Top Lessons from Schneider Electric in Using Data to Improve Customer Experience & Become a Customer-Centric Machine

Find out how Schneider Electric, the global leader in energy management and industrial automation, is using data to improve customer experience and transform into a customer-centric organization.

Today’s customers want to get more done faster. They want personalized experiences. And they want seamless interactions across channels. Meeting all of these expectations is a tall order for businesses, but innovative companies like Schneider Electric are rising to the challenge by using data to improve customer experience.

At this year’s Digital Experience Summit, Medallia spoke with Cem Yöndem, VP of End to End Digital Customer Relationships at Schneider Electric, the global leader in energy management and industrial automation with a presence in more than 115 countries and more than 128,000 employees worldwide, about how they leverage Medallia’s experience platform to support the company’s customer journey management and customer satisfaction management efforts. In his Digital Experience Summit session, Yöndem shared how his team is using customer experience data to transform the businesses into a customer-centric organization.

Here are some of the key highlights about what Schneider Electric has managed to accomplish and some of the most important learnings from their journey. 

How Schneider Electric Is Improving Customer Experience

Yöndem and his team collect customer experience signals from across channels and touchpoints—including surveys, phone calls, and web and app customer behavior. They do this in a structured manner, following an established data collection and governance process, and using a set customer experience framework to convert the company’s customer experience data into actionable insights.

“Data that you can collect and process can be a game changer in terms of improving your journey with your customers,” says Yöndem. The potential for what brands can do with customer experience data is “unlimited,” as long the data is collected with respect to a given region’s rules and regulations. 

For example, when Schneider Electric rolls out a new product launch, they may look at customer survey data and customer sentiment from that survey to measure overall satisfaction — as well as satisfaction across categories, such as by region, by period, and by customer type. They then use this customer experience data to move forward with targeted and personalized strategies to improve net promoter score (NPS®) and net satisfaction scores (NSS). 

One of Schneider Electric’s big wins since partnering with Medallia capturing customer feedback signals throughout the digital web experience for customers engaging with the brand across 80+ country websites. This effort has helped the company identify areas for improvement and:

• Optimize the product search and product selection journey on Schneider Electric websites
• Reduce the number of clicks it takes customers to find what they’re looking for
• Boost net promoter score (NPS®) by 34 points

Yöndem and his team are always looking for new opportunities for using data to improve the customer experience. Right now they’re looking at how they can collect more indirect signals from customer interactions as they’re taking place, reducing the need to ask for direct feedback from customers via surveys. They’re also looking to expand the customer experience program throughout the company and leverage customer experience data across every aspect of the business to improve the entire customer experience. 

Schneider Electric’s Top 3 Lessons for Customer Experience Data

Improving the customer experience is a journey, and here are some insights Yöndem and his team have learned throughout theirs.

#1. Create a customer experience data collection framework upfront 

Data collection alone will not help your brand transform your customer experience. Companies need to take the time to define the process and framework they’ll use to collect customer experience data and the governance they’ll have in place for managing that data. 

• Define your strategy
• Create a baseline for your customer experience data
• Set target goals for your customer experience KPIs
• Use your data collection and analysis to achieve your objectives

This is “a big transformation and should not be underestimated,” says Yöndem. “It’s not a technology transformation. It’s mainly a company transformation and a mindset transformation, especially if you haven’t done this before.”

#2. Get buy-in — link your customer experience strategy to your company’s mission and values

Any digital transformation initiative requires strong buy-in from the top. Yöndem and his team secured sponsorship from leadership by tying the program to the company’s core value of being customer first and explaining how democratizing access to customer experience insights to employees across the organization would benefit the entire business.

They made the case that Schneider Electric’s customer feedback would help employees do their jobs better, which would ultimately have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

#3. Don’t boil the ocean — adopt a phased approach to using data to improve customer experience

Use data to pinpoint the biggest gaps where you can have the biggest impact. Create and test your first hypothesis and build and grow your efforts from there, particularly after stakeholders see the positive outcomes of your transformation efforts. 

For global companies like Schneider Electric, the process must be intentional and purposeful, starting with one region or initiative at a time. 

For more lessons on using data to improve customer experience, check out the Medallia case study: How Schneider Electric is Delighting Customers Through an Outstanding Digital Experience.