TCM features in Customer First Case Study

Introduction

For the past 10 years, TCM has been at the forefront of mediation best practice and they have helped to develop and embed progressive and highly effective HR and leadership practices in relation to conflict, change and crisis management.  They have pushed the boundaries in mediation and penetrated a hugely significant market share over the years. Over 1000 businesses such as M&S, Topshop, Lloyds Banking Group and Northumbrian Health Care Trust (who have all recently been nominated for the “Award for Innovation in Dispute Resolution” at The Personnel Today Awards 2012, recognising the very best in HR Practices) have benefitted from the services delivered by TCM.

A strategic fit

In April 2012 The TCM Group decided to join the ever growing community of Customer First organisations. David elaborated on their decision to work towards Customer First as a ‘strategic fit’ to their evolving business; “The TCM Group have already secured a significant part of the marketplace, however the important factor for embarking on the Customer First journey was to ensure that we continuously improve our customer service approaches. It is easy to be complacent when you get great feedback but this isn’t the ethos for TCM, we consistently ask ourselves ‘what can we learn through feedback? How can we push the boundaries to go from being a good company to a great company?’ This is the reason for committing to Customer First and developing the strong partnerships we already have in place”.


TCM boast an extensive portfolio of Partnerships including International clients such as The United Nations, Central and Local Government Bodies, FTSE 100s, Private Sector including Retail, Utilities and Financial, and Public Sector including Health Care , Higher Education, Police and Justice and more.

A partnership

“Partnerships” is a word David uses to describe the relationship TCM have with their customers, securing such a significant proportion of the market is a big reflection of the quality of service TCM provide, however, they know that it is important to drive forward their relationships to ensure they continue meeting their partners needs, David explains; “We want to ensure we routinely ask ourselves ‘what next? How can we go from being good to being great?’ We deliver a quality service but how do we continue to drive partnerships built on what’s important to us - Openness, Constant Feedback, On-Going Communication and Quality Service.  More importantly, how can we demonstrate this?  After researching the customer service and quality market we decided that Customer First fit perfectly with what we needed and will be a great reflection of what our brand stands for”


There is a clear connection with conflict management in the workplace and customer service, especially in today’s difficult economic environment where businesses are taking a step back to review their spend and unfortunately, cut costs in areas such as staffing. Today it has been recorded that a hundred thousand people a month in the UK have either been made redundant or have had roles restructured to ensure business is sustainable.

Walking the talk

TCM have experienced a number of different reasons for conflict in the workplace, developing their services and products to support the needs of their clients, as David explains “we work with a number of different sectors from Call Centres to Retail, we see how the departure of some employees impacts on the morale of other employees, sometimes splitting teams in half and resulting in difficult or rebellious behaviour which management find difficult to handle. Unhappy, unmotivated and dis-engaged staff impacts on behaviour and ultimately on your customer’s experience, so we work with management teams to train them in how to deal with this kind of conflict. Our mediation schemes have been designed to move away from a grievance culture and towards a resolution culture so how we train on customer service is imperative to our business. In this way it is important that we demonstrate that we practice what we preach and Customer First accreditation will be a significant way to show our customers that we indeed, walk the walk and talk the talk”.

A great investment

Working towards Customer First David sums up; “The TCM Group are extremely excited about the prospect of Customer First, when we are constantly surrounded by depressing reports of depleting levels of economic growth it is important that we keep our chin up and take accountability for motivating our own success, Customer First is a great investment, an investment that we believe will strengthen  economic growth through the reflection of great service and gives small business owners a clear message that we can endure and shine, even in the midst of these dark times”.

Please click here to view the orignal case study on the Customer First website

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Contact David Liddle at The TCM Group:
0207 404 7011
david.liddle@thetcmgroup.com
www.thetcmgroup.com


Contact Customer First:
0845 226 0719
enquiries@customerfirst.org
www.customerfirst.org