Waterways is passionate about providing a consistently high-level of service to its clients, whether they are individual residents, commercial organisations or public sector bodies. John Lawler, Waterways’ Managing Director recognised a gap in the market for drainage contractors who not only have excellent technical capabilities but also provide an exceptional level of client care – an area often overlooked.
We recently engaged an external consultant who specialises in client listening to speak to Waterways’ clients to gain independent feedback on our service. Clients were interviewed over the phone or via video call and asked a series of questions about their experience with Waterways.
The exercise has so far shown that Waterways are living up to our promises and often go above and beyond for our clients. Particular areas of strength are:
– We are knowledgeable and professional
– Turning up when we say we will
– Polite, friendly and helpful teams in the office and on the ground
– Clear and responsive communications
– A solution-focussed attitude to any problems encountered on site
– Able to work well with the clients of the businesses who are engaging our services
– Everyone spoken to would recommend Waterways to others
Although it’s great to have so much positive feedback, part of the reason for this exercise was to identify areas for improvement as these provide the best opportunities to learn and grow. We discovered that we sometimes need to be more explicit in telling clients that we can’t know exactly what’s going on and what action will be required until we look underground, and to be better at communicating overruns.
John Lawler said, “It’s been really worthwhile getting some impartial feedback from our clients. We have been able to discover what our clients really value about working with us, and where we can further develop ourselves and our service. Clients have appreciated the investment we’ve made in seeking their views and it cements our commitment to excellence in both technical delivery and client service.”