Ask The Board: Laying The Foundation Of A Successful Customer Experience Initiative

By Sarah Nicastro, publisher/editor in chief, Field Technologies
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Last week I wrote a column about the fact that Gartner recently reported that just 22 percent of customer experience (CX) leaders report their CX efforts exceed customers’ expectations. In that column I dove into three reasons I feel field service organizations are missing the mark with their customer experience initiatives — for this column I decided to ask some of our board members to share what they feel their organizations are doing right when it comes to CX.

As you’re shaping your company’s CX initiative, whether it is a brand new focus or continuation of the journey, you can learn from both the failures and successes of those around you. Here, in no particular order, some of our board members speak to steps their companies have taken that they feel have built a successful foundation for their CX efforts.

Create a customer success role or department. “Our first step in this direction was to create a Customer Success organization, followed by a relocation and building of a state of the art Automation Academy for training and product demonstration that we didn't previously have. The adoption of our technology into healthcare work flows is what will drive the most beneficial customer experience, so we are focused on adoption as we deploy and develop new products,” says Roy Dockery, VP of Customer Care at Swisslog Healthcare.

Set KPIs that move the CX needle forward. “We focused on setting KPIs by which to measure our performance that we’ve learned have the most impact to the customer,” says Charles Johnson, Director, Service Optimization and Business Intelligence, Philips Healthcare. You can’t improve what you don’t measure, so KPIs are a valuable tool to ensure your CX efforts are making an impact.

Ensure company-wide alignment on the CX focus. “Our entire organization is built around our customers and the experience they have with our product. Our brand promise is “Tuned Into You;” we work hard to lead our industry at listening to and acting in the best interest of our customers. To do this, it is the primary objective across our entire organization, including marketing, sales, contact centers, and field service and it’s how we measure wins and losses,” says Robb Origer, VP, In-Home Services, Dish Network.

Enlist service managers to endear your customers. “In the same way that project managers ensure that every detail on a project is coordinated and executed to plan, Siemens has service managers who ensure that every detail for service is executed to plan and that the customer experience is excellent. These service managers develop close relationships with customers and provide rapid response to any requests. Many times, the service managers are able to anticipate the customer pains before the issues affect their business,” says Nikki Bishop, Head of Global Field Service and Digital Operations, Siemens .

Invest in technology that enables you to provide a higher quality of service. “Most of the technology investments we have made in the last several years have been targeted at improving the information that is in the hands of our field technicians. It is our belief that these investments will flow through to ultimately improve customer experience by improving the quality and efficiency of our field techs,” says Roger O’Connor, VP of Product Support, Gosiger.

Make customer feedback and insights a priority. “One of the core values at Fresenius Kabi is customer focus. In 2012, Fresenius Kabi launched a CX program to measure, track, and build upon our commitment to our customers. It is designed to capture customer perceptions after interactions with employees or services so that the company can analyze and quickly act upon direct feedback from our customers. When feedback is received from our event and annual surveys, it is routed immediately to the appropriate management team and then they take the action needed from the customer. The CX champions and business leads meet monthly to review wins and areas for improvement,” says Ryan Snellings, VP of Operations at Fresenius Kabi.