IT’S not often we get to hear about the behind-the-scenes activities – the human endeavour – that underpins business car financial services.
Usually in this magazine it’s about the operational benefits, or taxation benefits of daily rental or contract hire to small businesses and the SME sector.
But recently I heard some great stories which prove that customer service really doesn’t mean a shrug of the shoulders – but amazing dedication.
I was invited to the BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association) annual shindig recently. It’s for the great and the good of the leasing industry and all good-natured stuff.
But the BVRLA also had some awards for the frontline in the industry, the sort of people you and I might come across in our dealings with the car leasing business – their Hero Awards.
There were three winners. And all showed fantastic dedication. Lisa Ditch from Alphabet was nominated for tirelessly raising the standards of customer service at her company – the unseen, undramatic stuff that makes a difference.
The other two showed amazing dedication. The first during the heavy winter snow when Johan Macleod from Enterprise put a hold on her Christmas holiday to make a 130 mile round trip to deliver a car to a family stranded in Aberdeen who had no other means of transport.
The second, Elizabeth Howie from Hertz, put a hold on her holiday, drove halfway across Scotland and ended up staying in a caravan so that she and her team could rescue some exhausted ferry passengers and send them on their way home during the ‘no-fly’ ash cloud period.
Truly, dedication beyond the cause – but reacting brilliantly to human need. Well done to all three – the human face of the business car leasing and rental industry.
Editor’s Blog on the BVRLA dinner 2011