Customer Service in Lockdown

This year has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging for UK businesses in recent memory and PPSPower has been no exception.

The pandemic and first lockdown we experienced earlier this year brought much uncertainty to the FM industry, with job cuts, furloughs and office closures making service delivery a real challenge for many businesses, particularly in our sector.

Throughout the tough times, one thing we always emphasised and obsessed on at PPSPower was the need for great customer service. Customers are the lifeblood of our business and we quickly realised that, however difficult the circumstances could be, it was imperative that we met our customers’ (and their customers) needs first and foremost.

Over the course of the pandemic I have noticed an increase in customers complaining about falling standards and poor service from other service providers; whether it is suppliers missing deliveries/attendances or a breakdown in communication meaning a project overruns, is left unfinished or just simply isn't delivered on time or to the standard they expect. I have also felt a dramatic dip in my personal life when dealing with suppliers of services to my home and family. I get quickly fed up nowadays of being passed from one department to another and spending hours on the phone trying to resolve a simply issue.

It seems many companies are far too quick to use the lockdown as an excuse to drop their standards. For me, that’s not good enough. We have a commitment to our customers and we always want to fulfill this.

We have three key values at PPSPower that all have customer service at their heart:

• Delivering a service that goes beyond our customers’ expectations.
• Reacting swiftly and appropriately to the critical needs of our customers.
• Failure is not an option.

(I can get) some satisfaction

Now, you might say “Ok Steve, so PPSPower prides itself on great customer service, but how can you prove you provide it?” That’s why we decided to make it measurable.

7 years ago I launched our first satisfaction survey, which has continued to run ever since, with our latest results showing an extremely positive response.

Feedback from our latest study shows 93% of respondents rated PPSPower’s sales staff as either good or excellent with 0% rated as poor.

Overall service responses were very strong, including:

• 94% of respondents rated the operational/planning team as either good or excellent.
• 97% said their engineers arrived on time.
• 98% said they were well presented.
• 95% said the attitude, paperwork and communication from the engineers were better or as expected.
• 98% would recommend PPSPower to a friend or colleague.

It is also a great source of pride for me that we have not lost a contract (for as long as I can remember) due to poor service delivery; indeed several of our customers have returned after realising that the offer of a competitor was not as transparent as ours and the delivery of the service was way below what the client had come to expect from PPSPower. Many of our customers have also started off taking one of our services, such as a generator package, and then returned for extended packages such as UPS servicing and repairs.

Improvise, adapt, overcome

Through these unexpected and turbulent times, we have had to change our approach and work more flexibly to achieve our customer’s goals and deliver our services effectively.

For example, we’ve had to adapt our working processes to continue working with our suppliers effectively, for example, working with simPRO to roll out our cloud-based CRM, parts management, job completion and planning software, which meant we were able to track all of our processes digitally and communicate reports swiftly. This has played a big role in supporting our operations, particularly when working remotely. 

Teamwork makes the dream work

One thing that has struck me (but not surprised me) during this challenging period is the dedication and quality of our team, which has shown an amazing commitment to quality customer service. It has been a real pleasure hearing the feedback from customers who have been quick to praise our standard of service.

I’ve been really fortunate to be surrounded by a fantastic team and a really dedicated workforce that have been willing to go the extra mile when needed to support our customers.

Together I believe our enterprise, commitment and resilience can see us through the hard times and help us look forward to a brighter future, while still maintaining that great service standard we should all be striving for.