RECOGNISING LEADERS IN SERVICE EXCELLENCE
The Australian Services Excellence Awards (ASEAs) are Australia’s premier customer service awards program, attracting hundreds of nominations each year and culminating with attendees coming together each year at the ASEAs Gala Dinner to recognise best practice, performance and innovation in customer service, highlighting their importance in today’s business climate.
2021 ASEAs Key Dates
February 1st - Nominations Open
May 31st - Nominations Close
June 15th - Finalists Announced
July to September - Finalist Judging
October TBA - 21st Annual ASEA Gala & Winners Announced
Award Categories
Individuals
Customer Service Executive of the Year
This Award is open to C-level executives who seek to drive customer centricity within the organisation, including Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Managing Directors, Chief Operating Officers (COOs), Executive General Managers, and Vice Presidents of Customer Service.
Customer Service Manager of the Year
This Award suits individuals with roles behind the frontline but below C-level, and can include Customer Service Managers and Customer Experience Managers.
Customer Service Leader of the Year
This category is aimed at leaders managing a team that services internal or external customers. While they might also take a frontline role in working with customers, their role is predominantly focused on managing a team of frontline service professionals.
Customer Service Professional of the Year
This award champions individuals who deliver customer service everyday - frontline team members who work with internal or external customers.
Customer Service Advocate of the Year
Advocate of the Year is aimed at recognising customer champions at any level in a business, from the frontline to the C-suite. These individuals demonstrate true passion for customer service excellence in everything that they do, and inspire work colleagues with their zeal and commitment.
Organisations
Customer Service Project of the Year
Project of the Year recognises specific and distinct projects completed in the 12 months preceding the Awards which demonstrate innovative problem solving and an improvement to customer service delivery and/or business performance as a result.
Customer Service Team of the Year
This category targets groups of individuals in an organisation that have delivered a demonstrated improvement to customer service delivery and/or business performance. Unlike the Project of the Year, this award is focused on a team of individuals that, by working together, have created a benchmark for how customer service should be delivered by an organisation.
Service Excellence in a Small Contact Centre
This award recognises frontline teams with fewer than 20 seats in smaller contact centres.
Service Excellence in Medium Contact Centre
This category recognises frontline teams of 20 to 100 staff in mid-size contact centres.
Service Excellence in a Large Contact Centre
This award recognises frontline teams of more than 100 staff in larger contact centres, for the critical role they play in customer service delivery.
Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Small Business
Targeting businesses (or autonomous divisions or business units) with fewer than 90 full-time employees, this award recognises smaller organisations in the Australian market.
Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Medium Business
Like the Large Business category, this award recognises organisations that have championed customer service throughout the business in the past year, but targets businesses (or autonomous divisions or business units) with 90 to 500 full-time employees.
Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Large Business
This category recognises organisations that have championed customer service throughout the business in the past year, and is open to organisations (or autonomous divisions or business units) with more than 500 full-time employees.
Customer Service Organisation of the Year - Government/Not-for-Profit
CSIA understands that there are specific legislative requirements and budget limitations for government and not-for-profit organisations that mean customer service excellence needs to be delivered in a different (and often creative) way. This category levels the playing field in providing a specific category for these vital organisations.
Why Enter
Becoming a finalist and winning an award illustrates the highest standards of commitment to customer service excellence.
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Recognise your organisation’s achievements in customer service and enhancing your reputation with customers and competitors.
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Enhance your organisation’s customer service focus, building both a greater confidence in working with customers and increased customer satisfaction levels.
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Acknowledge and reward key team members for their contribution to the organisation.
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Support CSIA in building the profile and legitimacy of customer service as a true profession.
Who Can Enter?
As Australia’s premier customer service organisation, CSIA is dedicated to championing customer service across all organisations, whether it is a business of one employee or one thousand. The ASEAs are open to all individuals and organisations servicing Australians. The Australian Service Excellence Awards recognise individuals at all levels within organisations, as well as big corporations right through to small businesses.
Nomination Information
Organisations and individuals must nominate online.
All nominations must be supported with a fully completed nomination form. You can include supporting documentation as part of your nomination, but be aware that there is a 2,500 word limit for all submissions.
Helpful hints to complete your nomination submission
While the criteria for a becoming a finalist varies across the categories, successful nominations will:
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Provide a clear explanation of the organisation, its customers and the customer service challenges it faces.
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Demonstrate a passion for exceeding customer expectations and achieving customer service excellence within an organisation, a team or an individual, including the positive impact it has on the whole organisation’s approach to customer service.
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Provide an accurate description of the breadth and depth of activities and/or projects e.g. how many customers are impacted and how large is the project within the business?
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Show the effectiveness of people and programs e.g. what results have been delivered by the nominee and their work?
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Demonstrate continuous review and improvement of individual and program work.
Judging Criteria
The criteria for judging is based on the International Customer Service Standard (ICSS:2020-2025), a framework of 24 elements that can be applied equally to government, not-for-profit and for-profit organisations of all sizes and across industry sectors. Using a balanced scorecard approach, these 24 elements measures can be grouped into four distinct perspectives.
Address these four perspectives, providing an overview of the individual, team, project, or organisation and explain their performance in the last year in relation to the perspectives.
Learning and growth perspective
Culture
How do you create a culture of customer service and what do you put into it?
Operational perspective
Consistency
How do you ensure consistency in the delivery of customer service?
Service
perspective
Quality
How do you deliver a high quality of customer service in your organisation?
Financial
perspective
Performance
How does customer service impact business performance
To get a copy of the ICSS contact the CSIA team at awards@csia.com.au
Judging Committee
The ASEAs Judging Committee consists of a Lead Judge appointed by CSIA’s Board and Guest Judges who are CSIA members who have successfully applied to join the judging committee; and CSIA Certified Practitioners.
Judging Process
Nominations Evaluation
The Judging Committee evaluates all nomination submissions and shortlists 3-5 individuals or organisations as finalists in each category.
Finalist Site Visits (Organisations)
The Judging Committee will visit the finalist’s nominated site where the organisation has the opportunity to showcase their nomination. This can include a formal presentation, Q&A, site tour or customer showcase.
Finalist Interviews (Individuals)
Individual Finalists are interviewed either on-site or at a CSIA branch office by the ASEAs Judging Committee. This interview is designed to enable the finalist to showcase both their expertise and passion for customer service.
What do finalists receive
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National recognition of service excellence achievement
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Permission to display the Australian Service Excellence Awards Finalists Logo on company stationery and marketing material
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A CSIA media kit to support your organisation’s promotional efforts
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A framed certificate and letter of support from Prime Minister of Australia
Entry Fees - 2021 ASEAs
Members
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Individual nomination - $195 (including GST)
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Organisation nomination - $595 (including GST)
Non-members
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Individual nomination - $285 (including GST)
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Organisation nomination - $745 (including GST
It's important to note that individual CSIA member discounts only apply to the nominee, not the nominator. Further, individual CSIA members' do not receive discounts for organisation-level (corporate) nominations. Any fees incurred to participate in the judging process (e.g. travel to and from interview site for individuals) are the responsibility of the entrant.
Nominate Now
Nominations for the 2021 Australian Service Excellence Awards are now open.
Where service meets success
Two of ASEA winners talk about how entering the Australian Service Excellence Awards supported their customer focus journey.