CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Lexmark has a corporate vision of “Customers For Life.” Dedicated customer-experience teams exist within Lexmark with a goal of creating a valued customer experience. But our commitment doesn’t stop with them. The entire organization, from the CEO through each employee, is engaged in understanding and solving customers’ needs and concerns. All Lexmark employees have at least one annual performance objective focused on the customer (Customer Focused Objectives).

At Lexmark, various methods are utilized to regularly connect with, listen to and understand our customers. An annual, worldwide “Customers For Life” survey is undertaken to better understand our customers’ perceptions of us through the use of the Net Promoter Score and the key drivers of loyalty. Lexmark also incorporates surveys at all phases of our customers’ experience including 30 days after purchase, one year after purchase, post-service experiences and on an annual basis with our Managed Print Services (MPS) customers. The Voice of the Customer (VOC) in social media is captured with Mystery Shopper, online panels, industry awards that are reviewed as well as online Web commentary. Finally, Lexmark seeks to improve our newest products with the use of Beta testing with select customers. Each of these VOC methods is incorporated back in the business in various formal processes to ensure that we are listening to our customers and designing products and services that meet their needs.

Customer feedback is crucial but must be followed by formal processes to create sustainable improvement and value for our customers. Lexmark employs several processes to sustain and enhance current products, design an intended customer experience for future products and focus employees on the customer.

The Net Promoter Score has been adopted by the customer-experience teams as a common language used to broadly communicate and set targets for improving customer satisfaction. Lexmark has established a set of repeatable processes which utilize direct customer feedback to improve our products and services, driving a deeper understanding and continuous improvement in customer experience.

Closed Loop Quality System

The Closed Loop Quality System (CLQS) is a continuous process that utilizes direct customer feedback to better understand and resolve the negative issues that our customers experience. The individual VOC feedback is combined, categorized by theme and then prioritized, taking into account the customer’s loyalty and concerns. A cross-functional team of value-stream leaders addresses each theme using critical problem-solving tools. The system is designed to address the immediate issue in addition to improving the processes for prevention of the problem in the future. Finally, the system has a check phase to ensure that the particular theme has been resolved. The CLQS at Lexmark ensures that our process-improvement efforts are focused on customers and addressing what matters most to them.

Line of Sight

The Line of Sight (LOS) process is based on understanding key customer needs that define a desired customer experience throughout the customer lifecycle (purchase – initial product use – use through life – end of life). Customer satisfaction input is regularly collected to understand and measure how the desired customer experiences are being delivered over time. To proactively manage the delivery of these customer experiences, the key internal Lexmark processes that deliver the desired customer experiences are mapped and critical performance targets are set. By managing the performance of the key internal processes, Lexmark is in a position to proactively deliver the desired customer experiences throughout the customer lifecycle.

Design an Intended Customer Experience

Lexmark leverages customer needs-based research in innovation processes as a part of the creation of product lines, future technology planning and detailed product and service requirements. These processes include methods to systematically and predictably identify opportunities and then design and evaluate concepts that deliver significant new value.

Customer-focused Employees

Lexmark employs a worldwide performance program that includes a formal process to assess progress against customer-focused objectives. Every employee sets objectives that focus on improving the customer experience. These individual objectives are based on an understanding of how the work the employees perform connects to the customer and aligns with the strategy of their department and the Company. Each objective has specific success criteria – the difference that it will make to the customer. We believe that this focus on improvement and innovation will lead to a better customer experience.

Product Validation/Usability

During the new product-development cycle, Lexmark verifies not only that the product meets all specifications, but that it goes further gathering indirect and direct input from customers to validate how well the product satisfies their needs. Early in the development cycles, Lexmark utilizes an internal team whose goal is to emulate customers in their uses of the product. The team utilizes feedback from current customers to direct their product validation efforts. During this same time period, internal Lexmark customers are recruited to provide early feedback on what the ultimate customer will experience. As the product development cycle continues, future customers are brought into Lexmark and products are sent to their work or home environments to gather specific feedback on the functionality and usability of the products. These processes provide products that not only meet the specifications but, more important, satisfy the needs of Lexmark’s customers.