About CST Awards 2010

The CST Awards 2010 are proud to be endorsed by:

Awards International Ltd. and the Customer Service Training Association (CSTA)

Awards International and the Customer Service Training Association (CSTA) are working in partnership to present the CST AWARDS 2010.

• The Customer Service Training Association (CSTA)

• Awards International Ltd

• The Customer Service Training Awards 2010 (CST Awards 2010)

• Unique presentation day

• Categories

• Criteria

• Judging

• Benchmark report

• Price

• Key dates

1. The Customer Service Training Association (CSTA)

   The CSTA is a self administered membership body formed by Don Hales in 2007 to enable those involved in customer service training and associated activities to:

   • meet on a regular basis and share ideas
   • listen to great presentations
   • keep up to date with latest developments and
   • develop a network of colleagues in various organisations to call upon when necessary
   • the association is open to everyone who has an interest in customer service training provided they respect the aims of the membership

   Best practice in customer service, leading edge training techniques, service excellence, staff retention and satisfaction are all key issues for members as are customer retention, customer satisfaction and the effect of customer service on the bottom-line. All of these issues feature on the agenda at CSTA meetings.

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2. Awards International Ltd

   Awards International’s purpose is to recognise excellence in business and promote positive recognition and celebration of personal and professional achievement through operating Awards Programmes.
   Awards International is unique because of its’ exclusive focus on the operation of Awards programmes. No one else offers this focus combined with the breadth and depth of experience in this area.
   Awards International offers excellence in evaluation and selection, marketing, communication and events management.

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3. The Customer Service Training Awards 2010 (CST Awards 2010)

   CST Awards 2010 is an Awards programme solely for customer service trainers, designed to recognise the importance of this function and to promote best practice and the sharing of ideas.

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4. Unique presentation day

   A key delivery of the programme is the presentation event. The plans for this important element of the programme are particularly innovative for the following reasons:

   The main event will be a lunch, rather than a dinner. This will reduce costs for finalists. More dramatically, it is intended to hold the finals on the morning of the Presentation lunch. This saves finalists having to travel to a central location twice – once for the finals and once for the Presentation. It also adds to the excitement of the day. Furthermore all entrants are to be invited to the presentation day and those not attending as finalists will be invited to join one of the judging panels.

   The presentation day will take place at one of the most exciting new hotels in the country – the magnificent Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow Terminal 5. For more information click here: Sofitel Hotel

   This spectacular venue can provide all the facilities we need including all the breakout rooms. The date for this event is 27th September 2010 – put it in your diary now.

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5. Categories

   The categories will be sector driven and there will be two Awards for each sector – one for an individual customer service trainer and the other for a customer service team. Their will also be an overall winner for both team and individual, special categories for a young customer service trainer and newcomer plus “Trainer of Trainers! Award and finally a Lifetime Achievement Award for someone who has made an outstanding contribution to customer service training over many years.

   The categories are as under:

   1. Customer Service Trainer of the Year – Contact Centre, Financial Services and Technology
   2. Customer Service Trainer of the Year – Commercial Trainer/Travel
   3. Customer Service Trainer of the Year – Training Rookie of the Year
   4. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – Retail/Travel/Utilities
   5. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – Contact Centres
   6. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – Financial Services – Banking and Finance
   7. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – Financial Services – Insurance/Assurance
   8. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – General/Technology/Commercial Training
   9. Customer Service Training Team of the Year – Public Sector

   Note: There are special categories for Commercial Trainers and Contact Centre Trainers but this does not exclude trainers in these positions from entering specific sector categories as appropriate

6. Criteria

   Judging criteria for individual and team categories:

   • Needs Analysis (i.e. ability to identify training needs to meet the objectives of the organisation)
   • Creativity and Innovation – in delivering training and coaching and/or designing training courses
   • Teamwork (both with other members of the training team and with management and trainees)
   • People development
   • Personal development
   • Results

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7. Judging

   The Awards event will comprise judging and presentation at the same event.

   The four finalists will be chosen for each category (with two Highly Commended as runners-up). All entrants (normally the lead name in case of team entries) will be able to attend the Awards presentation event and will be invited to join one of the judging panels.

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8. Benchmark report

   All entries submitted correctly, will receive a benchmark report. As we all know, “feedback is the breakfast of champions!” We know great customer service people love feedback, whether they are doing well or things aren’t quite going to plan.

   The benchmark report will be individual to your entry. It will be based on the scores allocated by the judges on the presentation day and will include comments and show how you did, compared with the scores of other entries.

   Feedback will be given for all entries. For non-finalists, the comparison point will be the lowest scoring finalist. For the finalists the score will be against the winner. For the winner the report will be against the average score of the finalists.

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9. Price

   The award entry fee will be £245 plus VAT and includes:

   • Payment for one entry to the CST Awards 2010, we will provide you with the entry form for completion
   • An invitation to the Awards Presentation event, either as a finalist, a judge or guest. This price covers the day delegate rate including lunch and coffee for one person attending the event.
   • A feedback report sent via email

   For additional guests the cost of attending the Awards Presentation event will be £125. However, each finalist may bring up to nine colleagues for just £110 each. All prices are subject to VAT at the applicable rate.

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10. Key dates

    Awards open for Nominations	1st February 2010
    Awards close for Nominations	11th June 2010
    Final date for submission of entries	11th June 2010
    Announcement of Finalists	21st June 2010
    Finals & Awards Presentation day	27th September 2010

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