Acting On Customer Insights Saves $34 MillionCase Study:
Acting On Customer Insights Saves $34 Million

By committing themselves to the customer experience and taking action on customer insights, this leader in data storage systems made changes that not only benefitted their customers, but also saved their company $34 million.

EMC, a leader in data storage systems has implemented a customer program that allows them to collect feedback through multiple listening posts, funnel those findings to the “right” people, and consolidate key messages for use by their executive teams. They have also made a commitment to customer experience, by creating a three-step process that ensures customer feedback is heard, resources are allocated to customer-identified priorities, and deliver on the investments in a way that customers recognize and benefit from.

Challenge

EMC understands that an effective voice-of-the-customer program is more than just gathering information about how their customers perceive them. Achieving those objectives requires connecting the voices of their customers to the strategies and decisions being made at all levels of the organization, and integrating their customer input with internal metrics. In support of this objective, EMC has embraced a customer measurement system that allows us to collect feedback through multiple listening posts, funnel those findings to the “right” people – both for immediate action if required and for more systemic planning, and consolidate key messages for use by our executive teams.

Vice President of Total Customer Experience Jim Bampos said, “To really differentiate ourselves from the competition, we focus on an outside-in culture. We recognize that our customers are incredibly important to our success, and the real goal is creating a successful environment for both EMC and our customers.”

Their Technology Solutions and Services group knew from their VoC feedback they needed to improve their customers’ experience. Specifically, they learned customers needed them to improve communications, create more customized solutions, better manage projects, and ensure their professionals were more highly trained–and that making these improvements would translate to a higher quality of interaction and ultimately to stronger business performance.

How

After studying the data and talking extensively to customers and field employees, they decided to take action on this valuable customer feedback. They built new solutions and project management tools, implemented a project-tracking vehicle, and instituted a new training curriculum to bring broader and deeper technical expertise to the customer engagement.

Outcome

In just 18 months after implementing the process changes EMC saw some key customer metrics improve by as much as 20 points, and were able to attribute $34 million in cost savings to the initiatives. The success of this initiative is demonstration that their focus on the customer experience and the voice of the customer is impacting their customers’ experiences.

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