From the July 2009 issue of Ceridian Connection.

Client recommendations and feedback are extremely important to any organization, which is why Ceridian periodically seeks customer opinions. The information customers provide is invaluable to Ceridian.

Greg Cullen is Ceridian's manager of Customer Loyalty. He heads up a team of professionals who assess the feedback from customer surveys and works with business leaders to understand the issues and address specific practices. "For the last two years, we have looked at the data we receive from our customers differently," says Cullen. "We now measure and track whether we deliver the type of service that would result in recommendations from our customers."

Customer loyalty defined
One of the reasons for the focus on customer loyalty is found in the teachings of Fred Reichhold, author of The Ultimate Question. In his book, customer loyalty expert Reichhold talks about Net Promoter Scores (NPS) as the key to understanding the valuable feedback received from customers. He details why companies should want a strong answer to the question: "how willing are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague?"

For example, consider the latest movie you watched. On a ten-point scale, you may rate the movie as a seven or eight. According to Reichhold, this rating can be considered "passive" even though you may have been mildly entertained. Perhaps there were some things you didn't like about the movie, such as the plot, directing or actors. In contrast, a movie that earns a nine or ten rating, is one that you will talk about and recommend to others -- you are likely to become a "promoter" of the film.

The same principle applies to customer loyalty. Customer feedback provides information to help make the changes that result in customers being more than "mildly satisfied." Ceridian's goal is to excel in service, solutions and customer needs, cultivating customers who are promoters.

Feedback = Action
While survey responses serve as a starting point, there can be no substitute for direct interaction -- especially in today's electronic environment when online communications can be easily misinterpreted. To add this personal contact, or touch point, to the survey process, over a hundred managers from throughout the business contact a sampling of customers to gather more details, better understand their responses and determine how Ceridian can provide a better value to their organizations.

Ceridian analyzes the information gathered during these interviews to help develop strategic account action plans to be integrated into improvement initiatives. These action plans and results will also be shared with customers. "We recognize that this is an ambitious undertaking; however, it is also core to the delivery of enviable service to our customers," says Cullen.

Enviable service
Enviable service is created through hard work, communication and the ability to make the right changes at the right time. Customer responses help Ceridian develop a closed-loop process to address the root causes of any issues or questions that customers may have.

From executives to account managers, Ceridian remains committed to providing enviable service. The creation of more "promoters" than "passives" is a top priority among the executive team and an investment in the value that we wish to bring to customers.

More about Ceridian's Enviable Service inititatives

Ceridian CABs drive partnerships, innovation
Executives reach out to understand customer's needs