Nina Ferguson became the City of Edinburgh Council's first Customer Service Professional graduate in May 2010 while working in the Revenues & Benefits Contact Centre.
Developed by Scottish local government and led by Renfrewshire Council and the Improvement Service, Customer Service Professional is the only local government-led online qualification certificated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
Nina has since taken up a promoted post with Midlothian Council's Revenues & Benefits department, demonstrating one of the key features of the award-winning qualification – its portability across Scottish local government.
"The qualification is accepted by every Scottish council. So, when I applied for the role of Revenues Officer at Midlothian, my Award was recognised," said Nina.
"In my new role, I will take part in interviews with members of the public, sometimes dealing with very sensitive issues. The experience I have gained through the qualification will help me deal with these difficult situations. The qualification has definitely improved my knowledge and understanding of customer service, and I would certainly recommend it to colleagues."
By developing council staff to deal with more service requests at the first time of asking, the Customer Service Professional aims to improve customer satisfaction levels. Online learning is already transforming performance in local government, achieving cost savings of up to 66% compared with traditional classroom-based teaching.
Endorsed by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Customer Service Professional qualifications are available for customer-facing staff in Scottish councils at Award, Certificate and, shortly, at Diploma levels.
More information
For more information contact Iain Sloan, Business Development Manager: Customer Service Professional Qualifications on 01506 775582.
