What is customer service?

A business cannot exist unless it has customers to buy the products it wants to sell. Customer service is the term used to describe what happens at the points at which the customer comes into contact with the business. Usually it is split into four parts:

At Portakabin, customer service is key during the process of buying or hiring a building, from a single office building to a complete school or medical centre. The importance of good customer service can be seen at all stages, beginning with the initial customer's enquiry, followed by a quotation and the drawing up of contracts.

It continues with the delivery of the product and the after-sales service. Portakabin has unique Customer Charters for its sales and hire customers. These set out, in detail, the high levels of service that customers can expect. These include:

• completion of every project on time and to the agreed contract sum

• a service response within 24 hours from the customer services team

• picking up the phone within four 'rings' - and by a person, not an automated system

• a response or visit within 24 hours of a request

• to be included in the customer care programme.