Gerlof returned this year to share with us his 2010 game plan.

Ball is a worldwide player in the packaging & beverage can market. Ball supply global, national and regional brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Carlsberg and Nestle. In Europe alone, 800 truck deliveries are made every day and for some clients a truck arrives every 3 hours. In fact a staggering 1.6billion beverage cans a year! If I was to put these end-to-end they would stretch way past the end of my garden, having already circled the earth 6 times.

So in this price focused volume market, how is Ball able to distinguish itself from the competition, and position itself to provide a full range of services, while increasing margins in a sustainable way?

In 2009 Ball launched a customer VIP (Value Improvement Relationship) programme based on NPS. Ball use Voice of Customer data to get close to their customers and understand what their customers expect and really want. Gerlof explained how they use this to engage employees to listen & take action all in an effort to add value and move their customer relationships from satisfaction to loyalty.

Capturing VoC at an account level is what enables Ball to take action on the key NPS drivers and relative importance for that account. Ball now have 80 improvement initiatives running. A complete contrast to the old method of asking customers a 96-question survey that took almost an hour to complete and provided a Powerpoint deck the width of a telephone book!  Account level feedback is far more actionable and Ball now has 80 improvement initiatives in progress.

The VIP logo has also helped. Everyone within Ball Packaging and customers alike knows this internal branding. Both are also familiar with the logo and what it stands for, so it helps drive up participation. Today was Gerlof’s 36th presentation this year. You have to keep communicating. The more you do it, the higher the chance employees will stay engaged. The same goes for the Board of management. You have to feed their interest and involvement. A theme we heard about from other speakers at the conference this year. At ball the Mgt team review the NPS and progress every month. The NPS (currently 35) is less important than the trend.

So what are the key learning's so far?

• Closing the loop with customer immediately after taking the survey
• Communicate and communicate again
• Celebrate success – If a customer gives you a 10
• Take action at the account level – Key NPS drivers can differ significantly by account
• Right customers right service – Not all services to all customers
• Keep the board informed & maximize their participation

Finally, service excellence creates loyal customers and loyal customers are prepared to pay a premium for a high value service. “At contract re-negotiation a loyal client always come back and are always prepared to give us the last chance on the final contract price, said Gerlof”

They do what it says on the tin!

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