Pioneering Accreditation For Coloplast Customer Care Trainer

Aug. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Staff at Peterborough-based medical devices company Coloplast (www.coloplast.com) go out of their way to provide the highest standards of service and support to product users and other customers.

Much of the credit for that is due to the high quality of training given to the 70 customer care team members by customer service trainer Theresa Vallier.

Now Theresa’s achievements have been recognised with a pioneering accreditation for individual trainers who work in customer service from the Customer Service Training Network (CSTN).

Don Hales, CSTN chief executive, said: “This accreditation recognises and enhances the standing and skills of customer service trainers like Theresa at Coloplast and the importance of the work they do.”

The CSTN trainer accreditation scheme is endorsed by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), the UK’s independent, professional membership body for customer service.

Coloplast’s customer care team is the first port of call for people who require advice, support, information and reassurance about products provided by the company which help to make their lives easier.

Theresa works with and supports customer care staff from their induction into the company through to continuous learning and development. Her training programme focuses on products, company systems, anatomy and physiology and emphasises the Coloplast ethos of always delivering the best-possible service.

Theresa said: “It’s my role to ensure they have everything they need to make life easier for all our customers. As a team we receive 3,500 calls, on average, every day and we aim to provide the perfect customer experience every time.”

Theresa is one of the first seven customer service trainers in the UK to achieve CSTN accreditation. The award entitles her to free, three-year individual membership of both the CSTN and the ICS.

To achieve her accreditation Theresa had to demonstrate that the training she provides to colleagues meets the industry standards set by the CSTN. Her approach and training methods were scrutinised during interviews and a full-day of observation and assessment.

The CSTN scheme is the first to accredit individual customer service trainers rather than accrediting the customer training programmes themselves.

Theresa has worked at Coloplast in Peterborough for 15 years, spending her first nine years as a member of the customer care team. She has been responsible for the training and professional development of the customer care team since 2006.

This is her second major award this year. She was recently presented with an award for PRIDE – personal responsibility in delivering excellence – a Coloplast initiative to recognise and reward hard work and dedication by staff who have made special efforts in the pursuit of excellence at work.

Coloplast general manager Sue Kernahan said: “These are both fantastic achievements and we are proud of Theresa’s important contributions both in helping to develop colleagues and in the continuing growth and success of the company.

“She is a complete professional and this independent accreditation of her work – which follows her PRIDE award – is truly well deserved.”

Customer care manager at Peterborough Vince Quarizzo added: “To achieve the accreditation Theresa had to demonstrate that she met agreed standards. She was subjected to scrutiny by interview and a full training observation and assessment by external assessors.”

Coloplast places a strong emphasis on training and developing staff to help them improve their performance at work and to achieve their potential. All employees have a Personal Development Plan and are encouraged to identify areas and learning activities that will help them to develop their role.

Theresa discussed with UK training manager Wendy Lister the possibility of working for an accreditation which would show that the training she provides is of a knowledgeable, professional and competent standard.

“Wendy felt that the CSTN accreditation would be ideal,” she said. “She knew I wanted to get an independent professional endorsement of my work and how I do it. We looked at various qualifications and ways to raise my profile and to demonstrate the quality of training provided to the customer care team.

“Personally, I’m delighted because my work has been recognised and acknowledged by two professional, external organisations. It shows that I am training and developing Coloplast staff to the high standards of industry best practice set by these bodies.”

Theresa said Coloplast had provided excellent support. Apart from funding the accreditation, the company has supported her continuous professional development and identified further opportunities to ensure she continues to excel in the field of training and development.

She added: “I’ve always been proud to work at Coloplast because the company actively supports and encourages people to be the best they can be in everything they undertake at work”.

Theresa is married to Dominic and they have two children, Matthew, 11, and Isabel, 6. The family lives in Stilton.

If you are interested in joining a company that is recognised in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, has won awards for people development, cares for its customers and genuinely recognises and rewards success, visit www.jobsatcoloplast.com