Customer Service Excellence

Company Background

Our client is a Strategic Performance Unit (SPU) within the refining and marketing segment of a global energy company, that manufacturers and sells passenger car, motor-cycle, commercial light vehicle and heavy duty truck lubricants.

Business Issue

Faced with increasing competitive pressure in many of its markets, our client's strategy was to provide higher service levels and greater customer intimacy to differentiate from its competitors, who were all focusing on cost efficiency. As part of its strategy, the company introduced the concept of balancing customer intimacy and customer efficiency as a key objective. This meant driving efficiency wherever customer intimacy created little value for customers and building capability in the areas customers care about most. The challenge however, was to realize this strategy, particularly through the service function.

In 2003, Inforte had worked with the company to establish a robust case for change, which identified customer management as a driver to improve gross margins and accelerate organic revenue growth. A key finding of this study was that of the customer management activities - marketing, sales and service - service was the most significant contributor to margin growth.

The findings resonated with our client. As a result, Inforte was invited to support this transformation of customer service into an activity that delivered competitive advantage and improved financial performance.

Inforte's Solution

Inforte worked together with the client to design the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) project. The overall ambition was to deliver new levels of customer service that would differentiate our client and drive growth for the company. The objective of the project was to establish a vision for customer service and subsequently define, test, and implement a new service operating model that could be applied globally.

A joint team was created to deliver the project under the sponsorship of our client's global strategy and transformation function. The team took a phased approach, delivering a vision and first-cut business case in the first stage; and an operating model blueprint, detailed business case and roadmap for change in the second stage.

Stage One

The first step was to define a vision. This included creating a vision statement and defining the guiding principals for the project (including the scope of service activities to be examined). Our clients four regional business units were asked to evaluate their current level of customer intimacy (across the activities in scope and propose aspirational maturity levels that would be required to be successful in breaking away from competitors). At the conclusion of this phase, a summary operating model was developed - describing the people, process, technology and culture requirements to deliver the vision - and the regional analysis used to create two sets of service activity descriptions. The first, described a base level of service - the threshold level necessary for business survival that should be achieved by all business areas. The second, portrayed an aspirational level of service that would allow the company to compete and win against its competitors.

In addition, some key questions were laid down to be tested in the next phase, for example:

• Could one model be applicable to the whole Global SPU?
• Could customer service be co-located and consolidated?
• Could business value be enhanced through utilizing customer service and support?

Stage Two

Stage two of the project tested and confirmed the vision; and created a way forward to define, execute and then operate the new model. To do this it had to answer key questions, globally review and refine the proposed operating model, provide a business case and engage the regional business units to create buy-in.

Many deliverables were created to complete the second phase, but key to the successful conclusion were:

• White papers to examine the key questions and provide recommendations
• Technology visions for CRM and customer self-service over the web
• An operating model (detail and summary) and a regional gap analysis
• Business process improvement and business process re-engineering initiatives
• A unique (customer survey based) valuation model for the service levels

Results and Next Steps

Phase two was completed and deliverables signed off in Q1, 2005 with the business and leadership team accepting the recommendations made at its conclusion. These recommendations are being taken forward in two ways.

First, through the initiation of a wider initiative that spans all four SPU's in the company's refining and marketing segment. Second, the regional business units have agreed on a roadmap of business process improvement projects across multiple countries, to either meet the base or to strive for the aspirational levels of service - depending on their local conditions and strategies. Customer service within the company now has a high degree of visibility due to the combination of rigorous analysis and engagement achieved across the business.

Words Of Advice

Inforte's experience with the company is relevant to any organization looking to create differentiated service levels. To achieve this, two key steps are required: first, the development of a compelling business case and strategic rationale for enhancing the role of the customer service function - particularly around the integration of sales and service; second, the discovery of "quick wins" - significant improvements that don't require technology enablers - to help build engagement and momentum.