Imperial honours customer care champions

At the Imperial Logistics annual customer care awards, Sarah Krüger of Imperial Health Sciences was named the group’s 2016 Customer Care Champion, in recognition of her outstanding work with her client AstraZeneca.

A total of 90 entries were received from across the Imperial Logistics group for the 2016 ILC3 awards, as they have been dubbed.

The awards honour individuals who have elevated customer relationships to truly drive competitiveness, and who are committed to growing their customers’ businesses as if they were their own.

“Customer relationship building has been identified as one of the focus areas of our strategy, because we recognise that customers are the reason for our existence,” says business innovation executive, Anne-Marie van Wyk.

In addition to honouring Imperial’s overall Customer Care Champion for the year, the awards feature additional categories that recognise achievers who are going the extra mile in specific areas within the customer service sphere.

This year’s winner of the Arrow Award for Customer Satisfaction was Johnny le Roux, of Imperial Cargo Solutions, who has worked tirelessly to meet and exceed the expectations of his client Afrox.

The Lightbulb Award for Innovation and Continuous Improvement recognises the crucial role of innovation in the success of any organisation. It is awarded to an individual who is a constant source of creative inspiration and a catalyst for ongoing positive change. This year’s winner was James Manson of Resolve, for his work with PFG Building Glass.

Bruce Sneddon of Imperial Dedicated Contracts was the winner of this year’s Pendulum award; for his work with PFG Building Glass, where he has consistently generated a positive reaction among those with whom he engages. “He has proved to be an energetic force to be reckoned with,” says Van Wyk.

The Iron Heart Award for Best Management Practices is presented to an individual who displays the courage to define and fearlessly implement the rules. This year it went to Naveen Kumar Pala from Imperial operation company, World Wide Commercial Ventures, in acknowledgement of the work he has done with Roche Products.

Haydon Wills of Imperial Dedicated Contracts and Maryke Wurm of CIC Namibia were this year’s joint winners of the Sunflower Award for Admirable Attitude, which recognises optimism and enthusiasm.

A new category introduced this year was the Rising Star Award. It was presented to Kyle Frey of Peak Instore, in recognition of his “most promising talent”.

“Connecting to your customers on an emotional level is key to establishing lasting business relationships,” van Wyk stresses. “Our ILC3 winners and finalists have all shown that they understand the importance of building strong bonds with customers and going beyond simply delivering a service or product,” Van Wyk concludes.