IIC ranks Softcat’s customer service in all-time top three
Marlow, UK, 12 April 2012 – Investor in Customers (IIC) reveals that Softcat has achieved one of the best customer service scores ever recorded in its programme, and by far the best ever recorded by an IT company.
In an independent survey conducted by the service standard consultancy, Softcat achieved a three-star rating, the highest possible outcome, which denotes an ‘exceptional’ level of customer service. It also achieved an overall customer service score of 9.09 out of 10, the third highest that IIC has measured since the award was launched in 2007.
The IIC award is the only award based entirely on client and employee feedback, solely focusing on the customer experience. IIC assessed Softcat’s performance in customer service, analysing completed surveys from 550 customers as well as insight from Softcat employees, before presenting detailed feedback on Softcat’s performance for each component of the customer experience.
Martin Hellawell, managing director of Softcat, said, “We are really pleased with the results. We get a lot of positive feedback from customers and do our own surveys, but it’s great to see this validated and recognised by an expert third party. I think customer service generally in the UK is just not good enough. I am convinced that the key ingredient for success in our industry is excellence in customer service and at Softcat we have become obsessed with continual improvement in this area. If anyone wants to know why the company has doubled in size in the last two years, that’s pretty much it. However, this is work in progress – we can still get a lot better.”
Charlie Williams, business development director at IIC, commented, “The Softcat results knocked us over. The customer culture is so strong in the organisation, it just shines through. A lot of people talk about employee satisfaction leading to customer satisfaction, but satisfying customers is no longer enough these days – you need to delight them, and Softcat is the best example we have seen of this in practise. The only two organisations who have ever scored higher in our process both employed less than 15 people and their business is a very personal service. These are the best results of a company employing a significant number of people we have seen.”
Positive customer comments included:
• “I look at Softcat as a partner and not just a supplier. They’ve taken the time to understand our business and have worked with us in a challenging time of growth.”
• “Softcat are one of the most professional resellers I've dealt with in 14 years of working within the IT Industry.”
• “If I were to ever move on from my current position, I know Softcat would be coming with me.”
• “My experience with Softcat has shown them to be a customer-oriented, forward looking company with an excellent service-based ethos.”
For more information please contact:
Robert Hayward
Resonates SLM Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1635 898 362
softcat@resonates.com
www.resonates.com
About Softcat
Softcat (www.softcat.com) is a leading provider of software licensing, hardware, security and related IT services. Softcat, founded in 1993 by chairman and majority shareholder Peter Kelly, remains privately owned and currently employs more than 400 people. It achieved a turnover in excess of £200 million in its last financial year and has been profitable since inception, resulting in a strong balance sheet and very firm financial foundations.
The company sells and supports products and solutions from all the world's leading IT companies. On all its portfolio products and solutions it offers a full range of services, including advice and guidance, technical design, product sourcing, implementation, support and project management. It enjoys a trading relationship with over 2,500 longstanding customers, predominantly from the UK corporate sector but also including large enterprises, small businesses and public sector organisations.
As an organisation Softcat cares passionately about two things – outstanding employee satisfaction and world class customer service. It believes the former drives the latter.
About Investor in Customers (IIC)
Investor in Customers (http://www.investorincustomers.com/) provides an assessment of how much companies value one of their key assets – their customers.
IIC have developed a systematic way of measuring "customer centricity" using a unique assessment and feedback tool.
IIC also provides an independent benchmark that offers successful companies a universal and commercially valuable award as an “Investor in Customers” with a distinct logo that can be used for promotional purposes. The Investor in Customers award brings recognition to an organisation as one who places the customer at the heart of their business.
It provides a way of assessing how customer-focused an organisation really is, and highlights where focus needs to be concentrated on developing greater “customer centricity”.
Tags:
