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"It is essential to stay focused on customer needs, not just technology. We're passionate about meeting our customers' needs and delivering technology solutions that translate into a competitive advantage for those same customers." -John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems In a recent interview in Darwin Magazine, Cisco's Douglas Allred, Cisco Senior VP of Customer Advocacy, explained, "If your customer satisfaction is decreasing, you're in a death spiral. Customer satisfaction equals customer loyalty."The Customer Culture: Getting there, staying there, continuing to listen
Cisco's 2001 customer satisfaction rating rose to 4.49 on a 5.0 scale surpassing the company's goal, according to Dixie Garr.
Quick Look: Cisco's Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Cisco Systems tracks customer ratings through web-based, continuous customer satisfaction surveys. The results reveal what customers consider strengths, and areas they designate as targets for improvement. Survey feedback is important to the company, because understanding - and acting on - customer input is one of the most valuable sources of Cisco's competitive advantage. The company's near-fanatical focus on customers is at the core of Cisco's culture.Exceeding expectations dramatically, FY2001 customer satisfaction survey results rated Cisco at 4.49 out of a possible 5.0. These results, based on input from 18,000 primary contact customers, significantly beat the company's goal of 4.37 and surpass the FY2000 rating of 4.33. The Harvard Business Review describes scores at this level as the "zone of affection" where customers become "apostles." The FY2001 survey results come at a time in Cisco's history where the level of customer engagement has never been higher. Cisco actively involves its partners, motivating them to use survey results to help improve the satisfaction levels of mutual customers.
"These results are a tribute to the foundation of Cisco's culture and dedication to customer success and that this consistent set of Cisco customers have reached this level of satisfaction," explains Dixie Garr, vice president, Customer Success Engineering. "Gains like these do not happen magically - this takes customer engagement, interaction, follow-up, and hard work across all divisions at Cisco."
Garr leads teams responsible for customer satisfaction, corporate quality assurance, business process and practices, engineering methodology improvements, and product compliance. Garr's group manages the surveys; each includes about 70 questions, directed at all levels of the organization. The group then analyzes results, to learn where customers are going, what they need and when.
"As a recent University of Michigan study concluded, customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of the well being of a company," notes Garr. "What we strive for is a world-class level of customer satisfaction, coupled with exceptional product design, delivery, and follow-up support." But customers also want more.
Why customer satisfaction is central to Cisco
Cisco CEO John Chambers holds firm to the philosophy that for a company to succeed, it must listen to its customers - because they pull no punches and often provide the best advice. Failure to listen has hurt many prominent businesses. As such, Chambers has tasked Cisco's staff to do two things; get even closer to customer requirements before products are built, and stay in touch with customers during the entire product development cycle.
"The survey data reminds us of the value of customer input," adds Garr. "The key is listening to customers and incorporating their feedback all along the way, and not losing touch with their priorities."
From this unprecedented level, making improvements gets more difficult, a challenge that Garr accepts. "With continued hard work from the Cisco team, better relationships with our customers, delivery and support partners, we hope to provide even better technology, service and value to our customers," says Garr. Cisco is already monitoring the satisfaction level of customers who have less direct interaction, and therefore less knowledge of Cisco and the value it brings.