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NewsIntangible Assets in Novots What on earth customers want? – “intangible assets” in Novots.
The executive leadership from a world-renowned pharmaceutical company specifically visited Novots when investigating China in 2007, to attempt to find out how this unknown enterprise to earn the broad esteems.
Reporter/ YANG Zhijie
Novots Technology definitely is not a biggest IT outsourcing enterprise; let alone by comparison with some international giants, such as IBM and HP, Novots absolutely belong to small scale company. Novots also is not an earliest enterprise engaged into IT outsourcing. It only has seven or eight years’ involved into this business until now since starting in 2001. However, Novots has created a “miracle” in IT outsourcing industry, with nearly zero churn rates from establishment to date. Customers are the largest advantage of assets for the players on the arena of IT outsourcing. Customer satisfaction is the core competitiveness of enterprise – after all IT outsourcing business mode can be briefly explained as follows: a team is accredited and enter into the companies of customers, to undertake their IT operation and maintenance jobs.
As the manager in Marketing Department of Novots, LI Bo repeatedly highlights, “The service we offer is very “emotional”, rather than selling computers and printers these visible consumer products. Although a variety of evaluation rating measures can be taken, service quality fails to represent the whole. The customer relationship retention and operational service quality assurance are treated equally by us.” In 2006, a surprise was received that Novots was first time to be ranked on the top in China by one global leading pharmaceutical company which assessed and selected its annual IT service quality for different regions. Novots is the company to arrange IT service team to this pharmaceutical company in China. It is so proud for Novots due to this hard-won achievement, especially beating plenty of competitors with century histories. Thus, the leadership of this pharmaceutical company designedly visited Novots when investigating China in 2007, to try to find the answer why this unknown enterprise can earn the broad esteems.
Relationship as partner
As LI Bo said, customer is not called as God in Novots, but partner mostly.
According to the introduction of LI Bo, for new customer, the basic trust relationship shall be built through long term communication. Customer acquisition, relation accumulation, and maintenance shall be conducted by Sales and Marketing Departments. Service is the key for IT outsourcing, which is sensible to be judged as the good or poor only through first-hand experience. Prior to turning the customer over to the implementation team, the trust and collaborative relation should be built firstly. Thus, aimed to assist the new customer to better adapt to the implementation team, the colleagues from Sales Department will still stay there to give hands. Return visit is a crucial link during the entire incorporating period. Monthly return visit shall be performed by Sales Department, and the ideas exchange between leaderships of Novots and the customer shall be held once every quarter, and the involved engineers should join in it.
“Discussion together to speak your mind without reticence;” LI Bo said, “transparent communication flow is capable to maximally understand what the customer needs. Communication plays a significant role during the period of overall operation and maintenance. Formal and informal communications are both important to increasingly improve service quality, so as to constantly expand the mutual cooperation.” The Sales Department will draw back completely after customer relation is built for one year; thus, when implementation team officially handle it, this customer shall become the regular customer instead of new customer.
Novots, as an IT enterprise, independently developed MIS collaborative OA system, to realize different personnel to take charge in different situations and events and offer the solutions, through its management function. With its horizontal intersectional cooperation and vertical classification responsibility system, the customer management issues are resoundingly addressed. The said global pharmaceutical giant wrote a letter to Novots as follows: “we are extremely satisfied the services and supports provided by Novots to our more than 30 subsidiaries in China. We are confident that high caliber service shall be constantly delivered by Novots.” A leader from Novots expressed,” IT business is not to sale one-off product, instead, service strategy should be made to emphasize the actual effect and live experience for the customer.”
Implementation level as foundation
Implementation level is more highlighted by Novots to manage the customer relation, which makes it to be different with some international giants.
IT outsourcing service among international big companies mostly is signed for cooperation under the global framework, and consequently relevant worldwide responsible persons will take charge in communication to maintain customer relation. While in China these mutual communication is primarily implemented on the sales level. Therefore, sales are the key for international big companies to select and accept the service of IT outsourcing.
Furthermore, implementation level is the direct part for the customer to assess service quality of Novots. Like what LI Bo said, “Novots would rather to do the pragmatic things. With more implementation jobs and better service, the perception of the customer shall be boosted. In Novots, the customer relation management with every staff involved is advocated. Meanwhile, how to make the strategy and concept of the customer relation is implanted into the minds of its personnel.” Thus, the staff that represents Novots will directly pass good quality and excellent corporate culture to the customer. During the cooperative period with numerous customers, LI Bo also found when the customer investigates the service quality of an IT outsourcing enterprise, not only the service quality of their implementation team but service for their own staff are under observation. As they know, an implementation team “armed to the teeth” shall give the customer surprise which is impossible to be given through markets or sales. Meanwhile, the above teams will feedback the most authentic needs of customers and immediate situations, to achieve more targeted service.
LI Bo also said,” Apart from emphasis of skills training, other trainings, such as the communication ability of engineers, are strengthened in Novots.” Now a perfect communication mechanism is set up after long term accumulation. Besides, he indicates that “At any time, no circumstance, we shall always put the interest of customer first in our heart.”
Constant improvement as cornerstone
“Survey of satisfaction shall be executed at least once every half year for every project, covering service satisfaction, customer relation stability, and customer appraisals which should be more emphasized, to encourage them to write letter to let us know their real feelings.” This is a basic principle for Novots to manage its customer relation.
Actually, whether the customer is new or has existed, annual improvement plan will be submitted to them by Novots. The same plan should be done, even if this implementation team or this project is highly scored. Continuous perfection is the cornerstone to push Novots to grow with the customer together. LI Bo said, “Plugs, some affinity approaches are adopted by us, like interactive activities organization etc. In our mind, a hope to communicate with the customer is constantly promoted to ensure our service can consistent solve customers’ needs.”
At the discussion on values of new and return customers, LI Bo analyzed, although new customers are the driving force for our development, return customers are foundation, who increasingly provide us stable revenues and new businesses with renewed or supplemented contracts every year. Novots also repays them with stable and excellent services. Only in this way will parties to cooperate can really grow together. Thus, although new and return customers are divided to be maintained by different departments upon their different competencies, they are same important for Novots.
“We shall continue research and find the better way to maintain the custom relation; so far we are satisfied for our strategy with every staff involved and management measures with hierarchies, which help us to know what our customers exactly need, and what services we can offer,” said by LI Bo. (Edit：zl) |
