Latest News from Norse

Ninety-three per cent of customers say they would award further contracts to Norse (up 3% from 2010) and 90% believe that we offer value for money (4% higher than last year). The survey also reveals that 19% of customers feel Norse has improved its service in last 12 months (up 4% from 2010).

Customer Services Manager Phil Dixon says: “We know ourselves, of course, what a terrific job Norse Commercial Services does in the many communities we serve across the country. But hearing such a ringing endorsement from our customers is extremely reassuring and pleasing – and it shows that Norse’s commitment to customer service is going from strength to strength.”

The latest vote of confidence is revealed in Norse’s extensive annual ‘telesurvey’ in which the views of every customer across the business are sought.

“As part of our commitment to partnership and client consultation, we carry out regular customer surveys – including this ambitious national telesurvey. Providing a quality service involves gaining as much customer feedback as possible – whether it’s positive or negative,” says Phil Dixon.

“We believe that such detailed customer research is unusual for a company of our size – but essential in ensuring that we maintain Norse’s exceptional levels of client satisfaction.”

Survey gives invaluable snapshot of customer opinions
End-users of Norse services are invited to complete a phone (or e-mail) survey with a simple scoring system designed to rate our overall service standards. The surveys are carried out by an external agency, Clearview Marketing Solutions, and overseen by Mr Dixon and his quality assurance team.

This intensive six-week process represents a major financial investment for Norse – but it is central to our quality management system and allows us to look for performance trends, whether they are geographical or service-specific.

Urgent issues of concern, should they arise, are immediately passed to Phil Dixon for management attention. Equally, positive feedback about excellent service delivery and/or praise for individual members of Norse staff is passed on to the relevant personnel as the telesurvey progresses.

There is a daily dialogue between Norse’s CSM and the telesurvey researchers, giving us an important snapshot of customer opinion as it comes in and allowing us to fine-tune our service delivery where needed.

“Quality assurance is paramount in every area of our operations and we are proud that Norse has become a trusted name through its emphasis on stringent quality management and performance monitoring processes,” says Phil Dixon.

“One of Norse’s key strengths is that we are a customer-focused company – listening and responding with great care to the views of our customers and other service users. And we don’t simply stand still: our processes are regularly reviewed and modified to provide us with the best possible tools necessary to meet our objectives.”

Putting our various services under the microscope
Our catering operations scored 97% for customer satisfaction this year, up 4% from last year. A total of 93% said Norse offered value for money (up 9%) and 94% said they would happily award further work to Norse (up 5%). Almost a quarter of customers felt Norse’s catering services had got even better during the year.

Norse’s cleaning services scored 91% for customer satisfaction this year, with 88% of clients saying they would be confident in awarding further contracts. One in five of those polled said service levels were now better than in 2010.

A 96% customer satisfaction rating was achieved by our grounds maintenance division (up 3%), with 90% (up 4%) saying it offered good value for money and 94% (up 3%) happy to award more contracts to Norse.

For the second year running, Norse’s building services division scored 100% for value for money and confidence in awarding further work. Its customer satisfaction level was 89%.

Norse’s transport operations have scored 99% for customer satisfaction in both 2010 and 2011, with 95% (up 3%) of people saying they offer good value for money and 96% (the same as last year) happy to award further contracts.

Our commercial waste collection business Norse Waste Solutions has a customer satisfaction rating of 95%, with 93% of clients happy to award further contracts. Moreover, 27% of customers felt the NWS service had improved year-on-year.

The overall level of customer satisfaction with services offered by Enfield Norse now stands at 95%, which is 2% higher than last year. A total of 20% (up 3%) felt that our partnership with the London Borough of Enfield had got better in its service delivery during the year.

Our printing division Interprint scored 96% for customer satisfaction with lead/turnaround times and another 96% for the attitude of its “polite, friendly and helpful staff”. A total of 92% would recommend Interprint to other customers and 9% felt the overall Interprint service had improved since 2010.