Portakabin Announces Excellent New Customer Service Figures

Portakabin, the UK's leading modular building provider, is announcing some fantastic news for its customers today with the release of impressive new customer service figures.

From January 2004 to April 2007, 96.69 percent of buildings were delivered on time and on budget compared with a construction industry average of only 63 percent on time and 49 percent on budget.

Since the launch of its pioneering Portakabin Customer Charter¹ three years ago, the York-based modular building provider has completed over 8,000 building projects. Throughout this period less than 0.5% of customers have claimed against the Charter, demonstrating the company's commitment and success in delivering buildings on time and on budget.

In addition, since the launch of its innovative Warranty package² in January 2004, Portakabin has sold nearly 2,000 buildings and only 0.17% of customers have made a claim against the warranties.

In direct contrast to this, the findings of a new survey³ have highlighted that 40% of construction industry clients believe that the delivery of projects on time and on budget is being compromised by a lack of qualified contractors.

These figures also highlight a key difference between the traditional and modular construction sectors, where time and cost overruns have severely affected the reputation of the traditional building sector in recent years, Wembley Stadium being a prime example.

The Portakabin Customer Charter - which was the first of its kind to be launched in the modular building market - states that if a building project is not delivered on time and on budget, hire customers will be entitled to a week's free hire for every day the building is late and sales customers will get an additional six months' product warranty free of charge.

Portakabin Marketing Director, David Shaw, says, ‘Failing to provide high levels of service on time and on budget is not only an irritation or an inconvenience to the customer, it also has more widespread consequences. Poor customer service can have severe financial implications through overspends, lost revenue or delayed return on investment. There are also potential disruptions to day-to-day business to consider and the impact that having to re-plan and re-schedule accommodation can have on staff productivity and motivation.

‘The customer's personal reputation can also be at stake, as the project manager will have to answer to their superiors regarding why the project has been delayed, possibly effecting his credibility within the business.

‘Our strong commitment to customer service was demonstrated three years ago when we launched our pioneering Customer Charter and innovative Warranty package. This clearly lays out our commitment to delivering the highest standards of service throughout every project we undertake for our customers.'

David continues: ‘In today's increasingly competitive business environment, no organisation can afford to ignore the importance of high-quality customer service. When you consider that 42%⁴ of people, on average, are less likely to be loyal to the same brand than they were five years ago, having exemplary customer service could be the key to getting people to stay with you.

‘Providing high-quality customer service has become routine at Portakabin and this is reflected in the excellent figures we have released today.'

The Portakabin commitment to service excellence has earned widespread recognition among Customer Service experts and groups, including being shortlisted twice in the Management Today & Unisys Service Excellence Awards.

Customer service expert, Mark Bradley, author of ‘Inconvenience Stores - One Year in UK Customer Service', and a former Unisys Service Excellence Awards judge, says: ‘The Portakabin Customer Charter certainly stands out from the crowd. It not only sets out very high performance standards, but it is also one of very few that we have seen that has real ‘teeth'; if they are late with delivery, customers will be properly compensated.'

To find out how the Portakabin Customer Charter and Warranty package can benefit your business call 0845 3555 5359 (Sales), or 0845 359 0059 (Hire). Alternatively visit www.portakabin.co.uk/salescharter

ENDS

¹ Terms and conditions apply. A copy is available on request.

² All Portakabin buildings that are purchased come with a 5-year product warranty, which covers the external fabric of the building and a 20-year structural warranty, which covers the load bearing elements of the building.

³Survey conducted by KPMG ‘Construction Procurement for the 21^st Century: Global Construction Survey 2007'

⁴ Source: The Guardian, ‘Customers fed up of poor service.'  29^th June 2006.

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