Bespoke Service Guaranteed

Simply Construction Group, the design and build company incorporating Simply Loft, Simply Extend and Simply Basement, has always put the customer experience at the forefront of its operations. Now a bespoke app has taken it one step further.

Helen Wood, Marketing Director and part of the husband-and-wife team which set up the business over 13 years ago, has never taken her eye off the all-important customer service that they have been so careful to build and nurture.

“Our clients are busy people, leading hard-working lives, and they’re undertaking a project which involves construction on their most valuable asset, turning their homes into building sites for several weeks or months. They need to know that they’re in the best hands and that the channels of communication with the build team and operations are always open,” she explains.

The level of technology required to transfer their customer-facing desktop dashboard into an app didn’t yet exist, so Helen’s husband, Rob set about having a bespoke design created, resulting in an easy-to-use app used by customers, build teams, architects and operations. On the commute to work, customers can tap in for an update on their timeline or to request variations. The construction team or architect can act upon that, and the work moves forward, enabling operations to have an excellent overview of each project’s progress.

There are numerous benefits to the app. It’s not only customer-facing but used internally. Contractors keep it updated for the client. Architectural drawings, party wall awards, structural drawings and quotes are all stored. Payment milestones can be tracked and when a particular part of the project is completed, an invoice is generated.

“We’re over the moon with the result – a brilliant portal which gives everybody transparency and clarity, often big stumbling blocks within the construction industry,” says Helen. “Being able to have real-time information at our fingertips is invaluable. If a client wants a variation – very common in a build – they can simply type it in. That notifies their contractor who will supply a quote. From an operations perspective, we can see whether that work will impact the timeline so we can then plan effectively, and the client can decide whether to go ahead,” she explains.

The team at Simply has grown considerably with over 20 people now involved, but the focus remains on the service they offer. Site managers navigate between projects daily, running spot checks on health and safety as well as the work itself, and these extra eyes and ears only add to the customer experience.

In addition, the company is FCA-approved, and loft conversion finance is available for up to 25 per cent of the contract value, meaning a helping hand to spread the costs over up to a ten-year period at competitive rates.

Despite now being one of the bigger players in the market, the personalised service and dedicated app mean that Simply’s offering is as bespoke as the technology that has helped to create it, resulting in a build project that is accessible, manageable and customer friendly.