Lely UK - sole distributor of Toro Commercial Products and TYM in the UK - has introduced a new Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the company and its network of machinery dealers and service centres.

With two of its own service centres, one in Sheffield Park, East Sussex, and one in St Neots, Cambridge, Lely says the new agreement is designed to align the customer service levels across the UK, and raise the support standards associated with its own bases and across its 20 independent, authorised service locations (ASL) and UK-wide dealer group.


Three of Lely's new service vans pictured at the company's Sheffield Park service centre

Lely's David Cole, senior manager, turf division, explains: "The SLA has been created to smooth out potential inconsistencies countrywide, providing a strong base-line standard of service commitment that end users of our products can access from any one of our ASLs across the UK.

"We've created common goals and values that are a benchmark for supporting the end user of any of the commercial turf products distributed by Lely. And because these can be measured and monitored, we're able to provide value and reassurance to our customers no matter where they are."

Soon to be adopted by all Lely ASLs and dealers, the agreement outlines assurances including the ongoing auditing and skills development of all customer service points, a commitment to aftersales staff education, and a robust technical reporting and safety process linked to the equipment manufacturers.

However, David says the headline commitments that will be of particular interest to the customer involve setting high standards for servicing, repairs and warranty, and the spare parts supply process.

"The SLA sets targets for service; repair and warranty work being carried out in a prompt and timely manner and details our standard response goal to customer emergency requests for service repairs. We also want to build on our various options for contract servicing and full maintenance plans in order to provide as much choice for the equipment owner and operator as possible," he explains.

"How our customer service network responds to spare parts requests, particularly in more urgent situations, is also one of the key detailed targets in the agreement," David adds.

Available response times to customers' urgent requirements for spare parts are also set out, with parts stocked locally available for same day collection, delivery or dispatch - or next day timed delivery from another service location or national stock.

"If you need a part in a hurry or urgently need a repair, our SLA details what customers can expect, no matter where they are located in the UK," he says.

So far, all 20 ASLs have adopted the SLA standards and its ongoing audit programme, with Lely's UK full line dealers now also in the process of its implementation.

While the SLA applies to all UK dealers and service centres, it also applies to Lely's own two service locations. And with the agreement's introduction, comes Lely's own commitment to customer service; a recent investment in its service fleet.

"Adopting the principals of the SLA at our own service locations brought forward a planned investment in our after sales support fleet, to ensure that we can also meet the targets adopted in the SLA, particularly meeting our response time goals to repair requests, achieving a 'first time fix' where at all possible," says David.

The investment sees three of Lely's five service vans upgraded and re-equipped, with the remaining two to be replaced with the new model later in the year.