Grosvenor Leasing ran its customer satisfaction index (CSI) survey earlier this year, achieving an incredible 100% overall satisfaction rating, with 98% of customers stating that Grosvenor was either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’.
As a mechanism to also gain feedback from customers regarding their key priorities so that Grosvenor can continue to ensure it develops services in line with future needs, the survey also revealed some interesting trends around electric vehicle uptake and risk management.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, commitment to plug-in vehicles is high, although the results indicate that full uptake of electric cars will still take time.
36% of customers stated that plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) would make up 80% of the cars ordered in the year ahead, with 13% stating that every order they placed would now be fully electric.
13% stated that PHEVs and BEVs would make up more than 60% of orders, leaving approximately 50% expecting plug-in vehicles to make up less than 60%.
When it comes to risk management, the survey asked about the level of risk management within customers’ businesses, with only 22% saying they had a full risk management and compliance solution in place.
50% declared they had ‘some’ form of risk management in place, while 28% had little or nothing.
Of those who had procedures for managing risk, less than half (45%) said it covered both company and grey fleet drivers which means the majority of drivers using their own cars for business use are not being given the same treatment as those within the company scheme.
According to Mary Dopson-Taylor, Customer Services Director, neither set of statistics comes as a huge surprise.
“Our 0Zone team, which supports customers with the transition to electric vehicles, is very pragmatic in understanding that not all drivers are able to adopt plug-in vehicles yet.
“Whilst we do everything we can to facilitate the shift towards zero emission motoring, there are, of course, still many cases where an EV is not suitable for an employee’s job role; they travel very high mileages, or have minimal access to charging points.
“Until battery ranges and the charging infrastructure improve, it’s understandable that some drivers will remain in low emission petrol or diesel models, and that is reflected in the percentages from our CSI. However, the work we have done with customers to develop ultra-low emission and electric car policies is definitely making a difference, with 80% of our current order in-take having plug-in capability.
“With regards to risk management, it is slightly more disappointing that the numbers are not higher, and we would encourage customers who do not have robust processes in place to talk to us.
“As well as fulfilling one’s obligations under health and safety law, it is also important to prioritise the safety of all at-work drivers, irrespective of whether they are in a company-provided vehicle or their own.
“At Grosvenor, we have a full ‘Drive Care’ offering in place that covers licence checks, online risk assessments, e-driver training and compliance and this is simple to implement and very cost-effective, which means it’s not an onerous or expensive solution to adopt.
“Simple improvements to driver safety have numerous benefits in terms of less collisions, savings on repairs, reduced vehicle downtime and improved wellbeing across all drivers, which is why it is such an important area for any fleet manager to consider.”