06 February 2015
Portakabin Releases Customer Service Figures Which Out-Perform Industry Service Standards
The start of 2015 has seen a fourth consecutive fall in customer satisfaction, with UK customers being on average, less satisfied with the service they have received than at any point since July 2010.
In sharp contrast, the Portakabin Group has announced that its customer satisfaction scores have been maintained at 92 per cent in an environment where the customer has become increasingly more discriminating. And the Group has put a number of new initiatives in place with the aim of raising the bar even higher.
According to the UK Customer Satisfaction Index compiled by the Institute of Customer Service, 58 per cent of the organisations surveyed have seen their customer satisfaction scores fall by more than one point over the past year. This suggests that organisations in the UK are not keeping up with customers' increasing expectations of service and many are missing out on the business performance benefits of high levels of customer satisfaction.
In the construction sector, the UK Industry Performance Report published by Glenigan and the CITB in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has shown a slight fall with only 82 per cent of clients scoring eight out of ten or better for satisfaction with the finished product, and only 75 per cent for service satisfaction.
These figures contrast dramatically with the performance of the Portakabin Group, and again underline how Portakabin is still out-performing construction industry benchmarks.
The Portakabin Group is the only modular supplier in Europe to carry out a customer service excellence audit. It is also investing heavily in training and 1,600 members of staff will benefit from the programme in a two-year period, which is being run and facilitated by the Customer Service Network. Other initiatives include:
- Two to three major research studies carried out annually to provide an in-depth understanding of customer expectations and the drivers for customer satisfaction
- Customer satisfaction surveys - around 1,700 customers are surveyed each year
- The development of an electronic bulletin board to test new product and service ideas that will further improve customer satisfaction
- The publication of the Group's delivery statistics which gives customers even greater confidence of time and cost certainty and benchmarking that performance against construction industry data
- Values Champions and an Employee Communications Forum to encourage ownership and responsibility across the business
- Mystery shopper exercises
- A pioneering Customer Charter that gives assurance of completion on programme and on cost - the only commitment of its kind in this sector.
Derek Carter, Chief Executive of the Portakabin Group, said, "Our aim is to develop even greater trust among our customers - that we will deliver every project on time, on budget and to the required quality standard. The customer has to be at the heart of everything we do, and we have a host of initiatives and processes in place to help us deliver a truly customer-focused service and culture across the business."
"We are also seeing the level of referrals continue to increase year on year which is another really positive indicator of customer satisfaction."
"We are continually striving for excellence in all aspects of the delivery of modular buildings for both interim and permanent use - to some of the most challenging deadlines and often on highly complex, fully operational sites. This is critical in an industry where too many projects are still delivered late, over budget and to inconsistent quality standards."
The Portakabin Group has successfully completed 99.7 per cent of projects on time and on budget every year since 2003. This performance far exceeds construction industry figures - only 46 per cent of non-housing projects were completed on time and 75 per cent on cost according to the UK Industry Performance Report 2014*.
Portakabin also now holds the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation - the Government standard which assesses and recognises organisations with outstanding performance in customer service. Portakabin is believed to be the first modular building specialist to achieve this milestone.
As a leading specialist in the delivery of modular accommodation across the UK and in Europe, the Portakabin Group offers the widest range of buildings for a diverse variety of sectors including utilities, commercial, education, healthcare, transport, and retail. Buildings can be configured for permanent and short-term applications such as offices, training centres, classroom blocks, hospital extensions and clinics - and can accommodate from 10 to 1,000 people.
Portakabin also provides smaller, ready-to-go buildings that are manufactured and fitted out in the factory, for siting and use often within a just a day. There is a choice of sizes and specifications to suit any end use and to accommodate up to 15 people in comfort - from shower and changing rooms to marketing suites, security gate houses, canteens, meeting rooms, and secure storage.
For further information about modular buildings for permanent and interim applications, visit www.portanews.co.uk, email information@portakabin.co.uk or call 0845 401 0010.
Editor's Notes
1. *Published by Glenigan and the CITB, supported by Constructing Excellence and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
2. The Portakabin Group offers a series of market-leading modular brands which includes:
- Portakabin modular buildings for permanent and interim use
- Yorkon off-site design and build solutions
- Portaloo toilet, shower and changing room facilities
- Konstructa site accommodation hire
- Foremans Relocatable Building Systems supplying highly sustainable refurbished Portakabin buildings
- Oecon Mobilraum GmbH - a manufacturer and distributor of modular buildings in Germany.
3. Portakabin, Portakabin Group, Yorkon, Foremans, Portaloo, Konstructa and Oecon are registered trademarks. Portakabin must only be used to refer to modular buildings that are known to have been manufactured by the Portakabin Group. Please note, Portakabin is not a generic term.
4. The Portakabin Group is part of the Shepherd Group.
