The reliability, accuracy and value of a comprehensive customer survey hinge on a good response rate, and that was certainly the case here.
The response rate was 47%.
A very nice score according to Benjamin de Mooij, Senior Consultant Customer Experience at Integron and permanent and trusted contact for BekaertDeslee.
“After a kick-off with the specially created project group, we did an onboarding session with all BekaertDeslee sales representatives worldwide. During this session we explained to them the importance and purpose of the study and what was expected of them. Partly because of the involvement of sales, the survey was a great success. Also the CEO was very involved and because the survey was short, participation was accessible and not so time consuming. During the fieldwork we kept BekaertDeslee informed of the response and non-response rates at all times, so that they could actively manage this. Needless to say, we took the different time zones into account.”
Room and need for improvement
Although BekaertDeslee scores well with a +29 NPS and an average customer satisfaction rating of 8, there is room and need for improvement, according to Dewaele.
“That’s what the survey showed. We do well on things like quality, creativity, innovation, design and marketing. But in the area of delivery and delivery times, we can and absolutely must improve. That has been a pain point for several years, and partly because of corona, the problems have increased. But we certainly shouldn’t use that as an excuse. The complaints existed before the COVID-19 pandemic. The important thing now is to come up with solutions. With the survey results in hand, we are going to work concretely on that. Solutions to this include increasing capacity and spreading deliveries throughout the year. After all, we are in a seasonal sector. There is often overcapacity in the first half of the year and a shortage in the second half. So we have to plan that more efficiently and effectively.”
Individual loops
Improvement work is done at the organizational level, but also by individual business unit.
“Some solutions are not integrally/structurally necessary or implementable, but require customization,” Dewaele said.
“For example, as a follow-up after the customer survey, individual loops were held, in which all our sales representatives received a dashboard containing feedback from their own customers.
This way they had an overview of the status of the follow-up and knew exactly who had and had not yet responded, and what still needed to be done.
Through a session held by Integron with our sales representatives, the results were explained and we were told how to successfully work with customer feedback and engage with customers.
In addition, we used the
e-learning of Integron. I really like the fact that all 543 individual respondents were approached; that’s 100%. This gave us in-depth insights and moreover, this one-on-one feedback allows us to translate people’s critical notes, but certainly also their enthusiasm, into optimizing our daily service.”
“This one-on-one feedback allows us to translate people’s critical notes, but certainly also their enthusiasm, into optimizing our daily services.”
Structural loop
De Mooij adds: “In addition, we made a structural loop and distilled a report from it for all business units in which we recorded the main conclusions and advice. The business unit managers were also given access to their own dashboard containing their unit’s results. In addition, we organized a session for each business unit. In this session, the results of the business unit were explained and we started working on the structural follow-up. Thus, on the basis of assignments, we looked at the most important points for improvement, what the causes are and what actions should be taken. Because follow-up is essential. You don’t achieve much with just collecting feedback; it’s about what you do with it. How you translate it into structural solutions and learn from it. Moreover, if it is a large bulk, it is important to prioritize. So which improvement actions do you start with first. So in the case of BekaertDeslee, among other things, the delivery time of their products is an area for improvement.”
Continuous process
According to Dewaele, it is good to see that customer satisfaction is alive and well within the organization.
“With only a large worldwide customer survey, we are of course not there yet.
It’s about follow-up, about the follow-up steps.
Moreover, striving for and achieving customer satisfaction and customer experience is a continuous process.
We work on that every day.
We’ve been working with Integron since 2018 to make strides in that.
And we are extremely satisfied with that collaboration.
What I find absolutely added value is the tools that we have at our disposal thanks to Integron.
The apps, the dashboards.
This way we build up a thorough database and we always have a clear picture of which actions are/are not followed up.
“We are extremely satisfied with the cooperation with Integron. What I find absolutely added value is the tools we have at our disposal thanks to Integron. The apps, the dashboards. This way we build a thorough database and we always have a clear picture of which actions are/are not followed up.”
We can also apply all of this within our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to keep in touch with our customers and streamline processes. Data is nice, but of course it’s about using it effectively. We do that, as mentioned, at different levels. Our business unit managers are working on their own action plan and every employee naturally plays his/her own role in the overall customer experience story. If our employees are enthusiastic that has a positive effect on our customers, and vice versa. Furthermore, customers want to see that something is done with their feedback. We communicate to our customers what we do with their comments and suggestions intended to improve service. Also towards our own employees we communicate changes as a result of feedback.”
“Data are nice, but of course it’s about using them effectively. We do that, as I said, at different levels.”
Dot on the horizon
The dot on the horizon for BekaertDeslee is to grow into a top performer.
“We are definitely on the right track,” says Dewaele.
“It is not yet the case that we have already set sharp hard deadlines when we want to achieve certain goals. In that sense, it’s an ongoing process. We have to keep working on customer satisfaction now, but certainly also in the future. We are in a growing sector where optimizing customer experience is distinctive and adds value. Customer-oriented thinking and doing must be and remain secured within our organization.”
About BekaertDeslee
BekaertDeslee is part of the international Haniel Group.
The company is the world’s leading specialist in the development and production of mattress textiles, mattress covers and trendy sleep solutions.
Bekaertdeslee develops stylish and smart mattress fabrics.
It is headquartered in Waregem, Belgium.
BekaertDeslee has some 3,500 employees spread over 24 sites (business units) in 18 countries. www.bekaertdeslee.com
