Showcasing excellence: how GBC accredited organisations demonstrate their commitment to their customers

9th September, 2024

Whether you have customers, clients, members, beneficiaries or the public as the people that you serve in running your organisation, they should be at the heart of what you do, and the GBC believes a responsible business treats people well. It is a mark of respect to treat your customers or beneficiaries fairly and deal appropriately with complaints. In a competitive environment, good customer service will give your organisation an advantage of course, but it is also a strong indicator of the culture of your organisations. 

We spoke to some of our accredited organisations to explore their proactive efforts in meeting the GBC customer commitment component and communicating their commitment as part of their accreditation, to help inspire other organisations. 

Dedicated customer commitment webpages 

Legal & General is a leading UK financial services group and major global investor.
Richer Sounds is a British home entertainment retailer operating from 51 stores nationwide, online and via their Telesales and Business to Business departments.
Axminster Tools offer an extensive range of quality woodworking tools, machinery and workshop consumables.

Legal and General, Richer Sounds and Axminster Tools’ commitment to exceeding customer expectations in terms of performance, quality and innovation is clearly demonstrated through their dedicated customer pages, outlining their ethos and practices: 

These pages are excellent representations of their customer-centric approaches and they demonstrate a strong commitment to their customers, effectively communicating their dedication to delivering exceptional service, upholding ethical values, and fostering a supportive and knowledgeable community.  

Annual reporting 

Schroders Personal Wealth (SPW) is a national wealth management business. 

Similarly, Schroders Personal Wealth sets out its commitment to customers, or clients as they call them, on page 7 of their annual responsible business report, which includes a commitment statement and their customer satisfaction score.  

In addition, this report provides substantial benefits to their clients by offering a wider transparent and comprehensive overview of the company’s commitment to ethical practices, and responsible business operations, as well as customer satisfaction. It offers insights into the company’s dedication to excellence, ethical practices and continuous improvement. They say that transparency helps build a stronger, trust-based relationship between Schroders Personal Wealth and its clients.   

Commitment to Beneficiaries and Funders

Silver Birch Care  provides supported living services for looked after young people aged 16 years+ and works with local authorities and county councils. 

They clearly set out their commitments to their beneficiaries, the young people they provide a service for here. Including setting out their commitment to provide the highest standards of support and the opportunities for young people to share their views, feedback, compliments and complaints. 

They also have a mechanism “to request regular feedback from the local authorities we serve, so that we can continually look at ways to improve our services”. 

These examples of GBC accredited organisations clearly communicating their commitments to their customers, members and beneficiaries and of having accessible and proactive complaints procedures and feedback mechanisms, demonstrates the high level of ‘Commitment to Customers’ that we expect of our GBC accredited organisations. For further inspiration on how you can demonstrate your commitment to your customers, please visit our component page