Cadent Gas, the UK’s largest distribution network, saw the Contact Centre Standards Framework as an opportunity to pinpoint areas in their operation that needed more focus. They were keen to learn from industry experts and gain valuable insights to enhance their performance.

Recognising the value of external expertise, they became an Accredited Contact Centre, helping to shape their strategic direction.

What was the business driver behind undertaking the Contact Centre Standards Framework?

This is something that we’ve never done before, and we saw the accreditation as a great opportunity to have industry experts assess our business, our performance and operation. Whilst we think we do a great job, there will be areas that we simply are not aware of that we could improve, and maybe areas that we think we have covered off, but actually need more focus on.

Why did you decide the Contact Centre Standards Framework was right for your operation?

This was a great opportunity to learn and gain insight from industry experts to help shape our direction and future strategic approach. Our desire was to reinforce on our areas of success whilst focussing on our opportunity areas that need developing. We saw the benefit that an external expert could bring to our direction and the framework enables this in a great way.

What was the journey like from start to finish during the assessment process?

From our initial decision to go forward, the process was really simple and well-coordinated. The difficulty was internally in my team trying to pull together everything that we do, why we do it and how into one place so that we could showcase our whole team. On reflection, this is something we should’ve had to have as standard and is now following our experience in the process. In terms of the actual assessment, Kate and the team, along with Nery’s (our accreditor) made this really straight forward for us and held our hands all the way through.

What have you learned about your contact centre following the assessment?

I was really pleased to see that what we already have in place are the right things. This was great for me and the team as a reflection of our work so far. What I really enjoyed was reading our final report, recognising our strengths as a department whilst being able to understand the areas for improvement from the clear commentary and follow up support.

How will the insights and recommendations made in the report be used to make a difference?

The insights have already fed into our short-, medium- and long-term strategy. Aligning the improvement suggestions and insights to our roadmap has really helped to shape a cohesive and realistic timeline for further progress.

How did you share and celebrate becoming an Accredited Contact Centre?

We celebrated over the course of two days, covering all of our shifts. Essentially, we had an in work celebration party, with balloons, cake and high fives all around. Our accreditation landed well with our teams and created a genuine sense of pride across our sites.

How has your operation and wider business benefited from doing the Contact Centre Standards Framework?

The benefit to us is that link to our current strategy. Without the accreditation and report we would be missing some crucial areas. Having the independent analysis and document has helped to support our case for change in terms of systems and direction. Making it much easier for us to push forward with our road map and procurement processes.

Would you recommend taking part in the Contact Centre Standards Framework to other contact centre leaders?

I absolutely recommend this to any leaders thinking about it. I will say, its hard work to pull everything you need together if you don’t already have it in one place, but well worth the effort in the end.