IFC Fleet Services Group, which includes BBS Fleet Logistics and mileage management specialist Vertivia, has launched a new customer service qualification for all its clerical and customer-facing staff.

The new initiative is part of an EU-backed training scheme called ‘Skills Support for the Workforce’, and awards staff who successfully complete the course with a Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Customer Service at the end of it.

The qualification has been made available to all a wide array of Group staff, including credit controllers, claims handlers, maintenance controllers, account managers, workshop operatives and delivery drivers.

The qualification course includes four full day’s training in a series of customer service-related modules, including impression and image, delivery, handling problems and development and improvement.

Qualification typically takes around six months and the training is designed to deliver a series of benefits to the organisation and its customers such as: improved customer perception of the business; improved staff retention; more motivated workforce; and improved levels of customer service and longevity.

As a result of achieving the qualification, staff are deemed to be capable of communicating more effectively with customers, giving customers a more positive impression of the business, and promoting additional products and services to customers.

The new customer service qualification is seen as an integral part of the Group’s ongoing development and its continued investment in its staff.

Sales director Paul Chater said: “The first thing to say is that we haven’t launched our new training initiative because we believe our staff are not very good at customer service. The reverse is actually true and we have every confidence in them.

“What we wanted to do was provide our very hard-working people with the opportunity to achieve a recognised qualification in customer service as tangible proof of how good they actually are in providing our customers with the very highest level of service.

“Over the initial stages of the courses, the trainers have told us how impressed they have been with the levels of passion, commitment and skills that our staff have demonstrated, and the knowledge levels that they have shown.

“Although it’s still early days yet, the courses have been very well received and attendance has been very high across the Group,” he added.

IFC Fleet Services Group, which has around 15,000 drivers under management, was first launched by managing director Paul Talbot in 2001 and provides outsourced fleet and associated services to the fleet industry.

The Group has grown to its current size through the acquisition of logistical support company, BBS Fleet Logistics, based near Bedford, in 2004, and the launch of mileage capture specialist, Vertivia, in 2008.

It recently completed the strategic acquisition of Cambridge-based fleet management services provider, Spectrum Car Scheme Management, which increased its managed fleet size by around 20%.