Two of the past three years, Cartus Corp. has been tabbed the top employee relocation company by the Human Resources Outsourcing Association, and the Danbury company kicked off this year by adding more than 40 new corporate accounts, including Procter & Gamble Co.
To hear J.D. Power & Associates tell it, however, Cartus has to clean up its image for the very employees it helps move around the country and the globe.
Cartus moved up only one rung from its last-place performance last year on J.D. Power and Associates”™ inaugural ranking for customer satisfaction among seven large relocation services companies.
Cartus is the sixth-largest employer in Fairfield County, with 1,600 workers. Cartus is a subsidiary of Realogy Corp. of Parsippany, N.J., whose Coldwell Banker subsidiary is the largest residential real estate agency locally.
For the second year running, GMAC Global Relocation Services topped the survey, finishing both years just ahead of Prudential Relocation, which has an office in Shelton.
“Prudential Relocation demonstrates particular strength in the ability of their relocation counselors to address transferee problems in a timely manner,” said Michael Drago, director for the real estate and construction industries practice at J.D. Power. “One-third of transferees experienced some type of problem during their relocation ”¦ Having counselors that are well-equipped to handle problems that arise and aid transferees is a great asset.”
J.D. Power surveyed 1,100 people between April and July who had used a corporate relocation service in the past 12 months. According to Cartus spokeswoman Alison Sedney, the survey set does not portray an accurate picture of Cartus due to a small sample size.
“The J.D. Power survey results vary significantly from other measurements of performance, including recognition from leading industry organizations, other recently released industry surveys with substantially more respondents than the JD Power survey and Cartus”™ own service evaluation ratings, which typically number in excess of 40,000 on an annualized basis,” Sedney said. “(This year) Cartus has received more than 28,000 customer service survey ratings back from the transferring employees of its clients, showing 96 percent overall satisfaction.”
J.D. Power assesses companies for their performance on destination services (such as housing market data); non-moving related services (including services such as finance, insurance and spousal assistance); packing services; relocation counseling; the selling of a prior residence; and transportation of belongings.
Survey respondents saved their worst grades for people who manage a move on their own.
Cartus and Realogy had $124 million in revenue from relocation services in the second quarter, down from $129 million over the same period in 2007. The company blamed the drop on lower home values, the additional time needed to sell homes and decreased government sales.
In March, Realogy and Cartus canceled a General Services Administration contract to provide relocation services for employees of several federal agencies, excluding services for the U.S. Postal Service.
The company uses initiations of new services for people undergoing a move each quarter as a yardstick for its business, along with referrals from real estate brokers. The company had 42,600 initiations in the second quarter, down 1 percent; agent referrals, meanwhile, dropped 16 percent to 20,900 in all.