Customer Contact Innovation Awards 2013 shortlist announced

Eighteen organisations reached the sought-after shortlist for the Customer Contact Innovation Awards 2013.  Showcasing fantastic new solutions to age-old problems, they all demonstrate real improvements for both the business and the customer experience.

Presented by the Professional Planning Forum, the winners will be announced at Customer Strategy & Planning 2013 on April 29-30 at Chesford Grange, Warwickshire, where the finalists will be speaking about how they achieved their outstanding results.

“This year we are seeing exciting and different ways of approaching the problems that our members have talked about for years.  More and more of the innovations are about making strategic change and this year it’s fabulous that the innovators are really engaging their front line teams to drive a genuine change in the customer experience,” explains Paul Smedley, Chair and Founder of the Planning Forum.

“The awards shortlist once again confirms that every successful innovation is driven by the passion and energy of people. This is why our theme for our conference this year is Putting People First. Even projects that seem to be about technology or numbers are driven by people with confidence and skill. People who care; who communicate their passion,” adds Steve Woosey, Chief Executive.

The full list of finalists is: ADT, Avios, BT Innovate and Design, BT Retail Customer Services, Caerphilly Council, Carnival, Charles Tyrwhitt, Concentrix, Direct Line Group, Everything Everywhere, Experian, Hastings Insurance, HM Revenue and Customs, Lebara Mobile, Motability Operations, Sensee, NHS Direct, Thomas Cook, White Concierge.

Here is what some of the finalists had to say.

David Titley of Caerphilly Council: “being shortlisted gives our staff much-deserved recognition for all the work they do around efficiencies and improvements”.

Kevin Horan at EE reinforced this sentiment, adding “my guys go unrecognised so much of the time, this acknowledges everything we do in the Real-time team”.

The 2012 Judging Panel includes 16 independent experts, many of whom are previous award winners or finalists themselves.  The judges visit all finalists in February for an in-depth evaluation, and each finalist is asked to make a commitment to host a site visit in June or September and to talk about their work at Customer Strategy & Planning 2013 on 29-30 April where the awards are presented.

Register now to attend the Customer Strategy & Planning on 29-30 April 2013.