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customer’s experience of the company and its pro- Germany, learned this lesson in one its country
ducts (see Figure 5). “There is a real hunger for operations, which relies on third-party agencies
new customer feedback so that employees can to acquire new small- and medium-size enterpri-
raise the bar,” said Simon Lyons, global director of se (SME) customers. There, NPS feedback from
marketing for Aggreko, the UK-based supplier of newly signed customers showed significant gaps
generators and temperature-control devices. between the rebates, tariffs and features that SMEs
thought they would receive, and what E.ON actual-
A customer-centered mindset often entails chan- ly provided. This disconnect prompted a stream of
ging processes to give employees more autonomy calls from confused business owners.
within a framework (see Figure 6). The call center
for small business customers, for example, might In response, E.ON invested in agent support tools
shift from using a rigid script and protocols to fle- and training events for its agencies to convey more
xibility in dealing with flagship customers. Perfor- accurate information about the company’s pro-
mance metrics might have to change accordingly, ducts and overall value proposition. It established
from cost-driven metrics such as average handle quality targets as part of the agencies’ compensa-
time to handle time plus first-call resolution. This tion, in order to motivate the desired behaviors and
does not mean “anything goes.” The most effecti- reward the best agencies. Early results suggest the
ve companies give employees decision rights and value of working with the channel to set customer
accountabilities for daily operational decisions that expectations, as E.ON’s new SME customers in
can add or destroy a lot of value—but within an ex- this country have recently been brought on board
plicit decision framework that has clear guidelines with greater clarity and fewer complaints.
for behavior.
* * *
Net Promoter companies also find that bringing the A simple proposition—think like a customer—can
voice of the customer into decision-making forces transform performance in even the most complex
different departments—Manufacturing, R&D, Sales B2B markets and lead to sustainable competiti-
& Marketing and so on—to intensify their collabo- ve advantage. But becoming customer-centered
rations. When Tata Steel launched its Farming Gold requires substantial changes in ways of working,
product, it chose to do so in the factory, with hun- behaviors and mindsets: from an exclusive focus
dreds of workers attending as the head of the wire on product to a wider view that includes custo-
division led a prayer ceremony.. mers; from a single department’s key performance
indicators to an entire organization looking at one
The same logic applies to a company’s channel reliable metric; from rigid protocols to teams empo-
partners and other intermediaries who serve as wered to help customers. As companies like Tata
the face of the supplier to the customer and thus Steel, Intuit, Dürr, UCB, DHL and E.ON have disco-
can enhance or degrade its reputation. E.ON, a vered, an obsession with customer loyalty pays off
multinational power and gas company based in with superior growth on the top and bottom lines.

David Michels

David Michels is a Zurich-based partner in Bain & Company’s Customer Strategy & Marketing practice.

Andreas Dullweber

Andreas Dullweber heads the firm’s Customer Strategy & Marketing practice in Europe and the Middle
East and is based in Munich.

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