“WOW! Awards gala rightly celebrates the best in customer service,” says TCii CEO Terry Irwin

2009-11-05 19:41:15 - The 2009 WOW! Awards, which recognise the UK’s best customer service providers, were presented yesterday in front of an audience of around 250 people. TCii CEO Terry Irwin, who was one of the judges, was there to witness the proceedings.

The 2009 WOW! Awards, which recognise the UK’s best customer service providers, were presented yesterday at a gala ceremony at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London, UK. The winners received their awards in front of an audience of around 250 people, including TCii CEO Terry Irwin, who had sat on the judging panel a few weeks earlier.

The contenders for the

WOW! Awards were all organisations or individuals nominated by their customers. During the rigorous judging process, which lasted two days, the shortlisted finalists were invited to make a personal presentation to an independent judging panel made up of some of the UK’s leading customer service professionals, consultants and sponsor representatives.

The 13 award categories included Best Retail Operation (won by Ladbrokes), Best Healthcare Provider (won by Osborne Grove Nursing Home) and Best Manufacturing or Business to Business Supplier (won by Green & Black’s). Among the other awards were one for Outstanding Contribution to the Community and another for Small Business, Big WOW!

Winners with the WOW! factor

TCii’s Terry Irwin was on the judging panel for three categories, including the Award for OWW to WOW! This award sets out to recognise those organisations that have gone the extra mile to resolve a customer’s problem. The winner was I Want One of Those, which handles thousands of orders every day and ships products around the world, often in problematic circumstances. This online retailer’s success in turning problems into delight has generated huge loyalty among its customers.

Another of Terry’s judging categories was Best Local Authority. The award went to Haringey Council, which employs 8,500 people serving a population of 225,000 and working in 108 different languages. The work is often fraught with difficulty and has to be handled with limited resources. Nevertheless, more than 1,300 customers nominated individuals at Haringey Council for outstanding service.

Terry Irwin also helped to decide the award for Most Inspiring Front Liner, who turned out to be Robby The Bobby from Merseyside Police. As a School Liaison Officer in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas of Liverpool, Robby has won himself an army of supporters and helpers – both young and old – within the community, as he works to steer youngsters away from a life of gangs and guns.

“I was delighted to be asked to sit on the judging panel for these prestigious awards,” says Terry. “As management consultants to both blue-chip and privately owned companies, we at TCii are keenly aware of the paramount importance of excellent customer service – both in our relationships with our own clients and in our clients’ dealings with their customers.”

Other winners of this year’s WOW! Awards included The Mortgage Broker (Best in Financial Services), Merseyside Police (Best Emergency Services) and Debbie Iddison of York Marriott Hotel (Best in Hospitality). You can find a full list of categories, winners and finalists at www.thewowawards.co.uk.

Background information

TCii Strategic and Management Consultants provides strategic advice and practical support to privately owned companies, and results-driven strategic advice to larger businesses. It has a worldwide client base drawn from numerous industry sectors. TCii also offers expert presentations on a wide range of business topics for conferences and seminars worldwide.

View Terry Irwin’s speaker profile: www.tcii.co.uk/blue/events/speaker_profiles

The WOW! Awards for outstanding customer service are organised by The WOW! Group, led by motivational speaker Derek Williams. The awards were created to “recognise, promote and honour excellence, professionalism and outstanding achievement in the customer service profession, which in turn promotes company morale, retention and a sense of feeling wanted from within an organisation, no matter what level”.