Professionals working in customer service are critical to both acquiring and retaining customers and, by extension, revenue. These individuals, in a client-facing role, tackle sensitive and difficult situations daily. Customer Service Week is an annual event to celebrate these individuals and their contributions to the customer experience and success of every business. Learn how to leverage this opportunity to recognize and celebrate the employees serving your customers.
What Is Customer Service Week?
CS Week is an international event; a full week dedicated to celebrating employees and customer service agents dealing with business clients and customers. The celebration takes place in the first week of October and offers a big forum for businesses, outsourcing solutions providers, and institutions that advocate customer experience.
The event was first officially celebrated in the 1980s, in the United States. After being recognized in 1991 by the United States Congress, the country has celebrated Customer Service Appreciation Week on a national scale. Since then, the celebration has steadily spread to other countries.
The awareness of customer experiences has continued to grow over the years, along with the importance of the role good customer service plays. Therefore, it is not surprising that the event has been picked up on an international scale. In fact, by 2016, 60 countries celebrated the event internationally, in addition to all 50 American states already celebrating National Customer Service Week.
Four Ways to Celebrate Employees at Customer Service Week 2023
CSW 2023 is scheduled to run from the 3rd to the 7th of October. It is a great opportunity for businesses, professionals, and CX advocates to come together in an international celebration of the key role that customer service and customer service agents play in a modern business model. This year the event, like the ones before it, highlights the importance of customer service in creating revenue and sustainability. And thanks to its wide use across a range of industries and organizations, the range of participating organizations is similarly diverse.
At Customer Service Week, organizations from all sectors including financial, manufacturing, education, healthcare, insurance, BPO services, non-profits, and even government agencies are in attendance. That makes it not just an important event, but also a platform that businesses can leverage to highlight their appreciation of CS employees and commitment to serving customers. Celebrating them can involve in-person events, social media posts, awarding cash bonuses, recognition certificates, and much more. Here are a few tips to understand the keynotes you want to hit:
Celebrating Front-Line Staff at National Customer Service Week
In many cases, businesses rely on front-line service and sales teams to bring in and maintain major streams of revenue. And this is, by no means, an easy job. We often focus on monthly rewards for performance, but CSW is about recognizing them for their service. Set aside a budget and try to spread the attention throughout the week. A meal, snack, trinkets, balloons, thank you cards, and coffee\tea serve by the management team. There are a thousand different small activities that can be done with a high return on investment from your teams in appreciation and motivation.
Sharing Success Stories in Customer Service
Employers with large front-facing teams, such as those offering contact center services, often have agents with varying degrees of performance. Acknowledging best practices and success stories is just as important as acknowledging the significance of the role itself. Acknowledging employees that excel at customer service won’t just offer them the satisfaction of recognition but may even encourage other members of the team to emulate them. Individual success can and should be presented in multiple forms. Personal certificates are presented by the management in a formal presentation, even if it’s in the work area with a short description of the accomplishment and applause, social media posts, or company newsletter. Events like Customer Service Appreciation Week on national or international scales are an excellent setting to acknowledge successes stories clearly and publicly,
Acknowledging Customer Loyalty Resulting from CX
A significant component of good workforce management is for managers to reinforce how an employee’s work is meaningful and important to the organization. Doing so helps keep employees engaged, sure of their worth, and clear on how they fit into long-term business goals. With this in mind, we recommend any recognition that can come from Executives, other parts of the company, customers, and management. Personal efforts of appreciation go a long way and are memorable long after the week is passed.
Highlighting Why Commitment to Customer Service Is Critical
Customer experience can make or break a buying decision, both long-term and short-term. Even with a superior product, poor customer experiences will see a drop in sales revenue and customer retention. Conversely, great customer experiences encourage a rise in customer acquisitions and revenues. With competition becoming more intense across industries and niches, CX has become a key competitive advantage. Otherwise, businesses don’t just lose new or existing customers; they lose them to the competition!
Therefore businesses must always offer great customer service as a rule, not as an exception. While celebrating customer service agents and employees that are key stakeholders in the overall buyer experience, emphasizing the importance of the experience can also encourage a wider buy-in across all CS employees. The key messages for the week are:
- Reinforce the importance of customer service and its value to the company
- To appreciate the service and sales teams for the work they do in providing these key services to customers
- Reinforcing how important a personal and premier customer service experience is to each customer interaction.
Customer Service Week, in many ways, is the perfect stage to highlight this commitment.
Frequently Ask Questions
When is customer service week?
The first full week of October. In 2023, CSW is scheduled from October 2nd to October 6th.
What is customer service week?
An international celebration of customer service employees by businesses, educational organizations, and nonprofits.