Bring back that loving feeling

Catherine Derkosh,Marketing Communications Manager

Don Mack,Sr. Marketing Specialist

Bring Back That Loving FeelingCustomer Satisfaction & Retention

Your Presenters – Who are We?

Don Mack

Sr. Marketing Specialist, Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.

Spring House, PA

[email protected]

Catherine Derkosh

Marketing Communications Manager, Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.

Spring House, PA

[email protected]

Together we have 34 years in the process automation industry and have worked for companies like Leeds + Northrup, Honeywell, Moore Products, and Siemens.

What we do for fun?

This is where the similarities end!

Pitt vs. Penn State

Golf vs. SoftballEngineer vs. Non-engineer

Bring Back That Loving Feeling

According to a study in the US News and World Report, the top four reasons "Why Customers Leave You" are…

1. Perceived indifference by a representative of your firm (68%)

2. Product dissatisfaction (14%)

3. Competitive reasons (ex. price) (9%)

4. Develop other relationships (or act on recommendations from friends) (5%)

Other studies have shown the cost of acquiring a new customer is an average of 5-7 times the cost of retaining an existing customer

Agenda

What is customer satisfaction

Why customer satisfaction is important

Ways to keep your customers happy- Bring back that loving feeling

Summary of key takeaways

Q&A including best practice sharing- There will be prizes!

What is Customer Satisfaction - From Wikipedia

Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard.

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.

Why Customer Satisfaction Is Important

It is an impact on your bottom line

- It leads to repeat business, customer loyalty, and increased profitability

- No business can exist without customers

Customers are becoming increasingly more demanding, less tolerant and very critical when they are not having their exceptions met

Customer have lots of choices on where and with who to deal with

- The power has shifted to the customer. If they feel you can not satisfy their expectations they will simply go to someone who will.

- Failure to seek and address customer complaints can hurt your bottom line

Ways to Impact Customer Satisfaction

Encourage face-to face dealings- Tradeshows

- User group meetings

Keep your customers informed- Newsletters & magazines

- Events & training

Understand your customers- User Advisory Boards/User Community: Ability to influence product

development/direction

- Surveys & feedback

Make it easy to do business with you- We have all fought our way through the productivity wars of the past years

- Moving form coordination to collaboration – you can be your customer’s customer

- Service & support, a critical area to focus on

“Think Customer” Program

Siemens has a program called “Think Customer” designed to instill the “Customer is First” philosophy throughout the company

Encourage Face-to Face Dealings

Tradeshows and special events – make the most of them and make it worth your customer’s time

Sometimes thinking outside the box starts inside one – exiderdome

Make it a double- Add a hospitality event or sales visit

to your next show- ISA and Oktoberfest

Make it worth your customer’s time - Technical seminars- Information on new standards

Frequency is key

Encourage Face-to Face Dealings

User Group Meetings - Networking

- Best practice sharing

- Technical innovations

- Training

Local or National user group meetings work

2008 Siemens Automation Summit- 165 companies from 36 industries from 41 states and 9 countries were

represented

- 114 breakout sessions, general sessions, the exiderdome solutions showcase, networking opportunities, roadmap sessions and feedback forums

Keep Your Customers Informed

Electronic newsletters- New products and services

- Tips & tricks

- Seminars Keep them short and interactive Segment and frequency – customize

if at all possible Ask for feedback Analyze results

Keep Your Customers Informed

Customer magazines – longer articles and high impact graphics

- Case histories

- Applications stories

- White papers

- New product updates

- Events

Take advantage of PR opportunitieswith the trade publications

Understand Your Customers

Empowering your customers

If you don’t listen to your customers needs and desires you simply don’t know what it is that they need.

Indicate that you are seriousness about improving quality of products and services

Understand Your Customers

Customer Advisory Councils- User Advisory Boards/User Community: Ability to influence product

development/direction

Customer Product Focus Groups- Organized by geography and industry, drive feedback on specific products and

services

On-line customer communities – tips from Communispace whitepaper- Invite the right people, keep it small and private- View members as advisors- Find the social glue, make it member-centric- Work at building the community- Be genuine, encourage candor- Just plain ask- Pay even more attention to what members initiate- Don’t squelch the negative- Don’t ask too much, too often- Use the right mix of technologies and methodologies, and keep experiment

Make It Easy for Your Customers to Do Business with You

Account management

- Collaboration

- Accessibility

800 number

- One number for everything

Web based collaboration tools

- SiteScape

- SharePoint

Create an invitation targeted to customers for local and regional events in which your company is participating

- Trade shows

- Seminars

- Hospitality events

Invitations can be hard copy and/or electronic

- Better to hand deliver hard copies

Include benefits to customer

- PDH’s are particularly useful

Personal Invitations to Industry Events

Make it extensive, make it easy

Website can include…- Manuals- Service news- FAQ’s- Online access to experts- Phone number… not hidden at

the bottom- RSS feeds/Newsletters- What else?

Phone support- Always able to reach a person- Defined response time- Call log so that different support

personnel can pick up where the previous tech left off

Customer Service and Support

Customer Satisfaction Call Follow-up Surveys

“How did we do?” surveys on a regular basis following support calls (but not “too regular”)

- Phone or electronic

Calculate results and report them to the customer support team

- Publicly display results

- Incentivize team for positive results

Promote positive customer feedback to the team

Collect Customer Satisfaction Information

Formal survey- Existing customers

- Former customers

Anecdotal information from sales personnel

Anecdotal information from customers

In addition to standard training course options…

Offer local marketing seminars covering non-commercial topics (ex. Asset Management, Wireless, Fieldbus Communications, etc.)

Or save the travel and conduct the seminar as a webinar

Promote seminars/webinars that are typically targeted at new opportunities to your existing customer base

- Good chance to keep customers current

- In many cases these events might qualify for Professional Development Hours

Training Seminars

What else can Sales do to maintain customers?

Use the previously mentioned tools

Return phone calls

Engage in regular face-to-face meetings with customers- Confirm path forward including next communication

Follow meetings with a brief e-mail summarizing the actions- Ensures that everyone is on the same page- Demonstrates that you were listening- Confirms follow-up path

Keep your promises

Help them do their job better

References

Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Caffeine Newsletter- Subscribe for free at: www.salescaffeine.com

Book: “Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force” by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

Top 10 Ways to “Bring Back That Loving Feeling”

10.”Think Customer” mentality must permeate your organization

9. Create regular opportunities for you to listen to your customers

8. Keep your customers informed through regular communications

7. Develop a user/customer community

6. Teach your customers about things other than your products… help them do their job better

5. Build a strong post sale customer support organization… make sure your customers can easily get help

4. Find out what your customers think about you and track the results

3. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you

2. Keep your promises to your customers

1. “Think Customer” mentality must permeate your organization (Have I said that before?)

Bring back that loving feeling

Business

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