31 Mar 2022
Interview with McMillan Shakespeare about how ICSS has helped shape service excellence.
As leading employee benefits providers with a nationwide presence, Maxxia and RemServ have long-standing client relationships across a range of industries. They are constantly reviewing their processes to deliver the best possible client experience and have been participating in Certifications with CSIA for more than eight years. CSIA spoke with Sean Nuthall, Social Media and Complaints Manager at Maxxia, and Christian Panariello, Group Executive of Customer Strategy and Operations McMillan Shakespeare (MMSG), about how completing the International Customer Service Standard through CSIA assists them in achieving customer service excellence.
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How did the CSIA certification process help improve your business?
Christian: There is no doubt that the ICSS certification process is incredibly thorough. We had over 30 people across the business contribute to the submission, however we know that all parts of the business contribute to great customer service. Collaboration across so many business units means we not only review how we are doing but then is a channel for us to continue improving off the back of the CSIA suggestions for improvement.
What was it that originally motivated Maxxia and RemServ to seek ICSS certification?
Christian: We recognise the importance an independent review of our customer service practices has to ensure we are constantly driving to do better. The ICSS certification enables an almost forensic look at our practices across 24 attributes giving us the opportunity to self-assess against the criteria along with the assessors review.
CSIA’s certification reports have consistently awarded your companies with top level results; how rewarding is this?
Christian: It is fantastic to see the hard work of so many people in driving great customer service be recognised through the CSIA certification. It also keeps us honest, in the way we set our strategic programs, identifying what is important and where we need to focus when
it comes to customer service. Our top level results are testament to the amazing people we have within our organisation that really believe that what makes Maxxia and RemServ different is the level of Customer Service we deliver.
With more than 800 staff, how do you ensure an outstanding departmentscustomer experience across numerous?
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Sean: In so many varied and different ways, but I’ll limit myself to two key aspects;Our organisational commitment to our purpose and value statement – everything from our everyday work, to our development conversations and coaching, to our monthly R&R programs link in with our purpose of ‘Making a difference to people’s lives’.
The strength of our leadership team – Our organisation is dedicated to improving the customer experience through our continuous improvement initiatives which are sponsored and driven by leaders across the business, and also by providing an environment in which the customer experience is held at the centre of our conversations with our people and with each other.
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What is Maxxia’s approach to handling customer complaints?
Sean: At both Maxxia and RemServ, we’ve been on a journey of building a compliant program for complaints management while also centralising escalations into the Customer EASE (Engagement and Social Enablement) team. The most influential aspect of this journey has been the implementation of RG271, the ASIC Regulatory Guide for Complaints Management – and we’re proud of the work we’ve done in making sure that our teams are all aligned to this procedure. We also acknowledge the need to learn from what our customers are telling us through their feedback – and strive to deliver a complaints management process which not only works to resolve an immediate issue, but also to remediate this for future customers.
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What are some of the changes you’ve implemented and how have they contributed to improving the customer journey?
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Christian: Over the last few years Maxxia and RemServ’s commitment to ‘effortless’ customer service has been a continued focus ensuring we allow customers to transact with us, how, when and where they want too. In order to achieve this our improvements in self-service across our digital platforms have been key to delivering an improved service experience. Through a continuous improvement framework, we identified experiences that could be redesigned to be more customer centric and then optimised by a self- serve channel. Whether it be allowing customers to update their budgets, or actively manage how they are tracking against theircap, every digital feature has been developed in conjunction with our customers using human centered designtechniques. The strategic approach to customer communications at Maxxia/RemServ at the B2C and B2B level in my mind is what sets us apart in the industry. Understanding the B2C and the B2B customer lifecycles and planning and executing targeted communications that meet their needs and wants is what customer communications is all about
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What are the keys to providing excellent customer service?
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Sean: There are so many keys that we’re quite often rattling them away looking for the right one! Every customer is different and we need to recognise this, but these are my most important ones: Listen first, then respond; know what you know and admit when you don’t have the answers and need to seek further information; treat every interaction as an opportunity to show just how good you (and your organisation) are. And most importantly, keep your promises.
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About Maxxia and RemServ
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Maxxia and RemServ are complimentary business units of parent company McMillan Shakespeare Group. The core business activities of both brands are novated leasing, salary packaging and associated fringe benefit tax administration and management. Their B2B clients include schools, hospitals, government entities and not-for-profit organisations with employees that qualify for salary packaging benefits and fringe benefit tax.