Section 1 - OVERVIEW

To make customer service a key priority for the shopping centre industry, BCSC are launching an accreditation scheme for training courses in customer care best practice. The training courses will be designed for all employees involved in daily operation of shopping centre management, from staff at the upper management level to the operational staff working in areas such as facility maintenance, security, etc. Through the training courses all participants are expected to gain a thorough understanding of customer care and its practical implementation in the context of their respective responsibilities in their shopping centre. Individuals who attend the course will be provided with a BCSC certification.

Prior to this scheme the BCSC commissioned a research project looking into the area of customer care, which produced the Guide to Customer Care Best Practice (summarised in Table 1). The report outlines the Core Competencies in Customer Care Best Practice, which are grouped under the following headings and key to delivering best practice in customer care:

1. Culture, people and management
2. Understanding consumers
3. Understanding consumer needs through research
4. The consumer shopping experience – the journey
5. Other stakeholders

The Accreditation Scheme is designed to establish training courses on shopping centre customer care that sufficiently cover these Core Competencies, it is also designed to guarantee that the training providers have the ability and resources to deliver these courses adequately.

This handbook has been produced to provide guidance notes for applicants applying for accreditation of their customer care courses. A description of the Core Competencies that proposed courses should reflect are summarised in Table 2.

The guidance is organised as follows:

• Details of the course requirements
• Details of the accreditation process
• A guide to submitting the application for initial accreditation and re-accreditation
• A guide to other technical matters