Rhona Lombardo, Customer Service Marketing Manager Fabio Perini S.p.A.
The global macro-economic scenario is clear: we are facing a new industrial revolution, the fourth since the birth of the first industries. The last 250 years of history have been a succession of radical innovations that have inevitably changed the characteristics of industries: the invention of the steam engine, the introduction of electricity, of chemical products and oil and, in the era that followed WWII, the digital revolution with the introduction of electronics and of computer science. Today, we are on the verge of another deep change characterized by process transformation. Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution, the revolution of inter-connection and of intelligent systems where machines, products and people are inter-connected. The Internet of things and services finds a new dimension in industry: machines and systems exchange information, a continuous communication flow in real time to rationalize production, customize products and improve maintenance. The industry is becoming increasingly intelligent.
SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE NEW REVOLUTION, and with a view towards global growth, today’s market cannot fail to focus its attention on the aspect of Customer Experience. A study by the US multinational Gartner (the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company) reveals that in the coming years, Customer Experience will represent every company’s added value. Company demands change and, with it, the way of working and interacting. A unique Customer Experience for the reference business hence becomes the priority for 2016. If on one hand, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is the system par excellence to create a relationship with the customer by collecting information on the customer himself and on his purchases, on the other, CEM (Customer Experience Management) goes beyond this concept, focusing on the quality of that relationship. The final goal is easy to perceive: identifying oneself with the customer in order to understand his expectations in relation to the products and services offered, but also for what concerns the whole purchase experience. In other words, understanding and optimizing the customer’s experience.
In such a scenario, last year Fabio Perini S.p.A. decided to embark on a renewal process of its Customer Service strategy, changing the type of approach to the customer, today protagonist of the web. Innovation hence means not only technological progress, but also evolution in interacting with the customer.
AND SO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PORTAL WAS BORN. The Portal is an evolution of an Internet site, compared to which it also offers interactive and customized services. It is the environment where to build a constructive, long-lasting dialogue with the customer: speaking the same language simplifies communication; sharing the same information helps find the answers we seek more quickly. Almost a year after its birth, we are very pleased with the results obtained. Since the initial presentation of the Portal during the It’s Tissue 2015 event, many domestic and international customers have requested access credentials and are already using the different services offered.
IT IS A VERSATILE INSTRUMENT, SIMPLE AND EASY TO USE, ACCESSIBLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND IN EVERY PART OF THE GLOBE. User profiling, generally retained the key to the success of an email marketing strategy, has taken on a fundamental role in the Portal, too.
Thanks to this feature, the portal’s administrator, customer side, can independently define the level of information to share with each user based on his or her role and tasks within the company. A particularity of the system that safeguards customer privacy and allows protecting sensitive data. Top of the list of the most appreciated services, according to customers, is the web-shop, thanks to which it is possible to speed up the spare parts purchasing process. Second comes the availability of an e-training platform for on-line training courses. Last but not least, network sharing of the installed base of machines and relative documentation for a quick search of the information and a display of the complete list of improvement programs that can be installed on the machinery.
THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PORTAL IS HENCE AN INSTRUMENT FOR INTERACTION CAPABLE OF SIMPLIFYING AND SPEEDING UP DAILY WORK, the gateway always open to a valued relationship, the condicio sine qua non – without which – the customer could not live out a quality experience. *