Institute of Customer Service Conference 2012

Conference

The 2012 Conference discussed how service leads to the competitive advantage in tough economic times.

These were the sessions:

Registration, coffee and exhibition

0830

Welcome

0930

Nadine Dereza, conference facilitator, and Jo Causon, Institute chief executive

Insight into government thinking: Preparedness and positivity

0945

Norman Lamb MP, minister for employment relations, consumer and postal affairs

Norman Lamb MP will examine how recession can affect consumer trust and damage organisations' reputations and long term profitability. He'll give practical advice on what businesses can do to avoid the negative effects of recession, and explore what they should do to prepare for an economic upturn.

Norman has held various positions in the Liberal Democrat party. He has been Lib Dem deputy spokesperson for International Development, a Treasury spokesman, parliamentary private secretary to Charles Kennedy and shadow trade and industry secretary.

He was a principal author of his party's policy on Royal Mail. In December 2006 he was appointed Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary. In May 2010 he was appointed assistant government Whip, as well as chief parliamentary and political adviser and parliamentary private secretary to the leader of the Liberal Democrats and deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, before taking up his current post in February this year.

What you'll get from this session: Advice on how to develop your customer service to protect your reputation and how to prepare your teams for the economic upturn.

Research: Proving the link between engagement, profit and inspiration

1015

David MacLeod, chair government–sponsored employer–led task force on employee engagement

David will share the findings from the initial Report to Government on employee engagement. He will make the case for why employee engagement delivers better business outcomes and customer service.

David is an associate of the Institute for Government and a fellow of the Institute of Marketing. He has co-authored The Extra Mile, a book that explores the competitive advantages of engaging your people. He's co–author of the MacLeod Report to Government: Engaging for Success.

What you'll get from this session: Ideas for re-shaping your employee engagement strategy to deliver more positive outcomes through aligning it with the findings of the report.

Refreshments, exhibition and networking

1100

Practical knowledge, first-hand experience and influence

1130

Mike Rogers, group chief executive, LV=

Mike Rogers instigated a strategy that empowered employees of LV= to deliver consistently high levels of customer service. The results have been remarkable. Mike, whose company is a UK Customer Satisfaction Awards winner, reveals just how he did it and proves that customer service excellence results in competitive advantage.

Mike joined Barclays Bank in 1986. Among various senior appointments at Barclays, Mike was managing director of small business, premier banking and UK retail banking. In 2006 Mike joined LV= as group chief executive. LV= is the UK's largest friendly society and a leading mutual financial services provider offering insurance, investments and retirement solution products. LV= has around five million customers and employs over 5,000 people.

What you'll get from this session: An understanding of what true employee empowerment looks like and some tried and tested strategies. The confidence to make changes happen.

Enthusiasm, determination and commitment

1215

Fred Sirieix, general manager, Galvin at Windows and founder of The Art of Service

As a co–host of BBC2 series Michel Roux's Service, Fred gave an insight into the pressures of delivering excellent service in a restaurant environment. In this session Fred will share how he instils the service ethic into his team, and the resulting, positive business outcomes.

Fred Sirieix is a passionate and highly driven individual – a true ambassador for one of London's most popular destination restaurants, Galvin at Windows. Fred took up his current role as general manager on the 28th floor at the London Hilton on Park Lane in 2006, guiding Galvin at Windows to its first Michelin star in 2010.

What you'll get from this session: An understanding of how passion pays dividends, how commitment and belief are rewarded and how you can inspire your team to achieve great results.

Lunch, exhibition and networking

1300

How customer service became a boardroom consideration

1345

Dawn Gibbins MBE, founder, Flowcrete and star of Channel 4's Secret Millionaire

Dawn will explain what drove her to realise that customer service is a boardroom consideration, after growing a tiny company to a world leader in its field.

Dawn is the daughter of the British inventor, Peter Gibbins. Gibbins invented seamless resin flooring and set up a company from home with his daughter.

Flowcrete is now a world leader, with offices in 30 countries and 12 manufacturing plants around the globe. It floors the world of commercial business.

Dawn's MBE was awarded for services to industry. She has grown Flowcrete and established a trusted, successful brand.

Extensive experience, first hand knowledge and boardroom examples

1430

Sir John Banham, former chairman, Johnson Matthey, former director general, CBI

Sir John will explain how the perception of customer service has changed; what was once seen as a ‘soft skill’ has become a serious boardroom topic. He'll also share how several of the UK's best known brands have achieved competitive advantage through their customer service.

Sir John is currently the senior independent director of Invesco Inc. and Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc. He has previously held director level posts at McKinsey & Company, the Confederation of British Industry, National Power and National Westminster Bank. He was also the first controller of the Audit Commission. He has also been chairman of Spacelabs healthcare Inc., Tarmac plc, Kingfisher plc, Geest plc, Whitbread PLC and Cyclacel Plc.

Refreshments, exhibition and networking

1515

Leadership techniques, customer service role model behaviour and motivation

1545

Kevin George, managing director, Monarch Airlines

Kevin will explore how strong leadership and a commitment to customer service can change the fortunes of an iconic UK brand. He'll also demonstrate how customer service is becoming a viable route to board level appointment.

Kevin joined Monarch Airlines in January 2007 as director of customer services. In October 2008 he became operations director, before being promoted to managing director in January 2011. He is now responsible for all operational, commercial and customer service areas of the business. Originally trained as an engineer, Kevin now has over 25 years experience in the aviation industry, spanning avionics sales & marketing to the development of world–class airline customer service.

What you'll get from this session: Examples of how everyone involved in customer service can rise to the very top of an organisation.

A new perspective on teamwork, encouragement and confidence

1630

Marc Woods, Paralympic gold medallist and inspirational business speaker

Marc's inspirational speech is entitled Personal Best, and it'll give you an insight into personal responsibility, leadership, teamwork and motivation. In 2005 Marc published the book Personal Best – a combination of his extraordinary life story and personal development advice – to great acclaim.

Marc competed internationally as a swimmer for 17 years, winning 12 medals from 5 Paralympic Games and a further 21 from either World or European championships. In the past he has held world records for 200m, 400m, 1500m Freestyle as well as being part of the team that held the world record for 4 x 100m Freestyle.

What you'll get from this session: A belief that anything is possible and renewed confidence to drive strategies through to a positive conclusion.