A national contractor with multiple operating divisions initiated customer research with Leading Edge to assess their service levels and benchmark their performance against competitors. This project was undertaken to capture a clear picture of how senior executives of client companies perceive the organisation and to identify the contractor’s operational strengths and weaknesses.
Project Objectives: Assessing Perceptions and Service Quality
The primary aim of the project was to establish how the organisation was viewed by senior executives from its client base. This involved measuring the contractor’s service levels to highlight specific areas of strength and weakness. Understanding these perceptions was crucial for the contractor to maintain and improve its service quality and to remain competitive in the industry.
Research Methodology: Comprehensive Interviews and Extensive Analysis
To achieve these objectives, the team conducted 132 interviews with senior client contacts across the contractor’s four operational divisions. This approach allowed for a broad and detailed understanding of client perspectives. In addition to these interviews, over 2,000 customer comments were collected, providing rich qualitative data. The team also conducted extensive desk research to benchmark the company’s performance against other contractors. This research included comparing the company’s net promoter score to that of other service suppliers, offering a broader industry perspective.
Outcomes: Implementing Improvements and Aligning Strategies
The insights gained from this research were invaluable for the contractor. They implemented specific improvement plans in collaboration with their customers, addressing the identified weaknesses. Furthermore, the research findings played a significant role in developing their marketing strategy, ensuring that their business was aligned with customers’ current and future needs. The contractor repeated the research exercise two years later, which allowed them to measure progress in key areas and continuously adapt to evolving customer expectations.
Conclusion: Driving Business Growth Through Targeted Customer Research
This study demonstrates the importance of comprehensive customer research for a service-oriented business. By thoroughly understanding client perceptions and benchmarking their performance against competitors, the national contractor was able to implement targeted improvements and align their strategies to customer needs. This ongoing process of evaluation and adaptation was key to their sustained growth and competitiveness in the market.