Emplas has been named as a double award finalist at the 2019 G-Awards for its commitment to innovation in customer service and support and training.
Emplas has been recognised in two categories this year including the Training and Development Initiative of the Year and highly competitive Customer Care Initiative of the Year categories.
John Leary, sales and marketing director, Emplas, said: “As a team we work very hard to continuously improve upon each and every element of what we do. That goes far beyond product quality to customer service, support and training.
“That’s included looking out how we can use integrated cloud-based technologies and IT to drive continuous improvement in customer experience, to the development of our people and our customers, through training and the creation of shared resources including the new Emplas product specification guide.
“It means a huge amount to everyone here that the hard work put in by the team has been recognised and we have an opportunity to celebrate it with the industry as a whole.”
Emplas unveiled its new product specification and customer support guide at the end of this summer. At more than 270 pages, it brings each and every aspect of Emplas’ offer into a single tool, in addition to providing a comprehensive overview of regulations and specifications from WERs to CE Marking.
This is being used by Emplas as a foundation for its training programmes, from apprenticeships to customers, featuring introductory and detailed guidance on regulation and compliance through to window and door performance.
“The product specification and customer support guide is the basis for inhouse training and our customer support programme,” John explained. “It’s used to build understanding of product capabilities, limitations, specifications and regulatory requirements. It’s a single training tool for us and our customers.”
Emplas has been shortlisted for the Customer Care Initiative of the Year for the way in which it has employed IT to deliver an exponential shift in customer experience, by utilising it to not only facilitate delivery, but also measure all aspects of performance.
This focus on measurement extends to all Emplas customer ‘touch-points’. This includes everything from how long it takes the customer service team to answer the phone – now answered within five rings in 98% of calls – to receipt of online orders, which in 98% of placements are turned around in less than 24hours.
John said: “What we’re doing is pretty unique within the industry and even outside of it. We’re using IT in the measurement, evaluation and refinement of everything we do.
“It gives us the visibility in the short term to identify and respond to any issues in production or our service offer before they impact on the customer.
“It also, however, provides a foundation for continuous improvement of our process, our people, their development, and our organisation culture – each individual element contributing to collective and continuous improvement in customer experience.”
A customer poll found more than two thirds of Emplas’ existing customers already gave the trade fabricator a 9 or 10 out of ten for support and service and a Net Promoter Score of 58.5%, where a positive score or NPS above 0 is considered ‘good’, +50 is ‘excellent’, and above 70 ‘world class’.
“We’re on the right road,” John continued “Being able to celebrate that and what has been achieved so far with colleagues in the industry is brilliant and we very much look forward to seeing everyone at this year’s event.”
