In the second season of the Vincit Talks vodcast, we’ll be discussing the fundamentals of digital business: online stores, web services, customer data, customer experience, and more.
KONE is a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry that makes people's journeys safe, convenient, and reliable. We interviewed Lotta Buss, Head of Service and Digital Design at KONE, about building an effective customer experience in a global B2B company and leveraging AI to enhance customer understanding.
Here are four key takeaways from our talk:
1) KONE wants to be sure that the customer is at the center of everything they do
KONE integrates customer-centricity into the company’s core values. They do this by making sure that every employee aligns their actions with this customer-focused strategy. The goal is to put the customer at the heart of decision-making while providing a deeper sense of purpose to KONE employees' work.
Making customer-centricity a core principle means it’s also embedded into company operations in addition to values. This is evident in KONE’s commitment to transparency and flexibility through digital tools, ensuring customers can access services and information easily. For instance, self-service options in digital channels provide autonomy, while face-to-face interactions remain available for complex matters.
2) Ensuring an excellent customer experience has to be consistent across all markets
KONE operates across global markets and adopts a flexible, localized approach to serve local customers best. While global platforms and strategies are created, local organizations are empowered to adapt these frameworks to meet their unique market needs. This ensures that the customer experience is relevant across the globe.
KONE uses a multichannel approach to serve different markets, as preferences vary across regions. They maintain multiple contact points – digital, phone, and in-person – to address different customer needs effectively. KONE also ensures collaboration across departments, such as sales, IT, and design, to provide cohesive customer experiences despite operating a global company.
3) AI and data could be used for breaking down company silos
Buss sees potential in using data and AI to improve cross-department collaboration. By managing operations from the customer's perspective and sharing insights, AI and data could help align siloed teams toward shared customer-oriented goals. This approach potentially promotes faster, more cohesive responses to customer needs and drives innovation.
By consolidating information from sales systems, CRMs, and customer insight repositories, AI could also generate actionable insights and provide a comprehensive understanding of customer needs across departments. KONE sees AI as an interesting tool for improving a unified organizational focus on customer understanding and better efficiency.
4) Measuring customer experience is absolutely key
KONE employs design research and feedback mechanisms to gather diverse customer insights, ranging from incremental improvements to new innovations. The company wants to understand customer motivations. Continuous measurement and feedback ensure customer understanding underpins ongoing improvements.
KONE continuously measures customer experience through methods such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and detailed research at various customer touchpoints. Their Customer Insight team conducts in-depth studies to understand customer needs and preferences, combining findings with data from sales systems and CRMs. By using these insights, KONE can refine services and develop tools to meet evolving customer demands.
Listen to the interview on Spotify or YouTube to learn more about KONE’s customer approach.
Riku Kärkkäinen,
Business Area Lead, Vincit Commerce
