Greif

Customer satisfaction survey

Within 5 years, Greif has increased its NPS (Net Promoter Score) from +40 to +67.

“Drive business through all customers, constructively. To improve business.”

Greif is the market leader in industrial packaging products and services, manufacturing steel and plastic containers, drums, and cardboard. With 290 locations in 43 countries, they serve regional customers worldwide. Greif’s vision is to be the best-performing customer service company in the industrial packaging market, and their motto is “packaging success together.”

Surveys sent

Countries

Languages

An essential Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for Greif is measuring customer satisfaction. Antoine Cisek, Global Market Research Manager at Greif, emphasizes that operationally measuring satisfaction had to be a KPI to determine how central the customer is to Greif. According to Greif, the “Voice of the Customer” is paramount. Greif enlisted AlphaRainbow to consistently measure customer satisfaction across all Business Units and countries.

“We cannot make progress without measuring customer satisfaction. Without measurement, we cannot evaluate our performance in a structured focused manner to achieve our vision.”

For this reason, a baseline measurement was conducted in 2015. The first survey was sent to customers in more than 80 countries, in 20 languages. An online customer satisfaction survey was distributed using AlphaRainbow’s online survey tool. The first survey was sent to over 11,500 Greif customers, resulting in a 20% response rate and an NPS score of +40—a good starting point to build upon. Greif decided to measure NPS twice a year, in the spring and fall. As Antoine states, “To determine the progress, reach the goal, and increase the NPS score to gain more satisfied customers.”

Within Greif, approximately 400-600 account and sales managers actively participate in the customer satisfaction measurements during each survey round. All account and sales managers have login credentials to access the online survey tool and monitor the progress of their own customers. They receive push notifications in their mailboxes during the survey, informing them when one of their customers has responded. This allows them to reach out immediately to thank customers for a good rating or take action on complaints or feedback.

The progress Greif has made over the last 5 years is remarkable, driven by their focus: the NPS score has increased from +40 to +67. In the first Wave, 51% of respondents were promoters (those who gave a rating of 9 or 10 on the recommendation question). Currently, 71% of all respondents are promoters. Not only has the NPS score grown, but the response rate has also increased to approximately 30%, and the number of sent invites has grown to 16,500 customers.

“We have made tangible and significant improvements within Greif. There are few B2B companies achieving such results. We are satisfied. We motivate people internally.”

AlphaRainbow conducts statistical analyses on the data obtained from the customer satisfaction survey and identifies the key drivers at the overall and country level that influence customer satisfaction and deserve focus to increase satisfaction. CQM has developed and implemented the analysis method in collaboration with AlphaRainbow to make it applicable to all surveys conducted by AlphaRainbow for its clients. “We identify the key drivers for improving satisfaction, which is crucial. What we do between survey rounds to satisfy the customer, by focusing on identifying the key drivers per country, is the key to success.”

Britt Kant – Project Manager at AlphaRainbow: Greif maintains a constant focus on customer satisfaction and is a great example of a B2B company that prioritizes the customer. They demonstrate that customer feedback, both negative and positive, is essential for global operations. They translate measurable and tangible drivers into strategies to achieve their vision. The high internal involvement is reflected in the high response rate and constant improvement of the NPS score and statement scores.