Recognition

This week is National Customer Services Week, or CSW, an opportunity to celebrate the relationship that all businesses have with their customers. I have been a member of the Institute of Customer Service for many years now and this week is one of the highlights of their calendar. More details can be found here.

This week then I am going to step out of my normal blog routine and focus on the five themes of Customer Service Week. Friday’s theme is the ‘Recognition.’

Now this one is hard for me. Not having swathes of people in the same company makes it more difficult to identify those stand-out characters yet over the last few months a large number of people have helped me out. Even a larger group have been supportive and so I am going to use this space in a rather self indulgent way to thank them. I will spare their blushes by not mentioning names, partly because there are too many to mention and also in case I miss someone out. They will know who they are as I have thanked them in person.

When I first started, Simon Goon, the then MD of Business Durham told me that the local business community people would be extremely generous with their time and their advice. Always I am reminded how right he was. Everyone I have met has listened to what I have to say, suggested people who it would be worth meeting and suggested ways in which they could help.

They have opened up new networks to me. They have helped me to hone my value proposition and they have helped to restore my confidence in what I am doing. Not that that was ever really under threat. Some have helped me by making it clear that there are roads I don’t want to go down.

These last few months have been amongst the most interesting in my whole career. I have met some great people and have been to some interesting and unusual places, some I would never have been to otherwise. Newcastle is filled with old and intriguing buildings. The North East is filled with compelling and engaging people. I am aiming to be one of them.

To all those people whose path I have crossed, a warm and heartfelt thank you. Let me know how I can help.