“You Touch It, You Own It”

For several years, Pitney Bowes Presort Services has earned Best-in-Class Net Promoter Scores (NPS). NPS is a simple, but powerful measure of client satisfaction. It simply asks, “On a scale of 1-to-10, how likely are you to recommend this business to a friend or colleague?” Only nines and tens count. There is no room for persuasion or manipulation and little room to criticize or excuse the results. How your clients feel about you and the level of service you provide is directly translated into a simple number. Even through the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, I’m pleased to report that Presort Services continues to maintain world-class NPS scores.

I like the NPS rating system because it’s honest and straight-forward, just like our business and our approach to client relationships. I’m often asked how we achieve these ratings and what advice I have for other businesses trying to improve their own client satisfaction. My response usually underwhelms my inquisitors, because most of them already know what they need to do to improve client satisfaction, it’s the execution, day-in and day-out, that makes all the difference.

First and foremost, if you want to deliver a great client experience in a services business, you need to hire great people and set high expectations. We are fortunate to have nearly 5,000 team members in Presort Services and we do everything we can to instill client focus in every one of them. Many never see the client, but they know the impact their jobs have on our clients and how our successes and failures are inextricably intertwined.  If your business relies on outside suppliers or partners, ensuring their understanding of your client focus and expectations is critical as well.

And most importantly, once you’ve heard from your clients, you need to quickly and thoughtfully act on what you’ve learned.  And because we all love a tagline, we’ve adopted one that reminds us to ensure client satisfaction through teaming and with full accountability, i.e., “you touch it, you own it”.  In the context of client relationships, that means if you’re having a conversation with a client about a problem they need Pitney Bowes to solve – no matter where you sit in the organization or what role you play, you take personal accountability for quickly pulling in the team needed to solve the issue and you see it through to completion, including closing the loop with the client.

Our culture plays an important role in how we serve our clients and is built on something we call, “Our Winning Formula.” The foundation of Our Winning Formula is our Pitney Bowes value, “We do the right thing, the right way.” Our Winning Formula gives us the opportunity to remind our teams about the importance of their conduct in managing our relationships with fellow employees, partners and clients. 

If you’re looking for ways to improve your own client satisfaction, start with your people.  They can make all the difference in the world.

To all Pitney Bowes clients and the thousands of men and women around the globe who serve them, Happy CX Day, 2020!

Debbie Pfeiffer, President, Pitney Bowes Presort Services