Driving a shared dedication to better customer outcomes
Those on the front line of customer service are often supported by great leaders, who thrive on driving great experiences to customers. But there are also often individual mentors who work behind the scenes to inspire, engage and drive improvement in their colleagues. By championing a customer-centric mindset, they create a culture where agents feel empowered to deliver genuine care and quality service, lifting both customer experiences and team spirit.
This quarter, we want to acknowledge three team members who have been recognised by their leaders for offering guidance, training and support to their colleagues. Maria (Maya) Zabrdac from Curtin University, Colleen Roach from East Gippsland Water, and Alisha Blackman from Sydney Water have all shown their commitment to offering high quality experiences to their customers, but have also, in their own way, encouraged and empowered their colleagues to do the same.
Maya, Colleen and Alisha, we solute you for inspiring change. Congratulations!
CSBA congratulates the April – June 2025 Most Customer Focused Agent Award winners.
Maria (Maya) Zabrdac – Curtin Connect | Curtin University
According to Emily Duffell, Training and Quality Assurance Advisor at Curtin Connect, Maya always has service quality in the forefront of her mind and champions the SenseCX measures. “She runs procedural training with the team and will slip the SenseCX measures in wherever she can, proactively approaching me to help develop ideal responses that are full of SenseCX measures to enhance enquiries related to the training topic.”
Maya has historically scored highly in her CSBA assessments with an average score of over 80% over the last 12 months. “Her scores do not surprise me at all. Maya has a helpful disposition and a genuine passion for helping people. Her strength is explaining complicated concepts clearly, particularly to our international students with English as their second language, using plenty of temperature checks along the way.”
It is this skill that also makes Maya an exceptional trainer. Maya is well respected by her teammates and celebrates her colleagues’ successes. Emily says of Maya, “She will often call out wonderful service she has overheard or pass feedback on to me. Thank you, Maya, for championing the SenseCX measures and going above and beyond to educate our students as well as our team!”
We love a champion of SenseCX here at CSBA! Congratulations Maya!
– The nomination was received from Emily Duffell, Training and Quality Assurance Advisor
Colleen Roach – East Gippsland Water
“I wanted to take the opportunity to formally acknowledge and commend Colleen on her commitment to improving her customer service standards,” says James Sanford, Manager Customers, at East Gippsland Water. Colleen is a long-standing and loyal employee at East Gippsland, and throughout that time her dedication to delivering exceptional customer service has not gone unnoticed. But more recently, Colleen has embraced a renewed commitment to her customers by proactively engaging with CSBA’s training and quality monitoring program. James says, “Colleen’s commitment to implementing change, which seemed foreign at times, has been great.”
Equally important to her own development, James points out that “Colleen’s ongoing support and encouragement of her colleagues has been truly appreciated. She sets a great example for others and plays a huge part in our team and the organisation’s ongoing service standards, workplace culture and customer experiences. I genuinely hope that Colleen is considered for this award.”
We absolutely agree that Colleen’s dedication to her customers and her team should be recognised. Congratulations Colleen!
– The nomination was received from James Sanford, Manager Customers
Alisha Blackman – Sydney Water Corp
Rachel Harris, Team Manager at Sydney Water, says of her nominee, Alisha Blackman, “Her dedication to customer experience and to lifting up her teammates is exceptional.”
This quarter, Alisha took the lead in delivering training for three groups of new recruits. According to Rachel, she set the tone from day one by embedding customer-centric values. “Her training sessions focused on the SenseCX measures, and emphasised empathy, ownership and clarity. She introduced a creative bingo game to make learning interactive and fun, helping trainees identify SenseCX criteria in real call examples, a brilliant way to reinforce learning while keeping engagement high.”
Rachel explained that Alisha’s influence goes far beyond the training room. “She’s been recognised again and again for her service and support. Seven separate compliments in just this quarter. Customers and colleagues describe her as professional, helpful, patient, and even brave in a crisis.”
Rachel shared that Alisha has been praised for her strong knowledge, and patient mentorship. Teammates highlight her encouragement and role-modelling, while customers consistently describe her as efficient, supportive, and easy to deal with. Alisha has gone above and beyond in moments of need, from starting early to help manage call volumes, to showing compassion and leadership during a medical emergency.
“New starters consistently say she’s approachable, knowledgeable and inspiring,” Rachel added. “She has an ability to simplify complex processes and create a welcoming learning environment has left a lasting impression.” Even external recruiters have shared positive feedback, remarking on how prepared and assured the new hires are after Alisha’s sessions.
Rachel summed it up like this: “Alisha exemplifies what it means to lead with purpose, deliver with heart, and inspire those around her. Her commitment to excellence, creativity in training, and genuine care for both customers and colleagues make her a standout nominee.”
We agree! Congratulations Alisha!
– The nomination was received from Rachel Harris, Team Manager
Nominations are open for the July – September 2025 awards
We’re currently accepting nominations for the July – September 2025 CX Agent of the Quarter awards and encourage all of our clients to nominate agents and frontline staff whose work deserves to be celebrated.
The awards are about celebrating the members of your team who work to create better customer experiences and nominations can be based on a variety of different reasons including:
- Excellence in the use of a specific SenseCX measure.
- Consistent improvement in SenseCX assessment scores.
- Embracing a SenseCX behaviour for the first time – moving the dial away from 0%!
- Sharing tips or information with the team about how to achieve specific SenseCX behaviours.
- Embracing a new technique or behaviour to enhance the experience for customers.
- Handling a complex enquiry really well.
- Showing a genuine passion to improve a customer’s experience.
- Transcending customer expectations – going above and beyond for a customer.
- Finding the perfect balance between people and process for the good of a customer.
- Showing real leadership and judgement to reflect your organisation’s customer-focused culture or customer promise.
- Stepping up to report an issue that was impacting customer experience.
- Finding a creative and/or innovative way to solve a customer’s problem.
To nominate a member, or members, of your team simply complete this nomination form.
