At Foremans we believe that the best way to constantly improve our products and service is to get feedback from the people who matter - our customers.
 
As market leaders we take nothing for granted.  We use formal, measurable methods to assess whether we are meeting our customers' needs and we have a number of tools to do that. 
 
Customer research, customer satisfaction interviews (CSIs), and Net Promoter Index (NPI) scores all give us important insights into how we can continually improve our service standards.  Our main aims are to make sure that Foremans buildings are delivered on time, on budget and that we give our customers peace of mind throughout their build programme and beyond. 

Customer Satisfaction Interviews (CSIs)

By carrying out structured CSIs Foremans can gauge how happy customers are with the product and service that they have received. In the questionnaires customers are asked to rate Foremans on a 1 to 10 scale across a whole range of criteria.  The four main categories include administration, delivery and installation, the building itself and the overall impression of the project.  Within these CSI categories specific questions cover important details such as scores for cleanliness and completeness of delivered buildings and courtesy and technical knowledge of staff.

Foremans achieved an average score of 91 per cent for overall satisfaction, including both building and service quality, over the last two years.

Consistent Delivery On Time and On Budget

We have successfully delivered 96 per cent of our projects on time and 99 per cent on budget in the last three years. 

This performance is in sharp contrast to Government statistics for the UK building industry which showed that only 46 per cent of construction projects were completed on cost and only 59 per cent on time last year (source: Construction Statistics Annual 2009, Office of Public Sector Information).

Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

The NPS discipline used by Foremans was conceived and popularised by eminent Harvard economist Fred Reichheld and is used by leading companies worldwide as the standard for measuring and improving customer loyalty.

NPS is based on the fundamental perspective that every company's customers can be divided into three categories: Promoters, Passives or Detractors. By asking one simple question; How likely is it that you would you recommend this company to a friend or colleague? Customers respond on a 0-to-10 point rating scale and are categorised as follows:

Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fuelling growth.

Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.

Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth.

The Net Promoter Score percentage is calculated by subtracting the number of customers who are detractors from the number that are promoters.  The average firm has a score of only 5-10%, meaning those who actively promote the brand barely outnumber detractors.  Analysis shows that companies with long term profitable growth have NPS scores usually twice that of the average company.

By delivering on every aspect of its service proposition on time and on budget Portakabin Group was able to announce an outstanding average Net Promoter Score of 82% for 2010 across its 9 business divisions, with some divisions achieving scores as high as 92%.   
 
Research has shown that companies with the most efficient growth engines operate at NPS efficiency ratings of 50 to 80%.