Published on: Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
During National Customer Service Week from 2nd - 6th March, Abellio Greater Anglia asked regular travellers to nominate the station teams or individuals across the network who go the extra mile to make passengers’ journeys pleasant and stress-free or who have gone the extra mile to offer assistance or make a difference.
Angela Milton, who has worked in the ticket office for six years, received 21 nominations from regular station users who appreciate her friendly and helpful manner.
One customer commented, “I would like to nominate Angela Milton who works at Great Shelford train station for a customer service award. Angela always greets you will a big smile and a warm welcome no matter the weather or the hour. I only travel from the station once a week but she always remembers my destination unprompted. That sort of customer service is very rare in this day and age. I hope she receives an award as a recognition of her outstanding customer service.”
The awards were judged by the Abellio Greater Anglia Leadership Team who assessed each nominee for, amongst other criteria, the effort they make to exceed customer expectations and the level to which they know the value of excellent service to the business.
Angela, from Littleport, has completed a total of 19 years working in the rail industry working at stations and ticket offices across the country. Over the years, she has worked hard to create a pleasant and welcoming environment for passengers at Shelford station. Some of her activities have included a creating a library in the ticket office, putting on a Christmas party, tending to the flowers and offering free refreshments, all in addition to her ‘day job’ selling tickets, providing assistance to passengers and keeping the station tidy.
On winning the award, Angela commented, “What I enjoy about my job is solving problems for customers, surprising them with cheap tickets because I have the time and interest to sit down and look at all connotations to a journey, making travel easier, cheaper and enjoyable.
“If a customer has complicated tickets, I arrange for them to come after I close, so they don’t feel pressured by a queue. I also take details of any long journeys and watch for when the cheap tickets become available, then ring the customer straight away, so that we can get the best value deal.
“Shelford is special because I have put my individual stamp on it. It was an empty space previously but now we have a library, lovely pictures of steam trains on the wall, a community notice board, flower tubs, bowls of sweets and often fresh fruit.
“Some of the villagers pop in just for a chat. I have been known to ring or visit customers that I haven’t seen in a while to make sure that they are ok, and send get well cards if they are sick.
“To receive nominations from my customers is lovely and shows they appreciate all the extra things that I do at the station.”
Jamie Burles, Abellio Greater Anglia’s Managing Director, said, “I would like to offer my congratulations and gratitude to all the teams and individuals who were nominated for a Customer Service Week award. I am very proud of our engaged employees across the network who do their upmost to exceed our customers’ expectations every day.”
Delivering excellent customer service is a priority for Abellio Greater Anglia and since the franchise began the train operator has invested in a training programme that has seen all front line staff taking part in a two day Customer Service course.
Mystery shopping surveys have demonstrated that the training is having a positive effect with many staff achieving perfect scores of 100% when they are secretly assessed by mystery shoppers.