International customer feedback program is essential in pursuing the ambition of CWS

CWS started an international customer feedback program in 2018, and they currently collect monthly feedback in the 16 countries they operate. CWS came from a situation in which they had different measurement methods in each country. They wanted to get rid of that and together with Integron, CWS has now implemented an uniform measuring method for all countries. The feedback program contributes to the ambition of CWS, namely a safer and healthier future. This starts with your own employees; “Can they be healthy and safe at work, but also, are they enjoying themselves?” Employee satisfaction is therefore very high on the agenda. In addition, customer satisfaction is also very important to CWS. All decisions taken at CWS must be good for both the employee and the customer.

Astrid Bruursema is CX Manager at CWS and knows all the ins and outs of the feedback program. The eNPS and the cNPS are measured monthly, which stand for the Net Promoter Score among employees and among customers. For customers, a distinction is also made between a general measurement of the cNPS and a measurement immediately after a specific contact moment. For example, when one has been in contact with customer care, a short survey is sent afterwards to ask whether they have been helped properly.

CWS emphasizes the importance of personally following up on feedback

Benjamin de Mooij is a Senior Consultant at Integron and specializes in customer feedback programs for B2B. He emphasizes the importance of following up on customer feedback. Benjamin: “Simply getting feedback does not make the company better. Actually following up on the feedback (or converting it into actions) is a crucial next step. The feedback program is meant for organizations to learn from the feedback that customers give them.” At CWS they share this view. Astrid: “We think it is important that every respondent is followed up. The follow-up is done by account managers, managers and sometimes also by the CEO. In the beginning we were quite uncertain, but it all turned out super positive. In particular by personally following up on feedback, you get a good idea (also as a CEO) of what really matters to customers. Calling up an NPS score is just as important to us as other targets; it is included in the daily work. ”

“Customers really enjoy being heard, so if you follow up on feedback it increases their loyalty.”

Receiving feedback should really be seen as an opportunity. Astrid: “If a customer takes the trouble to give feedback, he / she opens the door to start a conversation. We also have examples of customers who were quite critical in their feedback, but with whom we quickly sat down and were able to regain trust. The customer found this experience so positive and wonderful that they extended the contract for several years. You may not expect this in advance, but customers really enjoy being heard, so following up on feedback will increase their loyalty.”

Follow-up on individual and organizational level

When following up on customer feedback, it is important to look at two levels; namely the individual feedback from customers, but also at the bigger picture. In other words, which feedback points are mentioned by several customers and for which points are thus structural improvements required. Benjamin: “If you want to tackle a structural problem, it is important to first investigate what the possible causes could be. Consequently you come up with a number of actions that can contribute to the improvement of the service. It is important to set priorities for yourself. It is impossible to implement many improvement actions at the same time, so draw up an improvement plan that you implement step by step.”

Internal and external communication is essential

In addition to following up on feedback, internal and external communication is also essential. Benjamin: “Also communicate what eventually has changed, both internally – to the employees, but of course also externally – to the customers, so that they are aware that the service has improved based on their feedback. In addition to points for improvement, customers will of course also receive compliments. Celebrate these successes together and also exchange positive feedback.”

Promoters in the spotlight

At CWS they also pay a lot of attention to communication concerning the feedback program. Astrid: “In addition to following up on critical feedback, we believe it is important to thank enthusiastic customers. For example, account managers bring or send flowers to customers. We want to show that we value their cooperation and enthusiasm. These positive comments are also great to share internally, for example on the Intranet. In addition, we share the monthly NPS results with the entire organization. Therefore no one can say “I don’t know, I didn’t know or I don’t want to know”. In the email that is sent, I highlight the promoters, this part is also literally called “promoters in the spotlight”. We think that this transparency is very important, so that everyone knows how things are going. Often it is also the case that we know exactly what is going wrong, yet we forget what is already going very well. The same applies to customer service, there are of course mainly customers who need something from us or who encounter a problem. So it is really nice to share the successes with each other, such as quotes from very enthusiastic customers.”

“People often know exactly what is going wrong, yet they forget what is already going very well.”

A real culture shift and lessons learned

CWS has already been working enthusiastically on the feedback program for two years now, and over 30,000 customers have already provided feedback. Internally there are about 1100 employees who have insight into the dashboard and who follow up and monitor the results. These are, for example, people from management, account managers or customer care employees. In these two years, CWS has gained a great deal of experience with the feedback program. Astrid discusses the “lessons learned”

Astrid: “We have experienced a real culture shift in the company. In the beginning, calling customers was scary and exciting, but now people like it and have really developed ownership. People want to know what is important to customers and are also becoming increasingly involved with customers due to the regular measurement of the NPS. One of the lessons learned was to observe closely and react rapidly. If you have completed a survey and you only get a response weeks or months later, it often makes no sense anymore and it is too late. A quick response certainly applies to the follow-up, but also to the sharing of results. It is important to periodically share the results with your organization to get everyone involved and increase engagement”.

“People want to know what is important to customers, and are also becoming increasingly involved with customers because of the regular measurement of the NPS.”

Feedback program among employees led to a 17% increase in eNPS

The feedback program for CWS’s employees has also provided many insights already. We are talking about a group of 11,000 employees. Then there are about 750 managers, divided over 6 management layers, who monitor the results in their dashboard and follow up on the feedback from their teams. Compared to the start of the employee program, the eNPS has increased by 17%. A result to be proud of, and naturally CWS has the ambition to increase this percentage even further.

Integron and CWS both strongly believe in the Service-Profit Chain model. This is a theory that focuses on the relationship between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Benjamin: “High customer satisfaction leads to loyalty and returning customers, which in turn has a positive effect on the enthusiasm and satisfaction of employees. When employees are highly satisfied, they will also be more loyal and productive, which of course reflects on the customers. Therefore, it is very important to focus on both groups as customers and employees together determine the success of your organization. The fact that CWS collects monthly feedback in all countries where it is active – from customers and employees – gives them a very strong basis. CWS’s enthusiasm to keep learning and improving is contagious and an inspiration to other organizations.

In the coming year, CWS will further expand and optimize the feedback program. Benjamin: “CWS has an mature feedback program, and the coming year the focus will be on connecting new “touchpoints” to help even more customers and employees with the program. Follow-up will of course remain crucial in the coming year. We continuously look together at how we can use the results for a maximum customer and employee experience. “”

Astrid:

“Finally, I would like to add that the collaboration with Integron has been very pleasant. I appreciate the great contact that we have, the positive mindset and the fact that Integron supports us in finding CWS’s needs.”

About CWS

CWS is part of the Haniel Group. Other divisions within Haniel include BekaertDeslee, ELG, ROVEMA and TAKKT. The services and products of CWS can be divided into four pillars: Hygiene, Floor Care, Workwear and Cleanrooms. The services provided by CWS therefore range from hand and toilet hygiene, the supply and cleaning of work clothing and the provision of entrance mats to specialist cleaning and the provision of complete solutions.