Sony believe that understanding what the customer wants and needs is essential to success; customer experience now impacts on all areas of their business, from product development to all areas of customer interaction. Derek talks of how to gain the customer understanding required to drive process; asking the question whether B2C and B2B customers need different types of engagement; and how the organisation itself needs engaging, in order to deliver real customer benefits.

1. Derek Allison
Head of Customer Centricity – Sony Europe

2. How Do You Become
Customer Centric?
The Big Question

3. Brand
Marketing
B2B Sales
SalesService
Operations
HR
Finance
Product
Marketing
Customer

4. The Social Solution
Prioritise Social Media

5. The Social Solution

6. The IT Solution
Connected mobile and traditional IT platform to
deliver a seamless experience

7. The IT Solution
If your people are not on the journey your customers can still get a bad experience
But……

8. How do you Understand Your Customer?
Use Personas? Socio Economic Groups?
Segmentation?

9. 3.1%
5.3%
4.0%
2.9%
2.1%
1.5%
4.2%
3.0%
3.8%
2.2%
1.2%
1.7%
2.0%
3.4%
3.8%
2.4%
3.3%
3.7%
1.3%
2.4%
2.7%
2.7%
2.2%
3.1%
0.7%
0.8%
2.5%
4.2%
3.1%
4.4%
0.5%
1.3%
2.3%
2.7%
2.8%
6.7%
18.9% 16.1% 18.6% 14.4% 15.7% 16.3%
11.8%
16.2%
19.1%
17.1%
14.7%
21.1%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Marketing Strategy
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 6
Campaign A
Campaign B Campaign C

10. 3.1%
5.3%
4.0%
2.9%
2.1%
1.5%
4.2%
3.0%
3.8%
2.2%
1.2%
1.7%
2.0%
3.4%
3.8%
2.4%
3.3%
3.7%
1.3%
2.4%
2.7%
2.7%
2.2%
3.1%
0.7%
0.8%
2.5%
4.2%
3.1%
4.4%
0.5%
1.3%
2.3%
2.7%
2.8%
6.7%
18.9% 16.1% 18.6% 14.4% 15.7% 16.3%
11.8%
16.2%
19.1%
17.1%
14.7%
21.1%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Marketing Strategy
Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 6

12. How Many of You Have Tiled a Floor?

13. The Key Tile

14. What is the Key Tile in Customer Experience?
To create the call to action
Understand Customer
Needs
Engage Your People
In the Process

15. Propositions Can be….
• Your brand positioning
• A service programme
• A promotion
• New product positioning
• A customer engagement programme
• It is any activity that touches the customer
The first question for any proposition should be
What customer needs does this meet?

16. The Power of Meeting Customer Needs

17. The Power of Meeting Customer Needs
“How does gaming make you feel?”
“Like I’m in a different world”

18. What is the Key Tile in Customer Experience?
To create the call to action
Understand Customer
Needs
Engage Your People
In the Process

19. Grab Attention

20. Day to day engagement
• What’s going to...?
– Give us insight into
customer needs
– Change behaviour
– Engage the entire
organisation
– Create a call to action

21. Idea
Could we run our own
focus groups?
Would something
So simple work?

22. Challenge No1
We can’t do this
its a skill

23. Challenge No2
We can’t talk
to consumers directly

24. Challenge No3
Bringing consumers
in the building will create bias

25. Facilities

26. Challenge No4
The interesting training

27. First Night

28. Consumer Lab – launched March 2010
62
Sony members of
Staff trained as moderators
578
Individual Focus Groups
158
topics
2392
consumers Wide Customer Engagement Enables Customer Need Understanding
Changes Culture & Creates a Call to Action

29. Customer Needs
“I Need Help”
Repair
Technical Advice
Tutorials

30. Customer Satisfaction Survey (NPS)
• The Key to Increasing
Customer Satisfaction is
to……..
– Reduce Repair Time
– Reduce Repair Cost

31. Customer Labs to Understand the Need in detail….
• Clear micro needs
– Technical knowledge
– Ownership of the
problem
– Time Flexibility

32. Vaio Service – Customer Proposition
To help any of Sonys trusted customers to find an easy resolution to their
problems
Trusted
All customers are
trusted
Nothing is
disputed
Easy
“I know where to
go to get my
problem resolved”
Consistency
Clear processes
Common
understanding
Resolution
Problem solved (to
the satisfaction of
the customer)
Clear resolution
options at each
touchpoint
There is never a
problem that goes
unresolved
Help
Our customers are
treated as they
want to be treated
No question goes
unanswered
Problems
Any issue that a
customer has or
thinks they have
Any Sony product
whatever the
purchase route
Whoever has
purchased it
Happy Customers (>50 NPS)

33. Could we Offer Repair & Support in Local Stores?
• Trained sales staff in store to
understand customers needs
• Provided a simple process that all
staff could follow
– Free evaluation of problems
– Simple problems fixed while you wait
– 121 tuition for usage issues
– Managed repair service

34. Customer Feedback – Meeting Needs
“I was delighted with the information
provided and would definitely visit again if I
needed information or help.”
“Absolutely impeccable service, can't praise him
enough! He deserves a pay rise and promotion!!”
“Polite, helpful and quick repair
service- even though holiday
period”
“I would like to praise the sales person from
my local branch he is very helpful and I’m
impressed by his amazing service towards
my problem.”
NPS 55

35. Needs Driven Advertising

36. It Enables World Class End User Engagement

37. Summary
• Understanding customer needs is absolutely key to customer
experience
• All customer propositions must be developed based on
meeting customer needs
• Engaging staff in the process can change the culture of the
organisation and create a call to action
• Focussing on the key customer needs is game changing
– Customer Experience
– Commercially