Fleet News Award winner: Fleet Supplier of the Year - National Windscreens

In a market 25% down in annual sales, National Windscreens has bucked the trend, maintaining a 100% customer retention rate and sustaining its impressive 19% growth in 2011.

As well as serving some of the biggest car and van fleets in the country and being a preferred supplier to 13 of the top 20 companies in the FN50, 95 of the top 100 HGV fleets are also serviced by National Windscreens.

Chairman George Douglas, who started the company 40 years ago, believes customer service should be at the heart of every company and for success to be possible, a team of skilled and dedicated people is crucial.

“People look for the same things when they are looking to buy – quality, service and price – and it’s the marriage of these three things that works.

"We can deliver on the front end by having a committed, passionate and well trained work force,” says Douglas.

National Mobile Windscreens, which won the Fleet Supplier of the Year award in March, has now merged with its sister company, National Windscreens, which was set up by Douglas 30 years ago.

It was already an integrated part of National Windscreens but the decision to rebrand was intended to more accurately reflect the company’s market position and dispel any confusion surrounding the relationship between the two brands.

Now National Windscreens encompasses over 110 branches and in excess of 800 mobile technicians throughout the UK.

The Fleet Supplier of the Year award is designed to identify a company which has gone that extra mile in providing exceptional service to fleet customers and the judges were impressed by National Mobile Windscreens’ personal touch and ‘customer first’ attitude that helped it stand out against its rivals.

Fleet News: You are in the process of consolidating under one National Windscreens brand – how long has the move been in the pipeline?

George Douglas: National Windscreens is a consortium that I started 30 years ago.

We are consolidating the Mobile Windscreens brand into National Windscreens because it makes sense – it’s that simple. We have traded as two brands for a long time but we realised there was still a degree of confusion. It just felt like the right time to make the move.

Our Mobile brand has had good legs but I feel that now is the time to put it all together. It will be easier
for our customers to identify the brand and to attract new business.

We have learned over the years that virtual branches don’t work.

The reality is that people want to have the vehicle in a safe and secure place, with the work undertaken by experts. When combined with National Windscreens, our coverage of the UK will be much greater.

FN: The mobile glass industry has gone through tough times over the past 12 months, with companies falling into administration. How have you managed to achieve growth in such a challenging climate?

GD: This is the third recession I’ve been in and it’s hard for people to be motivated. Businesses have to make cuts as margins decrease, but this is also the case for people too.

We are sensibly competitive, not reckless, which I think makes a big difference.

Our industry has been very fragmented and business comes in cycles, where we have lots in the summer, then none in December.

We’ve managed to even this out so we haven’t had to make any redundancies like our competitors.

These are hard times but we invested in our IT, in our distribution, our fleet and our training, which has kept us growing and moving forwards.

I don’t see the one-man bands and sole traders in the windscreen industry continuing – there is a consolidation going on and only the bigger players that are careful about how they do business will survive. It is very much like this in all industries.

FN: Growth of 19% in 2011 was a fantastic achievement – how is this year looking?

GD: We couldn’t have followed the same performance as last year.

We were delighted to have had such a huge lift in a recession and then to have held it the following year is a fantastic achievement, particularly as the market is 25% down.

We think we will continue to grow in a controlled way. We are basically funding ourselves these days, which has enabled us to take advantage of growth in the current marketplace.

We are working very hard. Not only are we working with fleets and the FN50 but also insurance companies. We recently won the contract with Zurich and also the lead recommendation with Admiral.

We are talking to everyone and if we have a good reputation and are growing, we are hard to ignore.

FN: You won the customer service award back in 2010 – how do you ensure that your customer service is maintained across the company as the business grows?

GD: Internal and external research. We look at our KPIs, complaints and customer retention but more important is that we have a company resolution.

There is a dedicated customer service resolution team and a procedure that helps to reduce complaints. Our complaint levels are now consistently below 0.5%  – the industry level is 2%.

Service is key. It’s not rocket science but it’s amazing how many people think you can market it  – you can’t, you just have to deliver It.

Customer service is a word that has been around for a long time and it’s all about surprise – you have to do more than the customer expects in today’s world. People are very demanding.

FN: You have introduced a number of initiatives to win more business – have there been any stand-out schemes or products that have worked for you?

GD: Free service checks and quick service products have been very successful.  We quote a half an hour safe drive away time. Once a customer has filled in the paperwork and checked his emails, the job is done.

For fleets, it means downtime is reduced but also we don’t need to store the vehicle – it’s a win-win situation.

We are an emergency service. People don’t think of us as that but we are.

We are very straightforward about what we can repair and replace. We try to be honest and will not repair or replace if we don’t need to. 

We think we are driving the industry rather than being driven by it. We have a business model that is based around quality, service and price.

With around 5,000 windscreen part numbers in common usage, efficiency is essential.

National Windscreens’  investment in staff and focus on customer service has enabled it to grow and win new business across a variety of sectors.

 

With more than 600,000 windscreens repaired or replaced last year, the level of success has even surprised Douglas.

“Very early on I passed all of the horizons that I thought I could take the business and I enjoyed it so much I carried on,” he says.

“I have never been driven by money, what drives me is job satisfaction. I come to work every day to grow business and I have a strong team around me and most days I love it,” says Douglas.