Member Article

Stagecoach North East Team Go ‘Back To The Floor’ As Part Of National Customer Service Campaign

Stagecoach North East said thank you to its passengers and marked this year’s National Customer Service Week campaign with events across the north east. Under the theme Putting Passengers First, staff from Stagecoach North East highlighted the importance of continuing to deliver good customer service day in, day out for passengers. During this year’s National Customer Service Week, managers at Stagecoach North East went ‘back to the floor’ to refresh their customer service experience and meet passengers.

Operations manager Nathan Stanislawski and assistant operations manager Chloe Gray, based at the depot on Church Road in Stockton-on-Tees, took part in a job swap experience, which saw them taking up shifts as bus drivers during a busy morning service from Stockton to Billingham.

Nathan said: “For the second year, it was really good to get back behind the wheel and interact with our customers. The experience has helped raise awareness of our passengers’ needs as well as the difficulties that our employees face every day.”

Chloe Gray, recently appointed as assistant operations manager at the depot, said: “It was really good to get back out on the road and it did bring back some memories! I love driving and I’d very much like to be able to do it more often. It also helped to familiarise myself with the area and see what routes and times are busiest, and meet some of the local people who were really lovely.”

Operations Director Colin Newbury also took a turn on the frontline, handling passenger queries in the Customer Communications team on tickets, routes and bus times, which he felt was a very useful experience.

Colin said: “My ‘back to the floor’ session went really well and I most enjoyed spending time with the customer service staff, as there is a real team spirit amongst them.

“With the combination of ways our customers can contact the business - telephone, e-mail, twitter, Facebook etc - I was pleased at the way in which the team worked together and responded to our customers so quickly.

“I always feel there is so much value in directors spending time on the shop floor and being visible and approachable to staff. It’s the only way we really do experience the challenges our staff face on a day to day basis.”

To say thank you to customers, breakfast events were held in town centres across the north east. In Stockton, Nathan, Chloe and senior duty manager Tony Shaw handed out healthy snacks to commuters on their way to work.

Nathan added: “We are always looking at how we can deliver even better services for people who travel with us, whether that’s before, during or after the journey. We’ve got a great team of frontline staff at Stagecoach North East here in Stockton. I’m very proud of the focus they give on providing customers with a good travel experience and getting them to their destination safely.”

During the week, customers were also asked to nominate their ‘customer service stars’ for anyone in the Stagecoach North East team who has gone that extra mile.

National Customer Service Week is run by the Institute of Customer Service and aims to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays in successful business practice and the growth of the UK economy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Clapham .