Sherwoods
“We used to assume that everything was going OK. Now we’re constantly checking in, listening to our customers and acting on what they tell us.”
Brett Allen, Head of Customer Growth, Sherwoods
Great customer relationships don’t happen by accident.
Discover how Sherwoods works with insight6 to turn customer feedback into action, protect valuable customer relationships and embed its customer promise across the business.
In this case:
The Challenge
Our Approach & CX Solutions
The Results
Sherwoods: Project Overview
Building for the Next 50 Years
Sherwoods has grown successfully for more than 50 years. Now, the team is focused on what comes next.
As the business continues to grow, Sherwoods wants to stay even closer to its customers and make sure its service evolves with their expectations. That means moving beyond informal feedback and creating a more consistent way to listen, measure and act.
Working with insight6 Customer Experience Specialist Rhian Huxtable, Sherwoods introduces a structured approach to customer feedback across the business. The insight helps the team strengthen existing relationships, spot opportunities earlier and give customers a stronger voice in how the service develops. It also gives leaders clearer evidence of what is working well and where they can keep improving.
Today, customer insight reaches from the leadership team to engineers in the field.
Most importantly, it helps Sherwoods bring its customer promise to life: “Exceptional service, every customer, every day.”
By embedding that promise in how the business measures performance and makes decisions, Sherwoods is building on 50 years of success and laying the foundation for the next 50.
About Sherwoods
Smart & Sustainable Facilities Maintenance
Sherwoods delivers hard facilities maintenance, compliance and project services across the South West and surrounding regions.
With more than 50 years’ experience and a team of around 140 people, Sherwoods supports customers across sectors including public sector, healthcare, education, hospitality, retail, PBSA and commercial estates.
Its directly employed teams deliver planned and reactive maintenance, compliance, and project work across HVAC, gas, electrical, plumbing, drainage, building fabric, and fire safety.
Sherwoods combines broad technical capability with a straightforward focus on building long-term customer relationships and delivering its promise: “Exceptional service, every customer, every day.”
Its ambition is captured simply: Building a future with you.
The Challenge
What Do Our Customers Really Think?
Sherwoods knows how to measure operational performance.
Engineers are assessed. Response times are tracked. Customers measure how quickly teams reach site and resolve problems.
But there is a bigger question – What is it like to be a Sherwoods customer?
Historically, much of the business’s growth has come naturally through reputation, relationships, and word of mouth.
That success creates confidence. But it also creates a risk.
The business can assume everything is fine until a customer tells them otherwise.
Conversations can become reactive. A problem arises. A deadline approaches. A customer needs something urgently.
Sherwoods wants to stop firefighting.
It wants regular, honest customer insight so it can see what is working, recognise great service and act quickly when something needs putting right.
The commercial importance soon becomes clear.
Some accounts that appear to be going cold have something in common: less contact.
For a growth-focused business, winning new customers matters.
But so does protecting and growing the customers it already has.
“We’re always looking to start spinning new plates, but you can’t forget about the ones already spinning. Existing customers still need that attention.”
Brett Allen, Head of Customer Growth, Sherwoods
Our Approach
Making Customer Experience Everyone’s Business
Rhian starts by getting to know Sherwoods. The first six to eight months focus on understanding the business, establishing benchmarks and building a clear picture of the customer experience.
Together, Rhian and the Sherwoods team look at where feedback needs to come from. And that means listening at every level.
Engineers meet customers face-to-face in the field. Help desk and office teams manage jobs, communication and relationships behind the scenes. Senior leaders have more strategic conversations with customers.
Every interaction matters.
Rhian works with Sherwoods to create a feedback programme that captures these different perspectives and makes customer insight part of everyday operations.
Engineers carry an instant insight QR code on the back of their ID cards. At the end of a job, they can invite customers to share feedback on the spot.
Sherwoods also regularly surveys customers at a more strategic level to understand how they feel about the overall relationship.
The result is a much clearer picture of the customer experience, from engineers in the field to the leadership team.
And Sherwoods acts on what it learns.
Positive feedback gives Sherwoods the opportunity to recognise and celebrate great service. And if a customer isn’t happy, the team would rather know, understand why, and have the opportunity to put it right.
The insight feeds directly into the insight6 portal, which integrates with Sherwoods’ back-office system. Weekly and monthly reporting gives engineers and department heads clear visibility of performance.
But measurement is only part of the approach.
Rhian also delivers CX training across the business, working with engineers, help desk colleagues and office-based teams.
The focus is on bringing Sherwoods’ customer promise to life: “Exceptional service, every customer, every day.”
Teams explore what that promise means in their own customer conversations and how their individual actions shape the wider experience.
For engineers, that includes understanding why feedback matters and how to ask for it naturally. For help desk and office teams, it means viewing every conversation through the customer’s eyes.
Today, Rhian holds monthly check-ins with heads of department to review scores, identify gaps and explore where teams may need additional training or support. He also provides something that’s difficult to create from inside the business. Independent accountability.
Sherwoods operates in a commercially competitive sector where cost and operational delivery will always matter.
With insight6 providing an independent view, Sherwoods now measures customer sentiment alongside operational performance.
Rhian doesn’t simply report the scores. He holds the team accountable for what the feedback says and what happens next.
“Rhian is good at holding us accountable. He shows us where we need to improve and keeps bringing us back to why we’re doing it.”
Brett Allen, Head of Customer Growth, Sherwoods
CX Solutions
Keeping a Finger on the Pulse
Sherwoods uses a combination of insight6 solutions to understand the customer experience at every stage of the relationship.
Customers provide feedback directly through QR codes engineers carry.
Results feed into the insight6 portal and integrate with Sherwoods’ own systems. Weekly and monthly reporting gives teams clear visibility into performance and highlights where feedback is, or isn’t, being collected.
The process also gives happy customers a route to leave a Google review.
Regular customer surveys give Sherwoods a broader view of how customers feel about the relationship.
Combined with feedback gathered by engineers in the field, this helps the business understand both the day-to-day experience and the bigger picture.
It provides an independent benchmark and gives Sherwoods insight it can act on, learn from and celebrate.
Rhian delivers practical CX training across the business, including engineers, help desk colleagues and office teams.
The sessions help people understand the customer promise, have better conversations, and recognise how their actions shape the wider customer experience.
Monthly reviews with department heads keep customer experience front and centre.
Scores are reviewed. Success is recognised. Gaps are identified. Teams are challenged and supported where needed.
The important bit for Sherwoods is what it does with the feedback.
If something needs fixing, the team acts on it. And when someone delivers exceptional service, Sherwoods makes sure it recognises that success too.
Project Outcomes
From Four Google Reviews to 154
The numbers tell a powerful story.
When Sherwoods started focusing more closely on customer feedback, it had just four Google reviews. Around 12 months later, that figure reaches 154 – while maintaining a strong star rating.
But the impact goes far beyond online reputation. Customer insight is now embedded into everyday operations.
Engineers actively ask for feedback. Department heads regularly review their scores. Great service is recognised and celebrated. And where the insight highlights an opportunity to improve, teams can act.
Feedback also helps Sherwoods identify gaps in customer contact. If an account starts to go quiet, the team can ask why. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, they can pick it up.
That supports stronger retention, protects existing revenue and creates opportunities to grow established customer relationships.
Mystery enquiry adds another commercial perspective.
By measuring the inbound experience, Sherwoods can see how effectively its customer promise comes through before someone even becomes a customer.
Together, the insight gives Sherwoods a much clearer picture of what it is actually like to be a customer – from first enquiry and frontline delivery through to a long-term relationship.
It also provides valuable evidence for tenders. Rather than simply saying customer service matters, Sherwoods can demonstrate how it listens, measures performance and acts on what customers say.
And internally, the customer promise is becoming part of everyday decision-making.
When something doesn’t feel right, teams can ask a simple question: “Is that exceptional service?”
That mindset is beginning to influence individual performance too. Sherwoods is exploring how customer scores can form part of employee reviews and wider performance measures.
Customer experience is no longer something the business assumes.
It is something Sherwoods can see, measure and continually improve.
Recognised for Customer Experience Excellence
A UK First for Facilities Management
Sherwoods’ commitment to customer experience earns the business the insight6 CX Excellence Mark.
As a result, Sherwoods becomes the first facilities management company in the UK to earn the recognition.
Sherwoods is proud of the recognition.
But what matters more is the work behind it and what customers are telling the business.
Sherwoods listens to customers at every level.
Its people receive CX training to help them deliver the customer promise.
The inbound experience is independently tested.
Feedback is used to recognise great service, learn and improve.
And the business invites insight6 to independently challenge its performance and hold it accountable.
For Sherwoods, achieving the Mark isn’t the end of the journey.
It gives Sherwoods a clear standard to work toward.
“The CX Excellence Mark shows that our customer promise is more than words. We can evidence what we’re doing, keep ourselves accountable and continue looking at how we make the experience even better.”
Brett Allen, Head of Customer Growth, Sherwoods
Sherwoods is already looking ahead.
Sherwoods is exploring how to develop its approach further, from individual and team performance measures to employee engagement and rewards.
Because delivering “exceptional service, every customer, every day” isn’t a one-off target.
For Sherwoods, it is simple: keep asking, keep listening and keep getting better.
Want to Turn Customer Feedback into Commercial Action?
insight6 helps businesses move beyond assumptions and understand what their customers really experience.
From real-time feedback and mystery shopping to training, benchmarking and ongoing CX support, we help organisations turn customer insight into stronger relationships, better performance and sustainable growth.
Contact your local insight6 Customer Experience Specialist to start the conversation.
insight6’s end-to-end customer experience (CX) solutions have earned us a reputation as the partner of choice for many forward-thinking companies. Our network of local specialists provides on-the-ground support. Don’t let an inadequate customer experience ruin your reputation or impact your success. Get in touch today to schedule a no-obligation chat with your local CX specialist or a free demo of our total feedback solution—instant insight.
