Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Customer Service Excellence Certification

Available to companies and organisations in any sector, Customer Service Excellence operates on three levels. 

It is a means to benchmark user experience against a national framework, an opportunity to develop customer service skills, and a valuable tool for those striving to be the best they can be.

Centre for Assessment offers robust assessments against the Customer Service Excellence Standard.

Request a Quote

Request a free, no-obligation quote for CSE Certification.

What is Customer Service Excellence?
CSE
What is Customer Service Excellence?
All of us work with customers. There are those internal colleagues, team members, managers with whom we transact daily. We also have external ‘consumers’ or ’end-users’ of our products or, based on our industry/profession, ‘clients’, ‘patients’, ‘students’, ‘residents’ or a different term. Whichever word your business/organisation uses for ‘customers’, they are an essential part of what we do and why we do it.

Recognising customer groups and evaluating their needs and expectations is the heart of the Customer Service Excellence Standard.

Designed to challenge organisational culture in relation to the focus on internal/external customers and based on extensive research, the national framework provides an opportunity to benchmark what you are doing, ensuring that you are providing a first-class service.

Whether you seek external recognition for excellent practice and/or a practical tool for continuous improvement, Customer Service Excellence will help you measure the quality of your service and meet your objectives.

Make an enquiry
Have a Question?

Speak to our team on 0161 237 4080

How can CSE benefit your organisation?

Customer Service Excellence is a framework of 57 elements grouped in five criteria:

  1. Customer insight
  2. Organisational culture
  3. Information and access
  4. Delivery
  5. Timeliness and quality of service

These cover every aspect of customer service, including customer journey mapping, complaints, first contact resolution, data protection, social responsibility/engaging communities, innovation and much more

Implementing CSE and having us complete an assessment against the Standard has many potential benefits. Certification may enable you to:
  • act as a beacon for others in your sector;
  • benchmark your service against a national framework;
  • continuously develop your service, based on customer need;
  • demonstrate excellence in your customer experience;
  • drive a customer-focused culture within your organisation;
  • gain an advantage over your competitors;
  • increase customer satisfaction and retention;
  • receive external recognition for best practice within your organisation;
  • reduce complaints;
  • reduce inefficiency, saving time and money;
  • up-skill your staff through improved recruitment, training and retention processes.
Make an enquiry
Who is Customer Service Excellence for?
Introduced by the Cabinet Office in 2008, Customer Service Excellence was intended to promote a customer-focused culture within the public sector, replacing the Charter Mark scheme. It is now incredibly popular with Whitehall departments, local authorities, universities and colleges, housing associations, regulatory bodies and many others.
It is also building popularity across the private and third sectors, with new clients coming forward daily. Centre for Assessment works with the retail, travel, legal, marketing, print, care, financial, charity and several other sectors. Customer Service/User Experience professionals in companies/organisations of any shape and size should consider achieving the Customer Service Excellence award.
Make an enquiry
Why work with CfA for CSE
Why you should work with Centre for Assessment?
Centre for Assessment is a licensed certification body, working on behalf of the Cabinet Office to assess and certify organisations to the Customer Service Excellence Standard. We are also regulated by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ensure our work is impartial, value-adding and rigorous.

We can assist your whole journey from initial research into whether CSE is right for you – and whether this is the right time to apply – through to bespoke workshops and awareness sessions, pre-assessment services and post-assessment support.

Customer Service Excellence needs to work for everyone associated with your organisation. Contact us to discover more.

Have a Question?

Speak to our team on 0161 237 4080

CSE Networking Groups
Centre for Assessment has setup a range of networking groups to help holders of CSE gain more value from their certification.

CSE-certified organisation in the public, housing or library service sector are welcome and encouraged to come to our in-person or online networking groups.  This is a great opportunity for you to connect with like-minded colleague, share your experiences of CSE certification, and gain practical ideas that you can take back to your organisation. 

Read more here 

Make an enquiry
CSE other services
What other services can we help you with?

Customer Service Excellence is a complete framework to ensure the experience of your customers/service users is the best it can be.

It complements and enhances several of Centre for Assessment’s other products such as Lexcel and ISO 9001. We may be able to complete consecutive assessments against multiple Standards, minimising any potential disruption to your day-to-day activities.

Customer Service Excellence also links closely with the British Standards around Valuing People.

We would encourage you to consider how multiple Standards can work in parallel to strengthen your business or organisation.

Make an enquiry
Make an enquiry
Latest News
proud to be part of The Growth Company