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Between 2004 and 2005, only 0.32% of all incidents handled by FMG Support were queried, demonstrating the delivery of excellent levels of service and accurate, timely data.
We all agree that trust is important in business. The ultimate in trust is when you don’t even need to rely on contracts: your customers get great freedom and flexibility, and you’re obviously delivering such a great service that customers simply don’t want to go anywhere else. But finding your own partners and suppliers – who are just as trustworthy – isn’t always easy.
Situation
Northgate plc is the UK’s market leader in vehicle rental, with a fleet of over 100,000 vehicles from over 100 locations based throughout the UK, Ireland and Spain. Local hire centres, wholly owned by Northgate (operating under different names but within Northgate’s overall brand values), provide a breakdown operation which is not only first class in its operation but has been developed to maintain consistency across the country.
Northgate’s network structure empowers local centres to sustain their own relationships – unusually, however, these aren’t based on customer contracts. Instead, the secret of Northgate’s success and customer retention record is first-class service levels – giving customers all the right reasons to approach them, and then stay. However, Northgate needed an equally trustworthy and flexible roadside repair and recovery partner, who – like them – could provide individual solutions on a national basis.
Solutions
Since 1995, Northgate has partnered FMG Support to offer its customers tailored breakdown solutions. The autonomy of Northgate’s network structure means that each company has its own set of requirements, so FMG Support serves each individual business according to its own needs.
Only FMG Support, with its flexibility, robust operations and intelligent technology, can provide a solution for Northgate. Every Northgate tax disc carries FMG Support’s telephone number, so drivers know exactly who to call and can rely on the operator already having their vehicle information at their fingertips. Flexible business rules go into action immediately, including directions for the onward movement of any load if roadside repair is not possible.
FMG Support’s intelligent MIS system, Ingenium, provides a standard performance benchmark across the business and lets each hire company monitor its service delivery. By analysing the detail behind incidents, FMG Support can apportion costs and pursue loss recovery appropriately, and provide independent evidence to help with negotiating warranties on vehicles with recurring faults – delivering savings which go straight to Northgate’s bottom line.
“Thanks to its intelligent and flexible approach, FMG Support enhances the Northgate customer experience – so they are very much a trusted partner, not simply a supplier.” Simon Ridley, director of Northgate.
Results
“Since 1995, our relationship with FMG Support has been focused on mutual trust and a determination to deliver real results. Thanks to its intelligent and flexible approach, FMG Support not only enhances the Northgate customer experience, but helps us to attract and retain more customers. So they are very much a trusted partner, not simply a supplier,” said Simon Ridley, director of Northgate.
Northgate’s customers’ confidence in their roadside repair and recovery service is clear. Between 2004 and 2005, only 0.32% of all incidents handled by FMG Support were queried, demonstrating the delivery of excellent levels of service and accurate, timely data. And when customers know they can rely on Northgate to satisfy their vehicle rental needs both on and off the road, who needs a piece of paper to make it all work?
