John Linton .....that have allowed Exetel to survive and grow have come from Exetel's customers.
We continued to make progress with the planned new ADSL campaigns for the new financial year with different concepts being suggested both internally and externally . With the 'wealth' of suggestions we have received already there will be no shortage of options to consider before deciding on what the best approach would be.Of course, not all suggestions are viable but quantity and insightfulness means that this very important decision can be discussed and explored over a long weekend and allow a fully thought through set of decisions to be made within the shortest possible time.
I don't know how other companies seek the advice and guidance of their customers but Exetel has always 'made itself open' to customer suggestions via multiple paths - from the first day we 'opened our doors. From our first day in business we established a customer (though I suppose at that time it would have been a 'prospective customer') forum which was regularly attended by the founders of the company to answer questions about the company and its offerings. I still visit our customer forum several times a day both to answer customer questions and to ensure that when I can't answer a question that someone more competent within the company does as soon as possible. Over the years the Exetel customer forum has continued to grow in 'attendance' and usefulness and has a group of dedicated 'volunteers' who make it a valuable source of information to Exetel's customers.
Ever since one of our volunteer forum made the suggestion that a 'suggestion box' should be located in the Exetel User Facilities the level of customer suggestions that have improved almost every aspect of every service and process has tripled and has allowed Exetel to both add and improve every aspect of our services and procedures multiple times since we added that facility. The fact that the suggestions made go straight to the directors of the company is a key aspect of considering customer suggestions and the fact that customer suggestions via that facility are 'actioned' within an hour or so of them being received is the other key attribute of ensuring the value of a customer's insight into the company is not lost. Similarly the complaint process, also via the User Facilities, is not handled by a "Complaints Manager" but by Exetel's directors.
While, as I said, I don't know how other companies seek and 'handle' direct customer feedback on all aspects of their companies and services but I doubt that the directors of those companies take the time to acquaint themselves with what their customers think about their services and the ways they provide them as Exetel's directors do....and I would be pretty certain they don't act on them in the prompt and direct ways that we do.
It would be pretty accurate to state that 100% of Exetel's user facilities are provided the way they are today, and have always been, because of customer suggestions. Some 70% of all Exetel ordering, provisioning, advices and most of the support facilities and processes have been developed over seven plus years based on customer suggestions. A combination of the forum, suggestion box, complaint process and even this blog provide a significant percentage of the improvements and innovations that Exetel implements day by day. Customers are a primary source of both inspiration for new concepts and a checkpoint for fixes of things that don't work as well as they should.
The latest example is the constant stream of our customers taking the time away from their long weekend activities to provide suggestions and ideas on how to make the ADSL services better during this 'holiday period' when people are taking a break from their own jobs......it is very much appreciated.
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