A global pandemic transformed our world overnight as organisations mobilised thousands of employees to work from home, fast-tracked IT and technology deployments in days and weeks instead of years, and built itself around the customer operations team as the realisation dawned on the value of connecting with customers.

In just 12 short weeks our learning and understanding of what’s important in customer service has accelerated at an unrecognisable pace.

Over the same period enquiries have become more complex and the need for empathetic skills is crucial.

Organisations have turned to CCA for the reassurance they need. Our USP is our reach and power to connect all member organisations with each other.

The CCA Global Standard© is a progressive industry accreditation which challenges organisations to raise the bar and bring everyone in the enterprise closer to customers.

It provides a valuable toolkit for those seeking to transition to new models and provides solid guidance on customer experience measurement, dealing with vulnerability, homeworking and other models, employee engagement and wellbeing.

Until Covid-19 struck, the assessment practice was to visit sites in person, engaging with teams, reviewing evidence and documentation, and carrying out the necessary checks and guidance to complete the review of the customer service operation.

More than 18 months ago, a virtual assessment process was introduced to assess and accredit customer operations in India, China and Mexico. This provided a testbed for a new way of assessing today.

The disruption caused by Covid-19 does not look likely to subside in the short to medium term, we expect demand for virtual assessments to increase sharply and we are increasing our assessor resource accordingly.

There has been a surge in organisations considering adopting CCA Global Standard during the pandemic. For many years, organisations have used CCA Global Standard to help anchor best practice through periods of change and disruption. This is never truer than today.