Reinforcing market leadership using customer feedback

Securitas is a global market leader in security solutions and offers permanent security, technological solutions, advise and training programmes. Securitas services other businesses (B2B) but also private individuals (B2C). Securitas are able to meet specific customers needs and help their customer to find the right security solution for them. Because of changes in the market, Securitas want to evolve and offer “Security as a Service”. For that, all the departments need to provide the same excellent service. All the teams need to be aware of the operational processes in each division thanks to customer feedback.

Their challenges:

1. Securitas wants to create more buy-in and awareness about the importance of spotless service in every department.
2. Securitas wants to operate in a more proactive way and not wait until the customer reaches out because there is a problem.
3. Securitas needs to break down the existing silos to become more responsible for the customer and support them.
4. Securitas wants to offer “Security as a service”, an end-to-end security solution and no longer have separate products and services.

1. Offer a more proactive service

“As a company, Securitas want to receive as much feedback as possible from its customers and do something with their input. We want to show our customers that we care.” Securitas surveys its customers after contact with the control room. The next step is to capture feedback after contact with the customer service desk. “We want our teams to put the customer in the center of all their activities. We’re not just an administrative team that takes care of paperwork. We’re a service organization. Our people need to be the fiercest defenders and advocates of our customers.” That is why Securitas wants to act in a more proactive way. “We shouldn’t wait until the customer reaches out to us to tell us their problem has not been fixed yet. We need to see this ourselves and solve the issue before the customer even needs to complain.” This is how customer feedback can help, it gives us insight into what our customers perceive as an issue.”

This is part of Securitas’ larger strategic plan. “Our organization was previously divided into different departments: static security, control room, IT solutions, camera surveillance... And we used to sell all these products or services separately. But the market is changing. So the next step is to offer an end-to-end security solution, which we can call “Security as a Service.”

2. Breaking through internal silos

“Our customers expect us to be the experts, so they want us to offer them the right solution
for their needs. That is only possible when the quality and service are of the same high level in every department. Then we can turn our purpose - ‘We help make your world a safer place’ - into reality.” For that, Securitas needs to break down the existing silos so everyone becomes responsible for the customer, and so teams can support each other. “The customer satisfaction measurement needs to be expanded too: you don’t just want to know how the control room is doing. You want to have a company-wide view of how each department performs and what can be improved as we measure satisfaction on each of these touchpoints.”

Securitas also wants to use customer feedback to create more ownership within the organization. “I know this requires a lot of change. For most of our teams, it means they will have to work in a different way than they do now.” Customer feedback is vital because it helps explain why these changes are necessary. “Positive feedback is as important as negative feedback. We highlight positive customer feedback in our newsletter, for example.” Through customer feedback, Hello Customer also helps Securitas to identify the ‘cost of non-quality’. “Cost of non-quality are costs that arise because of time that employees spend to right wrongs or to solve other issues that create operational costs. The cost of non-quality gets reported back just like all other
KPIs.”

3. Clear customer communication

The customer service team uses the conversation manager intensely on a daily basis to immediately react to incoming feedback. They get back to every customer who gave a negative score. “We always look at the open comments, whether it’s negative or positive. We’ve learned that even in positive feedback customers mention things that are still unclear to them, or they show us other possibilities to improve.” There is also one of the customer service team members that replays telephone conversations with customers, which are recorded for quality assurance. “This way we close the loop with the customer and with our employees. We always want to hear both sides of the story.” If necessary this person will return to the responsible of the control room, who then has a coaching conversation with the involved employee.

1. Securitas achieved a response rate of 30% to the score question and 58% to open feedback.
2. Securitas was able to identify and decrease the cost of non-quality thanks to customer feedback.
3. Securitas developed three action plans based on the analysis: Soft skills training programs for their control room teams, a redesign of the welcome brochure for more transparent communication with customers upfront, and the improvement of the introduction call to set the right service expectations when new customers are onboarded.