AMP Capital

The Australian Business Award for Service Excellence recognises organisations that have successfully implemented initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to customer service excellence.

Established in 1971, AMP Capital Investors Limited (AMP Capital) is a real estate fund manager in Asia-Pacific with more than 50 years experience in real estate investment. AMP Capital Shopping Centres is a specialised team within AMP Capital Property, whose mission is to create inspiring shopping experiences.

The NAB Online Retail Sales Index reported a 9.6% increase in online retail in the year ending April 2015. Resultantly, AMP Capital Shopping Centres developed several strategies to differentiate itself not only from the bricks and mortar competitors but also from online retail options.

AMP Capital Shopping Centres differentiate themselves to online retailers by emphasising the importance of an experience worth leaving home for. They’ve invested more than $1bn in the upgrading and development of unique properties to create beautiful and functional places that people want to visit. This investment also takes inspiration from the hospitality industry to emphasise the benefit of emotional connections to places. AMP Capital Shopping Centres understand that the sense of community that service creates is a much bigger differentiator in the retail industry than had previously been understood.

By conducting market research AMP Capital Shopping Centres identified that the key element of the shopping centre experience was social in nature and that service staff were fundamentally important in fostering a sense of community. This lead to the development of a new service initiative called Inspiring Moments. Inspiring Moments asks every member of staff to be accountable for each given moment of interaction with a customer and for their decision to act or not act in that moment. This simple idea is used to create a sense of urgency as the opportunities to help are fleeting. By highlighting that an experience is simply made up of many small moments, the program invites all centre staff – not only customer service teams – to act as hosts.

To do this AMP provided portfolio specific customer service training to all team members and invested in feedback mechanisms to track improvements in customer satisfaction and engagement. A key element of the Inspiring Moments initiative is the collection and dissemination of real stories across the portfolio – demonstrating desired behaviours and inspiring staff to step into the role of host in their own centre. Team members are encouraged to nominate each other’s outstanding service stories for the ‘Inspiring Moment of the Month’ awards in each centre, and stories are actively gathered during team meetings.

AMP Capital Shopping Centre’s innovation in the service they provide has seen them recognised for Service Excellence in the Australian Business Awards 2016.