Success Story: How a Global B2B Supplier Uses the Customer Review Process to Build a Competitive Edge

THE CLIENT
A Fortune 500 adhesive manufacturer supplying products to automotive manufacturers around the world.

THE CHALLENGE
It’s no secret that in the automotive industry, quality, innovation, and cost reduction are critical. Customers don’t just want continuous quality improvement, innovation, and cost reduction, they demand it. So, for an adhesives manufacturer that sells to automakers, the search was on to identify an effective process that would help them listen to their customers’ specific cost, innovation, and quality concerns.

But what was the best way to build a global voice of the customer process?

How could they listen to customers on a global scale and translate that feedback into the right actions?

THE SOLUTION
After researching a number of customer feedback options, the supplier chose the Customer Review process (more information: www.eginsight.com/crp.html). This method of gathering in-depth, face-to-face customer feedback was aligned with their key account management strategy. Having strategic discussions with customers would help them build relationships, collect critical information, and give them customer-centric insight to take action.

The process started with two of the largest automotive manufacturers on the planet. As you might expect, these accounts were critical to the supplier’s future. These interviews resulted in feedback that was used to build account-level action plans as well as improvements that would provide added value to all accounts.

Based on this initial success, the process was expanded to seven additional large accounts and then implemented worldwide.

THE RESULT
A Vice President from the supplier stated, “This process has definitely helped us by aligning our communication and support to our key customers. One example was the customer perception about our lack of innovation. The process gave us a roadmap to build a campaign to show our customers about the innovation we are working on globally for the entire business, not just specific customer projects. Using the Customer Review process has helped us focus our message more clearly to each customer to get the biggest impact possible.”

The process has become so ingrained in the client’s culture that they also created a new role: the Quality Manager of Customer Satisfaction. This individual has been given the primary responsibility of conducting the Customer Review process worldwide, enabling her to effectively connect customer feedback to quality improvement, innovation, and cost reduction.