SW construction firm in the running to receive two top awards thanks to “wow factor” from customer experience expert, Sidona Group

Work carried out by Sidona Group, a South West based business that shows companies how to maximise and profit from the “customer experience” has put leading South West building contractor ISG Pearce in the running to win two top awards this Autumn, by giving its customer experience “the wow factor”. The winners of the UK Customer Experience Award will be announced on 27 September in London. The UK Customer Experience Awards are the first of their kind running in the UK and are an important milestone in the UK’s recognition of the value of the customer experience. It is particularly significant that a company from the construction industry has been shortlisted. Derek Blackburn, managing director of Sidona Group, explains “The concept of the Customer Experience (CE) was little understood in the construction sector. Organisations in this sector mainly focused on delivering to time, quality and cost. The research carried out by Sidona Group identified these were now a minimum requirement. Customers demanded a closer understanding of their expectations, greater fulfillment of their emotional needs and more tailored delivery of solutions. “Developing a culture where employees are empowered, equipped and supported to deliver exceptional CE’s broke the mould for this industry and gave it the ‘wow factor’.” In a partnership application, ISG Pearce and Sidona Group have also reached the regional finals of the National Training Awards and winners will be announced in Bristol on 19 October. Established in 1987, the National Training Awards (NTAs) recognise the impact that excellent training, learning and development has on achieving outstanding organisational and individual success and provides a benchmark for standards of excellence in training in the UK. The National Training Awards examined the outcome of ISG Pearce’s Chief Executive, Colin Forrest’s decision to call in customer experience specialist Sidona Group in 2006. The brief was to help the contractor deliver exceptional customer experiences, by providing in depth customer research and customer management training. At the time, ISG Pearce had seen profits and turnover drop – the solution was to set itself apart with a customer-first culture. Sidona Group showed ISG Pearce how to understand the importance of the Customer Experience and how best to deliver it to all its customers. Following the Sidona Group training, the company carried out follow up research in 2008 and was delighted that ISG Pearce had achieved all its measurements of success, despite the recession. This included an increase in repeat business to 83% of turnover; a growth in profit to 1.96% of turnover, close to the original 2% target and the formation of nine new partnership frameworks. Today Andrew Staniforth, ISG Pearce’s Director of the Supply Chain and the Customer Experience meets clients to ensure expectations are met, and feedback is learned from. He says: “The construction industry has never really viewed the management of customer emotions as a required skill set. Our people have traditionally been employed for their technical and managerial skills. The organisation now sees that providing an exceptional customer experience is a normal part of what we do. “Everyone understands how their attitude, actions and conduct have such an impact upon the customer’s perception of their experience and the long term success of ISG Pearce. Staff are now totally committed to customers’ overall needs, not just the completion of the physical construction work. Our customers feel we have some of the best construction staff in the region.” About Sidona Group Sidona Group specialises in enabling companies to enhance their customer experience (CE) resulting in improved customer acquisition and loyalty. Services include customer and employee research, design of bespoke business processes and delivery of training solutions. Sidona Group has experience of working in a wide number of different industries in both the private and public sector and with a diverse range of companies from the very small to larger enterprises.

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