s UK head office in Lynch Wood to talk to the staff about the difference their products make.
Dave Litchfield, customer care team leader, explained: “It is easy for people in our customer care department, who deal with customers every day, to see the difference they make. That is not always the case for people outside of customer care – those who don’t speak to our users every day.
“Take the IT department as an example. We constantly challenge our IT department with keeping our excellent systems up to date and running smoothly. Events like this help them to understand the importance of their work and how it impacts the customer.
“By bringing the company together as whole and spending time really focussing on how everyone’s actions affect the customer, it motivates everyone to work to their best abilities and to keep the customer in mind at all times.”
Feedback following the customer visits showed the importance of such events, with a member of Coloplast staff commenting: “I believe these customer insights truly help us do a better job, knowing the situations and challenges our customers face on a day to day basis.”
Others said that it was great to hear how a Coloplast product has improved someone’s quality of life and that the sessions made them reflect on how they are able to help all their customers. They said it made them want to strive to give the very best service they can.
Other events included lunch and learn sessions, where staff were able to learn more about the products over lunch. Staff based away from the head office, including some of Coloplast’s registered nurses, spent time at the office talking to staff about their roles and how the little things can make a big difference to the customer.
The week was rounded off with an ‘All American Awards show’ where people who had achieved both external qualifications, such as awards from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), as well as internal recognitions were presented with their certificates.
National Customer Service Week is an event run by the ICS. It is a week-long opportunity to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays in successful business practice and the growth of the UK economy. Coloplast chose to host its celebrations a few weeks after the national event, to enable everyone to join in as the national date clashed with several important meetings.