Performance Demonstrated. Every day. On Side hits home with the insurance industry

On Side Restoration continues to showcase its commitment to their plans for growth, process improvements and achieving ‘best-in-class’ customer service objectives. Now in the first quarter of 2015 the company is in the thick of supporting improvements that affect individuals and teams both inside and outside of the company. On Side’s priorities include improved KPI’s (key performance indicator) and NPS (net promoter score) and communications, as well as ramping up their training and recognition programs for their staff.

The company has always valued customers and innovation however it has been in the last 12-month period when On Side has taken another serious look at how they approach their business. The insurance-restoration industry has been changing and On Side felt out of sync wondering whether they really understood what their customers needed. However, this past year On Side launched a third-party run customer-service survey to learn what their customers really thought of them, unnamed comparisons with competitors as well as offering room to voice their own expectations of the industry.

Amandio Contreiras, chief operating officer of On Side Restoration claims “It is a common mistake in any industry that we believe we already know what a customer thinks or needs. But often it is quite eye-opening when a company takes a moment to really listen to them. Although On Side completes job-specific surveys with end consumers, this is the first year we’ve taken the time to really listen to our industry partners. As a result it has put a number of initiatives in motion to support the change that the industry wants to see in our organization. Our goal is to achieve ‘best-in-class’ customer service and meet or exceed what our customers say they want.”

Although On Side is starting to see glimmers of a shifting culture, they know that they are just at the beginning of their ongoing journey for improvements with their renewed focus.

Contreiras continued “Our whole company is excited to start seeing this shift from the Executive Management Team right through to the Water Technician, and everyone in between. Operations and Project Management teams across the country have been strongly embracing the challenge, extending even to include modeling our achievement t-shirt’s and posting related photos across our company Yammer platforms for all to see. It is moving to witness the start of our company culture shift.”

Said Craig Hogarth president and owner of all 22 On Side branches, “Having an ear to the industry isn’t just a one-time exercise. On Side is committed to conducting these industry feedback telephone and online surveys annually. From the data we now have benchmarks to base our, hopeful, improvements year over year.” Mr. Hogarth continued, “In addition to these confidential third-party surveys of course we have also continued with ongoing dialogue with our industry partners. It has been a very fruitful period with our partners also sharing their own data from their proprietary surveys as well. Discussing and comparing complementary data has been both insightful and satisfying. We’re not doing these activities to continue to operate only in our own arena. It’s about sharing information and figuring out new ways to approach old and new challenges that our industry faces.”

Mike Sully, chief marketing officer of On Side is keen to point out “Between the KPI’s that our industry partners set for us as well as our own research, we are monitoring our performance branch by branch on a weekly basis. This is very important as our company needs to be nimble and able to respond to our customer base in real time, sometimes adjusting on the fly when necessary”.

On Side has also completed an Employee Survey in spring 2014. With those results, coupled with the Industry Survey feedback completed this past fall, the company continues with their cross-functional staff-team approach to managing improvements based on results and real, versus generalised, customer feedback.

This new approach is now also set to be reflected in On Side’s refreshed advertising and communications campaign as well. On Side’s new tagline “Performance Demonstrated. Every day.” speaks directly to their insurance industry clientele, while not alienating the end consumer receiving their restoration services.

Stated Mike Sully, “The restoration sector faces a real challenge in staking its ground with what their individual company stands for and to whom. Insurance publications are inundated with graphics and taglines that speak to the shocked and dismayed consumer of our services, when really over 80% of our work comes from pre-established relationships and hard-earned list status achievement with our insurance partners. On Side decided to take a fresh look at our positioning and feel we’ve created a strong message that communicates our consistent and persistent customer-centric and performance related goals. On Side strives to put the customer first. Every time.”

“It was important for On Side to do and say something different” says president, Craig Hogarth. “Our company has been in the restoration business for over 36 years. We’ve had the same solid people-based ad campaign for almost 5 years now. So as we change, we also want to visually show to our industry partners and our employees how deep these changes go. A new look helps us to communicate this very important message.”

Not only will the refreshed advertising campaign face the insurance industry, but it will also take the form of internal communications to On Side staff. One element of this program will be posters to reflect what the company feels their staff need to be reminded of everyday. General and department-specific posters will reinforce the ad campaign to build awareness of key best-practices and help staff to learn their more heightened approach to customer care.

It looks like 2015 is going to be an exciting year for On Side, its customers and their staff.

About On Side Restoration

On Side Restoration Services is one of Canada’s leading, privately-owned restoration companies. Since 1979 On Side has been restoring damaged homes and businesses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Proprietary internal systems include eClaim, a transparent web-based file management software program, and On Side LiVE, their 24 hour, customizable emergency call centre. Today with its head office located in Vancouver, BC, the Company operates 22 branches coast to coast from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, Newfoundland. On Side has over 300 emergency response vehicles, 700 experienced and certified staff members, and 5,000+ pieces of specialty equipment. Further information about the Company can be found at www.onside.ca

• Sonia Manson
• Marketing & Communications Manager
• smanson@onside.ca
• 905 474 3710