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Response to Customer and Voice of Customer (VOC)
Policy on Customer Support
In accordance with the Toshiba Group Standards of Conduct and Toshiba Group Customer Satisfaction Policy, Toshiba Group employees are committed to responding to requests and inquiries from customers sincerely, rapidly and appropriately. The basic approach, “Serve all customers with care,” formed in 1999 underpins Toshiba Group's customer support.
Revision of Rules and Manuals
In line with the establishment of the JIS Q10002 management system for handling complaints, “Quality Management-Customer Satisfaction-Guidelines for Complaints Handling in Organizations,” in June 2005, Toshiba revised its Customer Complaint Manual and the Basics of Dealing with Customers in April 2007. We are endeavoring to ensure inculcation of the revised manual by posting it on the intranet and conducting orientations.
Structure for Customer Support
Customer Support
We have set up product-wise call centers in various countries. Each call center formulates its own targets for improving the quality of customer support.
The managers in charge of the contact centers in Japan have been conducting meetings four times every year since FY2005 to exchange information on developing and implementing plans, including telephone response skill training, CS awareness surveys for contact center staff, and self-checks on response quality.
Major Contact Centers for Individual Users
Structure for Repair and Service
Toshiba Group's structure for repair and service is organized according to products. We are working to enhance repair and service quality so that customers can use Toshiba products safely for a long time.
In Japan, Toshiba Group is working toward improving the quality of services. For the same, an "After service Enhancement Working Group" has been set up to share issues and develop improvement measures.
Improving customer-orientation to provide aftersales service for all our customers
Improving customer orientation
Customer satisfaction awareness training for service technicians in Vietnam
Toshiba Group companies in charge of repairing home appliances, elevators, medical systems, POS systems, digital MFPs, and PCs have formed a working group to share information on problems and make improvements.
To facilitate the provision of services tailored to the needs of individual customers and companies, the working group established a sub-group called the Toshiba Group CS Service Committee, which has close ties with the local community.
The working group’s activities include providing joint education for field engineers and sharing case examples of CS improvement in the area of services.
In FY2011 we implemented training programs that focused on customer satisfaction awareness and etiquette to improve the quality of aftersales service in Vietnam and China, with around 420 employees participating in five cities.
Enhancement of Response and Support to Customers
Initiatives for Handling Inquiries from Customers
Contact Center Enhancement working group develops and implement plans for Toshiba Group companies such as providing training on telephone response skills, conduct CS awareness surveys for contact center staff, and conduct self-checks on response quality. In addition, since FY2009, Toshiba Group Contact Center Awards is held every year.
In November 2011, we held the third Toshiba Group Contact Center Awards involving the participation of 30 operators in charge of customer services, selected from 22 contact centers. Through such events, we rewarded the efforts of skilled, customer-oriented operators and shared their skills and outstanding responses among the contact centers as a means to enhance overall quality.
Initiatives for Providing Repair and Other Services
Prompt maintenance support and new services in Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation
On the day of the Great East Earthquake, the staff of Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation began visiting buildings in difficult circumstances due to major aftershocks and disruptions of public traffic and communication systems. The following day on March 12, the first group of employees and staff arrived in the Tohoku area. Staff from branches and offices, manufacturing sites, and business partners as well as technicians arrived from all over Japan by registered emergency vehicles via emergency access roads. The support staff have been working on the prompt recovery of affected elevators by utilizing an integrated system of design, manufacturing through maintenance service, and a nation-wide service network, and their efforts continue to this day. As part of the measures to prepare for post 3.11 aftershocks and scheduled blackouts due to exceeding demand for power, the Company also established an information service for “elevator operation information during earthquakes,” in which information on the operation of elevators can be checked via computer when earthquakes occur, and a “service to stop elevator operation by remote control” that is free of charge from September 1,2011 (Disaster Prevention Day in Japan). In response to the experiences gained from the Earthquake, Toshiba Group companies that provide aftersales services are currently working on revisions of disaster response manuals to improve our system to offer better services without interruption in the case of a disaster.
Providing quick services after the Great East Japan Earthquake
As a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Sendai service station of Toshiba Service & Engineering Co., Ltd., which is responsible for repairing home appliance products, had to suspend its operations mainly because its buildings were damaged. However, on March 22, eleven days after the disaster, the company resumed its operations on a full scale as the communication infrastructure returned to normal.
During this interval, its personnel continued to attend to repair requests at the contact center. In particular, there were many requests from affected people for repair of LCD TVs and water heaters, and at one time, the number of such requests rose to ten times as many as usual. In order to provide services quickly, a total of over 120 field engineers from the company nationwide were shifted to the Tohoku region for repair services. In addition, in cooperation with Toshiba Carrier Corporation, a temporary service station specializing in water heaters was set up in Sendai.
Despite the fact that some of the field engineers had also been affected by the earthquake, they promptly attended to repair requests, and this was greatly appreciated by many customers.
Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.
Service training for X-ray CT equipment
Customer Support and Training Center (Japan)
Toshiba Medical Systems Corp. (TMSC) established a Customer Support and Training Center (CSTC) as a part of its efforts to improve customer services in February 2009 in headquarters, Japan. CSTC provides education and training for service engineers and user training worldwide in cooperation with its training center in Europe and training academy in the US. The inside of the CSTC has been built as a virtual hospital, with a training room for each product.
Also, training for image transfer using LAN is offered. In addition, for worldwide customers who are planning to purchase TMSC products, the center also offers practical training programs.
Toshiba Initiative: Toshiba Service & Engineering Co., Ltd.
Toshiba Service & Engineering Co., Ltd., a provider of repair and maintenance services for home appliances in Japan, has been continually providing training to enhance technical skills. In addition, since 2006, the company has held annual training for enhancing the quality of response to customers for all service engineers, including those of partner companies nationwide, and in FY2011, about 1,600 participants including field engineers of partner companies and managerial staff attended such training. Every semester, the company has been implementing trainings under different topics to improve the quality of skills for customer satisfaction.
Education and Training of Employees on Dealing with Customers
The importance of customer satisfaction is emphasized in employee education and training in the skills necessary for dealing with customers.
This kind of education is provided to employees, coinciding with their promotions.
Furthermore, Toshiba conducts briefings to employees on the "Basics of Dealing with Customers", a manual based on the JIS Q10002* management system for handling complaints. This is also made available on Toshiba's internal website.
* JIS Q10002: Quality management-Customer satisfaction-Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations in Japan
System to Facilitate Handling of Customer Inquiries and Claims
We have a database system to compile major customer inquiries and claims which we report to the concerned division and the top management.
We not only deal with customer inquiries and claims but also make efforts to prevent the recurrence such claims.
Checks and Audits concerning Customer Support
Since 2005, self-audits of major call centers have been performed once a year since FY2005 using the Contact Center Quality Checklist unique to Toshiba.
High priority items which have low implementation status are focused, and targets are set. Accordingly, measures for improvement are implemented, such as customer response skill training, monitoring, etc.
Case Studies on Efforts to Improve Customer Support
Toshiba Initiative: Digital Products & Services Company
Your dynabook.com (Japanese website)
Digital Products & Services Company is expanding the scale of its contact center in line with the increasing number of users. The company provides easy-to-understand tutorial software for beginners along with the purchase of PCs. Also, video clips available on the website that show actual operation of a PC corresponding to frequently asked questions are being enhanced quantitatively and qualitatively. Furthermore, Toshiba PC support service uses remote support so that customers, who are PC novices, can be guided to operate the PC.
The Japanese product website “dynabook.com” for the notebook PC dynabook contains a special feature, namely, “Your dynabook.com” which displays only necessary information, such as product specifications and support information on the PC model connected to the internet. Also, the video manuals have been enhanced leading to high ratings from questionnaire survey firms.
Toshiba Initiative: Toshiba Home Appliances Corp.
The majority of the customer inquiries for home appliances is concerned with inquiries related to the operations of such appliances. Keeping this in view, we continually update the user manuals of such products and post FAQs on our websites.
In FY2011, the new user guide video for the use of voice controller for air conditioner was provided in the Q&A page of our website. We endeavor to provide useful information on the new products and features to our customers through our website.
Toshiba Initiative: Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp.
Elevator Service Information Center
Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp. provides maintenance service by specialist technicians as well as around the clock throughout the year (24 hours/365 days) remote monitoring using remote technology so as to ensure the proper and safe operation of elevators. In addition, it responds to the changing demands of its customers and adopts the latest technologies in providing maintenance service.
Also, It has in place an elevator maintenance support system with the use of a mobile phone that helps to quickly restore elevators in times of wide-area disaster such as earthquakes and at times of sudden malfunction of elevators.
Toshiba Initiative: TOSHIBA TEC Solution Service Corp.
TOSHIBA TEC Solution Service Corp. Contact Center
TEC Engineering Corp., in charge of POS system maintenance, monitors networks around the clock throughout the year for customers with service contracts and provides support, remote maintenance, and failure recovery services.
In order to enhance the level of customer satisfaction, the company solicits customer opinions to understand customer needs and mobilizes them to improve the level of services as well as daily operations.
Policy on Sharing and Utilization of Voice of Customer
The Toshiba Group Standards of Conduct and the Toshiba Group Customer Satisfaction Policy state that Toshiba values the voice of customer and strives to provide products, systems and services that deliver customer satisfaction.
Framework for Sharing and Utilization of Voice of Customer
At Toshiba Group, all parties concerned, including top executives, share information on customers' complaints, opinions, and requests about our products and services received through our daily sales, repair, and service activities, and via telephone or the internet, in order to improve the quality of our products and repair services.
Based on frequent inquiries from customers about Toshiba Group's video and information devices and home appliances, we discuss how to make improvements for each product at periodic meetings held by divisions in charge of product design and development in order to have customer feedback reflected in our products.
Improving products and services with VOC as the starting point of concept development
After the launch of new home electronic products, Toshiba Group collects VOC via its sales team, service personnel at contact centers, and the website. The VOC is analyzed and the results are shared with product planners, quality managers, and sales groups so as to use it effectively for product improvements. This mechanism has become an integral part of the Group’s business operations. In overseas markets, Toshiba Group conducts VOC analysis and in-person visit surveys to identify the needs of customers in regions with various climates and customs.
Toshiba Initiative: Improvement of instruction manuals
Effective use of illustration on the Table of Contents page of the refrigerator manual.
Toshiba Group is working to improve instruction manuals in response to customer requests for “more easy-to-understand instruction manuals” by establishing a company-wide trans-sectional working group.
In addition to evaluating the achievement of improvements on the basis of regular VOC surveys, we apply for “Japan Manual Awards,”* a process that entails evaluation by external experts in the area. In FY2011 two Toshiba manuals, a washing machine installation manual and refrigerator instruction manual, won this award. In the installation manual for the washing machine, the illustrated instruction “when carrying the washing machine,” which is placed on the cover page of the manual, making it easy to see when users open the box, received a high rating.
In the refrigerator manual, the effective use of illustration to make the manual more user-friendly was one of the points rated highly. We will continue to work on creating easy-to-understand manuals for all products.
- *
- The Japan Manual Contest is held annually by the Japan Technical Communicators Association.
Toshiba Initiative : VOC-based knowledge disclosure on the Toshiba PC support website in Canada
TCL's “Ask Toshiba” website
Toshiba's Digital Products & Services Company, taking into account the fact that many inquiries at its contact centers in Japan and overseas were related to the use of PCs, has enhanced the information on its website.
For example, Toshiba of Canada, Ltd. (TCL) inserts links to its customer support site “Ask Toshiba” as desktop icons on PCs, on the tool bar of Web browsers, on “favorites” menu bars, and so on in advance, making it easy for customers to access the customer support site. “Ask Toshiba” enables customers to search its knowledge database for answers to their inquiries by PC model, thus increasing customer convenience. This improvement has helped to reduce the number of telephone inquiries related to the use of PCs.
Toshiba Initiative: Disclosing VOC of "REGZA" customers
Toshiba Digital Products & Services Company has been executing opinions of customers to enhance the "Omakase Donpisha Kougashitsu" (automatic adjustment of the highest image quality) function and hard drive recording function, and to improve the REGZA Program Guide of our REGZA LCD TVs.
In addition, part of the VOC is disclosed on our website as reference for the selection and use of the products.
Toshiba Initiative: Development of a mammography system minimizing discomfort and anxiety
One reason for the low rate of breast cancer screening using mammography is discomfort and anxiety at the time of screening. To reduce patient discomfort and anxiety, we developed a system that reflects the opinions of radiological technologists and patients.
At Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, application specialists, who serve as the interface between medical fields and development teams, gather the opinions of medical specialists and patients for execution in product development.
The patient-friendly design based on ergonomic principles, which provides features, such as armrests to cushion the arms (patent pending), use of material conducive to comfort for those portions that come into contact with the body, and rounded contours to help create a relaxed atmosphere, has won numerous design awards in Japan and abroad, including the Good Design Gold Prize 2007, Germany's Universal Design Award 2008, iF Design Award 2008, and Red Dot Design Award 2008.
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CSR Performance
- Strengtheing CSR Management Based on the Principles of ISO 26000
- FY2011 and Targets & Plans for FY2012
Seven Core Subjects
- Organizational Governance
- Human Rights
- Labor Practices
- The Environment
- Fair Operating Practices
- Customers
- Quality Control
- Ensuring Product Safety
- Information on Product Safety
- Enhancement of Customer Satisfaction
- Response to Customer and Voice of Customer (VOC)
- Universal Design
- Community Involvement and Development
