Customer Feedback Helps IBM Achieve Operational Excellence

Picture this. You're standing at the head of a long conference table filled with your company's senior executives. With well-crafted PowerPoint slides on the screen and glossy binders at every seat, you're poised and ready to talk about the outcome of the firm's latest customer satisfaction survey. In essence, you've got them right where you want them. Only one question remains. Will your translation of the results inspire action, or will the impression of your presentation last about as long as it takes for the binders to go from the conference table to a dusty office bookshelf? For those of us responsible for customer satisfaction, this is a definitive "moment of truth." As someone who's been there before, I'd like to offer some advice on how you can be ready. Preparing for such a moment of truth begins weeks or even months before you face your bosses at the conference table. And perhaps surprising to some, in the end, your customer satisfaction presentation should have very little to do with actual survey results.

Rule 1: Never rely on numbers or percentages to carry the day. While numbers may be intellectually interesting, even dazzling color charts and graphs are seldom enough to hold the attention of senior executives for long. To make a lasting impression among decision makers, it's essential to speak their language - to use survey results as supporting evidence for a business plan or activities intended to achieve short- or long-term customer satisfaction goals. I've found there is a huge disconnect between the way business people think and the way survey results are often communicated to them. Addressing this problem can give your work lasting impact and senior management support.

Rule 2: Customer satisfaction doesn't begin or end with a survey. Essential for virtually every organization, survey research is an important means to identify and define strategies that will help your company drive results, build market share, and increase profits. However, customer satisfaction is never about the research or the results. When it comes to improving customer satisfaction, ultimately, it's the resulting action companies take that matters most.

At IBM, we "operationalize" customer satisfaction to ensure our focus doesn't stray from strategies and actions. In simple terms, this means we design and use customer satisfaction research to pinpoint operational issues that may need review or modification. We then put business metrics in place around that customer satisfaction data to ensure improvements are measurable and results are proven. Here's one example.

Several months ago, our customer survey data indicated we were having some difficulty with customer contracting and billing. The billing department refuted this notion by citing a departmental metric that rated bills as 98.5 percent accurate. The discrepancy between the department's percentage and what we heard from our customers led us to some important questions, such as: "How do our customers define accuracy? Does accuracy mean the bill comes at the same time every month? Does it mean the invoice includes the right P.O. number? Or that the list price is correct?".

Using a specially developed survey, we identified several customer definitions for "accuracy" in billing. Upon closer inspection of our billing processes, we were able - using the customer definitions as a guide - to discover pitfalls and address them. In effect, we operationalized customer satisfaction by resolving a recurrent concern that was affecting our customer relationships. Now that's something senior management wants to hear about.

Use surveys as validation points Too many companies fall into the trap of making customer satisfaction research merely a once-a-year item on their corporate "To Do" list. Many will annually commission a massive survey of their customers and then spend three or four days reviewing the results (primarily numbers and percentages) with senior management. Such a presentation will typically generate some initial interest but all too often what's left after the glossy binders are closed is a group effort to "try harder" and shortly after, it's back to business as usual. At IBM, our corporate-wide annual customer relationship study and other surveys administered throughout the year are validation points for the customer satisfaction program we live and breathe every day. Referred to as Set Met (Goals Set, Goals Met), this program requires our 30,000-member sales force to ascertain, understand, work with, and eventually exceed customer expectations.

On a regular basis, our salespeople sit down with each of their customers and conduct a formal, thorough assessment of the existing business relationship. The primary objective of the meeting is to determine individual customer expectations and goals. Each case is documented, and an action plan for exceeding the expectations is developed and implemented. Frequent customer satisfaction surveys indicate where progress is being made and affirm whether customer expectations are actually being met. We're firm believers that customer satisfaction is all about managing relationships, and in the end, successfully managing relationships is all about expectations.

Tips for getting started

If you think an ongoing customer satisfaction program is in your company's future, here are some key pointers to keep in mind as you prepare to meet management at the conference room table and ask for their approval and buy-in.

Use business acumen to couch survey results - Translating survey data into a language business people can understand and appreciate is paramount. Be creative in thinking of ways to put customer satisfaction results into a relevant business context. Develop positive relationships with researchers - Whether your research team is in-house or you've hired an outside research firm, initiate and maintain a good working relationship with these folks. They'll tell you where you should play ball. Always drive toward business metrics - Adopt a Six Sigma-type approach or methodology to "operationalize" customer satisfaction. Be a good salesperson - Use instinct and imagination to sell your ideas to senior management. Keep this in mind as you prepare for your next turn at the head of the conference room table. If you're armed with good supportive data and speak their language, you're headed down the right path.

Author: Henry Bergmans, Global Director of Customer Satisfaction, IBM Corporation.