Enterprise rent-a-car have a legendary reputation for customer service. What I didn't realise is just how large a role market research played in helping them grow and maintain that reputation.
Last year I attended an excellent conference - Wavelength 100. I guess it's a UK version of TED, their stated aim being to connect "visionary companies making a difference in the world through business".
The delegates and speakers were a fascinating mix. In my first session I struck up a conversation with Peder Kolind who I happened to be next to. It turned out that having set up one of the world's largest security firms he sold up to kick off six philanthropic projects in Nicaragua. Later, at lunch, I found myself sitting between Martin Narey who used to run the prison service and is now CEO of Barnados and Mark Addlestone who runs Beaverbrooks the jeweller - a family business that has been in the top 10 of the Times and FT Best Companies to Work for lists for four years in a row.
It was one of those days where you couldn't help but feel in awe of your surroundings and rather small by comparison.
Anyway, the conference was excellent. I didn't get to see all the sessions so I have been catching up on those I missed buy listening to their podcasts - which you can find on iTunes under "Wavelength 100 Listen Again". Last night I had the pleasure of listening to Donna Miller, HR Director Europe at Enterprise-Rent-a-Car.
It's a fascinating story. Enterprise was founded in 1957 by Jack Taylor. Given that one of my other businesses is the recruitment consultancy, FreshMinds Talent, I knew about their policy of hiring graduates and investing deeply in their development. What I did not know about was how they had developed their customer satisfaction research over time.
Donna talks about how the firm came to realise the old truism: what is measured is done. She explains the evolution of a simple set of research questions around customer satisfaction and the importance attributed to the results of these surveys. At Enterprise, you can't get a promotion unless your customers rate your service as excellent. That rule works all the way to the top of this $9Bn company. So even if you're running a huge team across many sites and producing great profits, you're promotion is still bound by your customer satisfaction scores.
Well worth a listen. And if you go to iTunes to get the Enterprise podcast, I also recommend:
- MyC4 - a superb social enterprise where anyone can loan money to African SMEs to help them invest and grow. You can start with just £5. It's also an example of online community building for charities
- Southwest Airlines - a firm renowned for their outstanding people management. it has a very strong internal sense of community
- Middelfart Sparekasse - Hans shares a few fascinating stories about how this Danish Building Society has developed a strong community feeling and incredibly loyal workforce
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Some more reading
- Customer Service Is Public Relations (davefleet.com)
- Voice of the Customer: Service Based Differentiation Matters (seomashup.blogspot.com)
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