Customer Andrew Rankine with pet Millie celebrate the IIC award at Pennard Vets.
Pennard Vets Strikes Gold Again
8 months ago 
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A Kent-based group of veterinary practices has been awarded the highest level possible in a coveted award that rates the experiences of its customers for a fourth consecutive time.
Pennard Vets, which has eight practices, has achieved an exceptional gold accreditation from Investor in Customers (IIC) – an independent customer experience agency, which conducts thorough assessments, develops detailed insights and awards annual accreditations to businesses.
Customer services manager at Pennard Vets, Collette Rednall, who is also an IIC ambassador, said: “We were the first in our industry to achieve the accreditation, which was quite a coup! An in-depth survey is sent to our 12,000 customers and another to our team of 140 people and we had a fantastic response rate, with more than 1,000 customers taking the time to fill in the survey. The response rate was over 12%, which compared to the usual rate for emailed surveys of between 3 and 5% is staggering!
“We are genuinely grateful to our customers who gave us so much lovely feedback and it’s great to hear how pleased they are. Our customers and their pets are incredibly important to us, and we are always focussed both on them and on our own continuous improvement, so it’s rewarding to know that we are getting things right.
“We carry out the accreditation process every two years, but we are always looking forward, taking on all the feedback and creating action plans to further improve where we can. Having grown to eight practices, in Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Maidstone, Allington, Borough Green, Langley Park and West Malling, and with a team of more than 140, we have never lost sight of what’s important – a personal and dedicated relationship with our customers and their pets.”
The IIC use a unique methodology to uncover the truth behind the customer experience delivered by an organisation, by seeking feedback from customers, employees, and the management team. By examining how well a company understands its customers, how it meets their needs and how it engenders loyalty, IIC also pinpoints opportunities to improve and strengths to build on.
IIC’s managing director, Tony Barritt, said: “Pennard Vets is one of just 70 companies in the UK to achieve gold status and only the eighth IIC customer to record a customer score in excess of 8.35 and a Net Promoter Score of +50 on four occasions!”
Managing director, Jeff Gascoyne at Pennard Vets, added: “In addition to the gold accreditation, Collette also qualified as an IIC ambassador last year and having her lead our committed team in the pursuit of excellence is very much valued.
“As pets become an ever more cherished member of the family, clients really value practices like ours which are owned by their employees, as part of an employee ownership trust, where there is continuity of care and the same familiar and friendly faces each time they visit.”
In 2021 Pennard Vets became the largest veterinary practice in the world to become employee owned, through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), meaning its entire team are now practice owners and stakeholders in the business. Last month Pennard Vets acquired Priory Lodge Vets, a long-established Tonbridge-based veterinary practice with a 20-strong team.
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