Leading UK housebuilder Redrow has secured a prestigious accolade for its commitment to high-quality customer service.

The business was presented with the Social Customer Service Team of the Year award at the 2019 UKCCF Awards last week.

The annual awards, held by the UK Contact Centre Forum (UKCCF), aim to recognise individuals, teams and company best practice amongst the 6,000+ contact centres based across the UK, rewarding innovation, teamwork, employee engagement, and the delivery of high-quality customer experiences.

Redrow beat off competition including TalkTalk and Virgin Trains to claim the cross-sector award for its innovative take on social media with platform provider CrowdControlHQ.

The housebuilder has trained more than 150 of its employees from divisions across England and Wales, from diverse functions including HR, Communications and Sales on its social media protocol and CrowdControlHQ platform. The judges praised Redrow for its strategy which allows customers to engage directly with the most relevant Redrow member, rather than a dedicated social media team. This approach has not only improved response rates, with average response times down from approximately two days to less than an hour during working hours, but it also improved the quality of responses. 

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Matt Grayson, Group Customer & Marketing Director, said: "Being named 'Social Customer Service Team of the Year' is a testament to the hard work and commitment that over 150 people across Redrow, from sales support to sustainability, have put into making this award win possible. The strength of our new approach is evident through the leading national businesses we successfully competed against and is a credit to everybody involved. 

"Social media is the plumbing of any large, national business, so it doesn't make sense to keep it siloed to a single social media team. By adapting our strategy and making social media everybody's business, our customers are provided with quick, personalised responses, by the right people."

Trevor Butterworth, CEO of UK Contact Centre Forum, commented: "The judges were impressed with Redrow's achievements and approach to social customer service.  On the one hand, social media has opened up a new world of opportunities for companies to engage with clients, partners, employees and others but on the other it has increased customer expectation. Redrow has innovatively adapted to meet these demands."

The 2019 UKCCF Awards took place at Milton Keynes Dons Football Club on Friday 25 September. 

(CM/MH)