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Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc.

SASCS09 Winner

Company: Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc.
Entry Submitted By: PainePR
Company Description: Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) manages product planning, marketing, sales, service support and distribution of copiers, facsimiles, multifunction printing products, network controllers, and toner products throughout the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year - Retail

Nomination Title: Toshiba Business Solutions' Customer Service Program

1. Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

With a strong desire to establish a clear and proactive line of communication
between its direct sales channel and its customers, in Fall 2005, Toshiba
America Business Solutions Inc. initiated a customer service assessment
program with CustomerSat (a MarketTools Company). Until this time, Toshiba
and its subsidiaries lacked a coordinated method for identifying and
addressing customer issues. At best, individual subsidiaries implemented
individual processes that produced a snapshot of a customer's level of
satisfaction, often too late to mend a broken relationship.

The goal of the program was to provide Toshiba with real-time, voice of the
customer input, and establish a process for timely subsidiary response. The
process was built utilizing Toshiba's Oracle system and CustomerSat's server.
Each day, Toshiba service representatives complete a Service Call ticket in
the Oracle system for each service call completed. At the end of the day,
CustomerSat uploads those Service Call tickets into its system (often totaling
more than 2,000), and extracts key information. That information is used to
create a custom e-mail survey, including specific facts about the date and
nature of the service call and requesting an evaluation of the service call.

Toshiba and CustomerSat created a custom questionnaire, allowing for open-
ended comments as well as asking customers to rate the following on a scale of
one to 10:
• Efficiency of the service dispatch process
• Technician making a satisfactory service appointment time
• Service response time
• Timely arrival of technician
• Service technician's competence
• Courtesy and professionalism of the technician
• Ability to carry out the work requested
• Clear communication by technician
• Repair time on-site
• Problem was fixed on the first visit
• Overall satisfaction with Toshiba's Customer Support Team
• Overall satisfaction with Toshiba
• Likelihood to continue to do business with Toshiba

Toshiba customer service executives in the corporate headquarters and local
subsidiaries review combined and subsidiary-specific data on a weekly, monthly
and quarterly basis. This tiered review allows for immediate issues response,
and trend identification and course-correction. In addition, for any response
rated a five or lower in key categories, CustomerSat's system immediately
sends an "alert" to the President or Vice President of Service of the low-
rated subsidiary. Toshiba's process stipulates that all "alerts" must be
addressed and the customer contacted within five days of the "alert" being
issued. Response rates are tracked and reported to the corporate office.

Further encouraging its subsidiaries to improve their dedication to customer
satisfaction, Toshiba awards top performing subsidiaries on a monthly and
quarterly basis. Toshiba's process has become so successful, the company
earned a 2008 CustomerSat Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) Award for
Technical Support Satisfaction, which certifies, acknowledges and celebrates
outstanding achievement in customer satisfaction. Receiving a CustomerSat ACE
Award demonstrates Toshiba's rigorous application of customer feedback
processes, and outstanding performance as measured by those processes.

The ultimate benefit is that Toshiba customers have tangible proof that their
business is valued, and the company is better informed of the true status of
customer satisfaction.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:

George Colborn currently serves as vice president, Service for Toshiba America
Business Solutions Inc. (TABS). In this capacity, Colborn is responsible for
service-related support to all of TABS' distribution channels, as well as
testing and evaluation for all TABS products. He also manages various dealer
customer support functions, including technical training, technical call
center support, on-site support and service incentive programs.
Colborn joined Toshiba in 1982. During his tenure, he has held several
positions with the company, including national technical service manager;
national service manager; director, Service; and finally vice president,
Service.