The Double Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme (DGCOS) recently announced its successful accreditation to ISO 9001, one element of which includes customer satisfaction.
ISO 9001 seeks proof that a business needs to ensure it maintains a focus on enhancing customer satisfaction, always looking to improve the customer and supply chain experience.
Faisal Hussain, DGCOS Chief Executive, comments: “We loved the customer satisfaction focused elements of ISO 9001 because it’s something that is at the heart of what we do. Working with installers and consumers, we want everyone at every touch point with our brand to be satisfied. One of the key ways we achieve this is through collaboration, embracing the transformative power that working together has, when it’s properly integrated into a business. Of course, for true collaboration, you need to know what your customers are thinking, planning and are looking to improve.
“Our Membership teams speak to customers day in day out to keep ahead of market trends, offer support on challenges being faced, and to make sure the organisation remains relevant and fit for purpose. This is where our members tell us DGCOS really comes into its own. We always have our members’ best interests at heart. We listen and engage with them so they can contribute and collaborate in industry topics and feel heard. We then turn this feedback into actions which serve purely to raise standards, protect consumers, and help our members’ businesses stand out and thrive. Our Installer Journey Benefits highlight all the areas in which we collaborate with and bring value to our members at every stage of their journey.”
Don’t just take our word for it
DGCOS recently spoke to a couple of members about the benefits of being part of the Scheme.
James Mizen from Crystal Clear comments: “As a family business with over 100 years of combined experience in the home improvement industry, our personal approach means we deliver time and time with the right quality products and the right price. This focus on ‘quality’ underpins the strong synergy Crystal Clear has with DGCOS. We are a founding member of the organisation, having recognised over a decade ago that the industry needed a decent regulator and ombudsman who would work with decent installers to protect both sides of the contract process. DGCOS fills this role fantastically. On a practical level, the ability for us to get advice and offer mediation to clients who feel that we’re not being fair, is critical for our business. From a marketing perspective, we can sell the fact that our customers have free access to this should it be needed which gives them true peace of mind. We would absolutely recommend DGCOS membership to others for the confidence it gives both installers and homeowners.”
Friendly, approachable business support
A founding member since 2010, Ideal Window Solutions has over 12 years of association with DGCOS and has protected over 6,500 customers. When asked the benefits of being a member, Thom Emerson, Sales and Marketing Director of Ideal Window Solutions comments: “I believe as a company that we really are a consumer champion. We work very hard to be communicative and transparent with our customers, but as with many construction projects, disputes do occur. Having a professional body to go to that you have absolute faith in to mediate any issues is so important for both our business and the homeowner.
Mutual trust
“Another key benefit of our relationship with DGCOS is trust, and we trust them to support our business and our customers in the best way possible. Consumers also put trust in recognisable brand ambassadors, and this is most definitely true of DGCOS’s brand ambassador, George Clarke. To me, DGCOS are the Rolls Royce of consumer protection. We take full advantage of their installer journey benefits, lifting the lid on our business - our financials, our contracts, our procedures – to DGCOS to gain insight into where we can improve. If you take this support, you will improve and it will, ultimately, make you more profitable.”
A two-way street
Faisal Hussain concludes: “It’s fantastic to receive and share such positive feedback from members. I’ve spoken many times before about the fact that membership is not for everyone. Like us, the people behind our members believe in doing the right thing and most importantly, they care.
We do offer a service that supports installers’ businesses but that’s a two-way street, and we continually work with our members to improve. They feedback to us about what we’re doing right and wrong which guides our future direction of travel. We also make sure that when we’re dealing with consumers on their behalf, they are invited to engage with a satisfaction service to monitor how they feel after the service with a complaints procedure for anyone that is not happy. At the end of the day, DGCOS focuses on doing the right thing – and so do these customers.”