Great way to expand your network

The first time she participated in our events was 2 years ago. She and her team entered in the UK Complaint Handling Awards. ‘’The first event I attended was the 2018 Complaint Handling Awards. I submitted an entry in the Complaints Team of the Year category and the Managing People category. The whole process was very professional and well organised with lots of support available when needed from the Awards International team. I was delighted that we made it through to the final and whilst I couldn’t make it to the awards ceremony, my team had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the event. We won gold in the Complaints Team of the Year category, silver in Managing People and bronze overall. The following year I presented my team’s complaints transformation journey at the winning with complaint handling conference. I was really proud to represent my team at this event and to tell our story.’’

She then applied and been accepted as one of the judges at the UK CHA. 

‘’Finally, I was really delighted to be a judge at this year’s Complaint Handling Awards. This event was really well organised and as a first-time judge, I really enjoyed the event and the opportunity to meet colleagues from other industries. The awards lunch was fantastic – a really great atmosphere and wonderful to celebrate the achievements of so many great organisations who have truly transformed the customer experience.’’

Amanda thinks that events like ours are great for meeting peers and has a suggestion what to do since you can’t meet everyone. 

‘’The networking opportunities are great when it comes to events like this. Whether you are entering the awards or judging, it’s a great way to expand your network and to get to know new people. Whilst you don’t always have a chance to speak to everyone at an event, it’s easy to follow up afterwards and I have always found people very receptive.’’

She recently reached out to contacts she made at UKCHA while working on a project for a company she worked for. 

‘’I reached out fairly recently to my complaint handling network when I was doing a piece of work to improve front line complaint handling. I wanted to make sure I looked outside of the organisation I worked in so that I had an external view of best practice. I got in touch with some of the contacts I had made from other industries who had also won awards as well as some of the speakers and judges. This proved to be invaluable as not only did I pick up some really great best practice, but my recommendations were seen by senior stakeholders as more credible as I had taken the time to seek out an external view.’’

 And, of course, we were interested to find out what are her next plans and can’t wait to see her again. 

‘’I am really excited to be starting a new role on 1st May, heading up another complaints organisation. I would love to enter the awards again with my new team, so watch this space :)’’

If you have a story to tell – CONTACT US! We would be more than happy to hear what you have to say and to share it with the rest of the Awards International world.