Principia Consulting

Strategy Consulting for Companies
in Materials-Related Industries

Customer Management

Heeding the 'Voice of the Customer' is a business fundamental. Customer perceptions of your products, services and company influence purchase behavior and loyalty. Satisfied customers typically become loyal customers who routinely generate higher profits. Knowing factors important to your customers is only one of the requirements for building a loyal customer base.

Customer expectations are the standard against which your performance is measured, alongside your competitors.' The affects of changes in strategy and of continuous improvement programs are also key.

Customer Value Assessment (CVA) is a process of routinely and accurately measuring how satisfied customers are with you as a supplier. The process is based on primary field research, a robust statistical analysis methodology, and Principia's industry expertise to analyze the results in context with your business. The result is a plan of specific action steps needed to improve satisfaction while also suggesting areas where service may be scaled back without risk.

Our CVA programs provide a clear focus for business growth, optimize the use of company resources, and through development of tailored value propositions create a platform for competitive differentiation.

CASE STUDIES

Emulsion Producers Want to Know

Customer Support Saves 15%

The Customer Speaks

Zero to 14% Share in 2 Years

ETP Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction:
Assess Key Product and Service Attributes in Emulsions Industry

Challenge:
Several leading producers of emulsions jointly funded an assessment of the requirements to serve a range of end markets, including paper, carpet, and adhesives among others. These suppliers required a viable benchmark of their performance in meeting customer needs, and a system for tracking service improvements.

Principia designed a customer value assessment program that links customer expectations of suppliers with the suppliers' actual performance on a range of product and service attributes. The program analyzes specific tasks within each business process to determine which factor requires the supplier's attention. The program assesses the "value received" from supplier products and services to determine if customers are willing to pay more.

Result:
The suppliers continually use the program to track their performance with emulsions customers and to monitor the impact of their performance improvement efforts.

Customer Satisfaction:
Evaluate Supplier Performance and Image in Aluminum Extrusions

Challenge:
A medium-sized processor of aluminum for various industrial applications sought to enhance its customer support services.

Principia designed and implemented a customer value program to first determine the product and service features important to customers, and then investigated the value received by customers from these attributes. Principia annually assessed the company's performance on these factors relative to direct and indirect competitors, and monitored the affect of changes in the company's support services.

Result:
Implementing recommended changes to service practices saved the company 15% in sales and customer service expenditures, and has improved production scheduling by streamlining the company's order entry / fulfillment process.

Customer Satisfaction:
Assess and Track ETP Supplier Performance on Customer Services

Challenge:
As part of its ISO quality program, a major ETP producer routinely evaluates its performance with customers.

Principia provided "Voice of the Customer" research, which measures the importance of an array of product and service attributes, plus the specific tasks that comprise those attributes. The program also measures the performance of the company and several direct competitors. Principia analyzes the market data to provide the company with clear priorities for improvement, as well as a current measure of the value it delivers to customers.

Result:
The company uses the results of these programs to fine tune its service offerings for customers and to set internal goals for improvements in delivery performance, product quality, and other important issues. These actions have resulted in greater value to customers, and greater customer loyalty for the supplier.

Customer Satisfaction:
Identify Customer Expectations of Building Product Suppliers

Challenge:
In support of its entry into the stucco products market in California, a French building products company required an assessment of customer expectations of suppliers.

Principia designed and conducted a market research program to identify the support services of greatest importance to customers, including building products dealers and stucco contractors. Principia then surveyed a cross section of the market to provide the company with concrete recommendations for minimum service levels on delivery, lead time, packaging, technical support, and other factors of interest.

Result:
The company incorporated Principia's recommendations as part of its marketing and operations plan, and worked hard to surpass the benchmark performance levels. Within two years, the company gained a 14% market share in the highly competitive market.

Customer Satisfaction:
Assessing Value Received by ETP Customers in Europe

Challenge:
The European marketing group of a leading ETP producer needed to benchmark its performance in satisfying customers. The group was particularly interested in understanding the perceptions of value delivered to customers.

Principia employed its proven statistical model for measuring "customer value" and fielded a survey in six languages across nine countries in Europe. Principia provided analyses for each market and served country, and pinpointed areas for improvement to increase value delivered to customers.

Result:
The group integrated the program results into its new operating plan, and reduced customer turnover, increased loyalty, and ultimately justified a price premium in the marketplace due to its superior services.