EMC²'s Vision:

A global leader in information storage hardware, software and services, EMC Corporation was recently named the "world's most customer-centric company" by Fast Company magazine. A strategic customer focus, part of the business model at EMC since 1988, earned EMC this reputation and the trust of its thousands of customers. To continue their commitment to superior customer service EMC needed to stay informed about customer issues and resolve service problems quickly. With a worldwide customer base, EMC realized the need for frequent and rigorous measurement to accomplish this goal.They turned to Walker Information to design a global measurement program that could provide constant feedback from their customers.

WGN Solution:

Partnering with Walker Information, EMC² has committed to ongoing customer satisfaction measurement.Walker conducts quarterly Customer Relationship Assessments and transaction surveys to measure overall customer satisfaction and service quality of specific interactions customers have with EMC².Through the Walker Global Network and using the latest technology solutions, customers are surveyed via telephone, in multiple languages, and the information is delivered to EMC² within a week of being collected.This system allows EMC² to see U.S. survey results daily and international data weekly.

EMC² not only uses the survey results for information gathering and strategic planning, they also have established follow-up protocol to ensure accountability and allow account managers to act on the data to better serve customers. For example, if a customer comment ranks below an established level, the account manager is notified within 24-48 hours of the complaint and has 30 days to develop an action plan and meet with the customer to resolve the issue. In addition, EMC² has a bottom-to-top accountability process in place to handle system problems. In fact, if a customer' system goes down and EMC² service engineers cannot correct the problem within eight hours, the CEO and executive chairman of EMC² are notified. EMC² realizes that timeliness of response is a critical factor in their customer satisfaction levels and makes it a priority in their measurement and business practices.

The Impact:

The ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction measurement has helped EMC² build long-term relationships and loyalty among its customers. Specifically, it has helped them to:

• Determine important tactical or strategic solutions
• Define and resolve potentially major problems
• Implement customer-focused process improvements
• Institute accountability throughout the organization by linking compensation for professional services and customer service employees with customer satisfaction results
• Motivate professional services and customer service employees through incentive programs

As a result of the added value of customer satisfaction measurement, this metric has become an integral part of EMC²'s business planning. What's more, EMC² communicates this critical information to all of their sales and service management worldwide. Their quarterly reports are widely distributed, and they hold quarterly functional reviews of the most recent customer satisfaction results. By sharing customer feedback with employees, EMC² promotes a sense of ownership that drives their customer-centric culture.

Quote:

International programs have a variety of nuances and complexities that can result in many challenges. Walker and WGN handle these details completely, providing EMC² a high quality, seamless international business measurement system.