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Managing the Customer Experience - A Case
Study Part 2
By
Craig Bailey
This week we share part two of the case study example outlining
strategies and techniques that one of our clients (PTC) has put in place
to effectively manage the customer experience. This multi-part series
results from a collaborative effort with Mark Hodges, DVP and Chief
Customer Officer at
PTC.
In the
previous article in this series, we discussed the importance of
closing the loop between the front-line and R&D/Engineering. In this
article, we will cover the critical role that senior management must
play to improve the customer experience.
Executive oversight and engagement on key customer issues
Improving the customer experience doesn't happen just because the
executive team "says so." Instead, it requires active engagement of
senior management on a daily basis. Quite simply, there is no other way.
In order to satisfy the needs of its customers and operate effectively
in an increasingly complex Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
environment, PTC realized it had to develop sophisticated and efficient
management escalation processes. In addition to regular Customer Support
based escalation processes, PTC needed to provide direct
cross-functional executive oversight for key customer issues.
To that end, twice per week, senior managers of Technical Support, R&D /
Engineering, Global Services and (as necessary) Sales, meet together
with the "in-the-trenches" customer-facing subject-matter-experts to
review the status of accounts and solution implementations that have
been entered into the Corporate Escalation process. A formal escalation
procedure has been defined with specific criteria for an account to get
"on the list." Once on the list, a customer remains on it until the
agreed upon action plan has been completed to the satisfaction of the
customer and PTC's senior management team.
This single, highly visible process has been implemented on a global
basis as the standard way to manage complex customer issues. All parties
involved know when they need to call in, who is "on" at what time, and
what they are expected to cover. The primary focus is to define, drive
and monitor progress of the action-plan needed to address the immediate
customer issue. This includes the prioritization of key resources from
various parts of the company who are best suited to provide rapid
diagnosis and resolution.
In addition, key takeaways for executive management include:
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Management awareness and visibility of key customer
issues and the actions taken to resolve them. This direct
voice-of-the-customer information is highly credible and can be used
to support future resource investment decisions and product
strategies. This is much more valuable than the anecdotal commentary
you'll hear from senior managers of companies with less mature
practices in place. Note that every member of the Executive team at
PTC receives a copy of the Corporate Escalation report on a weekly
basis.
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Obtaining direct insight into the root-cause of
customer issues and ensuring that fixes are immediately communicated
to internal Services personnel or shared directly with customers via
web based support tools or "push" communications.
Here's a best practice Mark Hodges was willing to share: When designing
your process, don't go for perfection out of the gate. Define a set of
reasonable criteria for customers to make "the list", establish a weekly
or twice-weekly meeting time that works (globally), communicate to the
key customer-facing organizations, get started and adapt as you go. The
most important thing is getting senior managers of the key
customer-facing organizations in the room on a regular and consistent
basis, along with their respective "in-the-trenches" subject matter
experts and starting the process. The key is for each of the
representatives to learn together and use their practical experience to
scale to others over time. There is so much to gain and NOTHING to lose
(except customers, if you don't do this).
As reported by Mark Hodges, of PTC: "We have found that by bringing the
key groups together on a regular and frequent basis we are able to more
promptly address complex customer issues and put root-cause resolutions
in place to ensure the situation doesn't recur for this, or any other
customer. We have also found that the process drives increased
cross-functional collaboration and builds a much stronger sense of the
importance of being Customer Centric. It places key resources much
closer to the customer and builds knowledge and understanding of their
working practices and user environments. All of this has the additional
benefit of improving our product quality, service offerings and the
skills of our support teams."
Stay tuned for subsequent editions of our newsletter in which we'll
cover the remaining topics of this case study, including:
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The Tiger Team (formalized)
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Executive sponsorship for strategic accounts
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Customer surveys
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Metrics and results
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Taking things to the next level
About PTC: PTC is all about helping discrete manufacturers succeed
by meeting their globalization, time-to-market, and operational
efficiency objectives in product development. As one of the world's
largest and fastest-growing software companies, PTC delivers a complete
portfolio of integral Product Lifecycle Management solutions to over
50,000 customers in the Industrial, High Tech, Aerospace & Defense,
Automotive, Consumer, and Medical Device industries.
PTC's solutions enable teams to collaborate across departments—and
across continents—helping them create innovative products that meet
their customer needs and comply with industry regulations. In addition
to best-in-class solutions, PTC also delivers expert training, software
support, and world-class services directly through PTC Global Services
and indirectly through a range of partners.
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Contents
+ Managing the Customer Experience
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