Stephanie Edwards

Member Since: 17th Sep 2007
After 15 years in Higher Education both in Business Development and Marketing I set up Customer 1st International in 2005. Through my 7 years of working with the Institute of Customer Service I became a Subject Matter Expert in customer service for Accenture (USA) developing 6 e-learning programmes for Unilever. Last year I launched two accredited, tutor led, on-line awards in customer service based on my two best sellers “The Best Practice Guide for Customer Service Professionals 2006,” and “The Best Practice Guide for Customer Service Managers 2009”.
I specialise in helping organisations, globally, to become more customer focused by helping them to develop customer focused strategies and customising quality learning resources for all their people. I have also written " Welcome Management" and "Lead, Motivate and Succeed" for the English Tourist Council and whilst working with the Institute of Customer Service I initiated ICS Service Focus, two training courses delivered by Business Partners.
This past year my team have worked with Accenture (USA) Unilever plc, BAT and MTN Africa, which is particularly exciting as we are delivering our on-line awards to over 2000 people. I have judged for the National Customer Service Awards and the Tourism South East Awards.
Recently I have been asked to contribute to articles on My Customer.Com and my next 2 speaking engagements are in Africa and Dubai.
I also work for a UK Awarding body writing qualifications. My passion is helping organisations to succeed by motivating and inspiring their workforce to deliver exceptional customer service making a real difference for the business.
Director Customer 1st International Ltd (UK)
14th May 2019
The 10 strategy tenets of developing a customer-driven workforce
Turning a customer service strategy into reality is a key challenge for organisations. Today, most senior managers realise that customer...
Contact centres
19th Feb 2018
12 ways to ensure your internal customers look after your external customers
In a previous article I spoke of the importance of recruiting 'Service Champions' and in this article I want to emphasise just how...
Management
13th Mar 2014
Is it time to ditch the annual customer service training day?
Should we move on from the one-day customer service training course? Although elearning, in various forms, has been around for many years,...
Contact centres
25th Oct 2010
Why customer service is the most important competition at the 2012 Olympics
Whether the London 2012 Games will be an opportunity or threat to the UK economy could rest on whether we're prepared to offer world class...
Management
3rd Jun 2010
Five steps to building a better relationship with B2B customers
Stephanie Edwards explores the typical deficiencies of customer service encountered by B2B customers - and how to rectify these...
Channels
11th Dec 2009
The pursuit of customer-centricity: What are service leaders - and where can I find them?
Recently I talked about service leaders and managers who can make or break an organisation’s values (see The 10 strategy tenets for...
Management
10th Aug 2009
Six ways to transform your customer service
What can customer service leaders and managers do that will really make the difference in motivating employees to behave in the right way?...
Management