As CBS Office Interiors gets ready to celebrate its 30th anniversary at a party at Windsor Racecourse on 11th July, Managing Director, Phil Green reflects on the last three decades in business with help from two of his customers.
Phil Green said, “I was asked recently what I thought was the secret of great customer relationships. While this may sound like a cliché, I think the most important thing is that it’s about the people. While it may be a business-to-business relationship, it’s the relationships that we build as teams and individuals that really count.
“Perhaps one of the advantages we have at CBS is that many of our employees have been with us for a long time. Being able to deliver continuity to our clients over time is important, while I am always available for our clients to speak to, it’s great that other members of the CBS team also know them well and understand their requirements.
Tom Ryan, Head of General Services at Boehringer Ingelheim said, “continuity is so important it gives an opportunity to build up good working relationships. My long time association, and frank open relationship with Phil and Alan ensures that any problems can be discussed openly and sorted amicably.”
Phil said, “customer service is something I believe is a key differentiator between organisations offering a similar service or product. Of course there are other office interiors companies but none of them have our team or, I believe, our focus on customer service. We start building relationships with new clients by tailoring our team to their requirements. Some clients want to be heavily involved in a project whereas others want us to take control so they can focus on their jobs. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all approach; instead we match our team to our clients.
Joy Cross, Business Service Support Manager at HRG Worldwide added, “I have always used the no surprises, no excuses analogy, they [CBS] have never lead me to believe they could deliver a service they are not equipped to do, but the service they do deliver usually exceeds expectations.”
Phil said, “some companies have been along for the entire journey so far, starting when CBS sold office equipment such as faxes, photocopiers and even typewriters in the Eighties. These on-going relationships have not only helped shape our business, providing us with many insights that have allowed us to refine and expand our services; but they have also enabled us to deliver solutions with additional value to these clients because of our close relationship.
“Our team and the way they build strong professional working relationships is without doubt the reason our longstanding clients are still with us after 30 years. I really value these relationships and know that they are integral to our success. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary we will most certainly be raising a glass to clients such as HRG Worldwide and Boehringer Ingelheim and their teams.”
