How do we get the CX2025 principles into the mindset of all our colleagues?

'CX2025 calls on all of our colleagues to get the Lely experience flowing in everyone's veins. You have to serve the clusters properly from Maassluis so that the clusters can, in turn, serve the Lely Centers and the Lely Centers can then serve the customers. The “boots on the ground” experience is created by the Centers, of course, as they physically deal with the customers. We will involve the Centers in creating a customer-orientated mindset and organise training sessions. However, to do their jobs well, our colleagues from Lely International and our clusters also have to make sure every link leading to the Center runs smoothly. That gives them power and control. If we don't support the Centers in the right way, their relationship with the customer might be damaged. A damaged relationship is difficult to repair, although you can make a big difference with a small gesture or some extra effort. That’s something we also have to remember,’ says Gijs.

What’s the relationship between online and offline customer contact?

‘It’s vital that the online and offline experiences connect seamlessly. For this reason, we’re working towards a uniform experience, at all levels, that characterises Lely . This experience must be recognisable across the world, although there is obviously some space for local adaptation. After all, every market and every customer is different,' says Coert.

What does the perfect customer experience look like?

Coert: 'Wherever and however a customer gets onboard, searches for or gets in touch with Lely, the message they receive must be uniform. The customer file must also be shared within our system, so that the customer doesn’t have to enter the same information repeatedly. We must continue to recognise that switching to automation is life-changing for dairy farmers, and that a robot is one of the biggest investments they will ever make. We have to stand by them during this process, support them and keep them onboard.

Can you give an example?

Gijs: ‘One example of an irritating factor, which is also a new aspect, is our online presence. Our customers said that they expected more from us online. Customers want to decide for themselves when and how they get into contact with us, at every stage of our relationship. In response, we’ve now launched a programme to make sure our online activities better reflect what customers want. Some examples we’re working on include an online sales channel, and we’ve started a community to allow customers to network and help each other. We’re developing several similar initiatives that are designed to improve the customer experience.'

What can we do to positively impact the customer experience?

Gijs: ‘There are three things we can do to make the customer experience as positive as possible. We can reinforce the positive aspects of our collaboration, eliminate factors that irritate customers, and add new aspects that enhance the customer experience.'

Can you explain how that works?

Gijs: 'The ultimate goal of every customer relationship is to turn a customer into a Lely "fan". The route to getting there is called the customer journey – an interactive roadmap which has many points along the way where we can make or break the relationship. It’s essential we’re all aware of this because every interaction counts – from the reliability of our applications to our invoicing process, through to our service and our accessibility. Everyone at Lely impacts the customer experience in some way. The aim of CX2025 is to align the mindsets of all our colleagues in the same direction, namely to focus on customers.’

Coert adds: ‘That’s because we’re still focusing too much on our "red stars" – our solutions. But when we’re in discussions with customers, we sometimes simply forget to ask why we’re actually sitting down together at the table. And that's exactly where we can make a big difference.'