Richard FoutsWhen I was a little kid, my dad brought home a computer. We couldn’t wait to see it work … wow, a computer in our house! It was unimaginable. Correction, what was unimaginable was how long it took my dad to get it up and running. Hours of technical manuals, phone calls and unreadable error messages became a two day effort. When it was finally working, the excitement had faded and we went back to foosball, a low tech game we could count on.
The next year my brother brought home a computer he called a MacIntosh and we waited for a re-run of Dad’s frustrating scenario. But this was no episodic repeat. Big bro turned it on and started doing real work in a few minutes, showing me how to write a letter to my grandmother. When I asked him to print the letter I had written – he showed me something called a print-icon which sent my letter to an awaiting printer in seconds (I tried the same thing with my Dad’s PC the previous year, but it told me it didn’t have a driver, something I never quite got).
My brother became a loyal customer of Apple of course, and I remember him telling me after I went into marketing that Apple’s customer retention rates were over 90 percent. That was an amazing statistic. I was working at HP at the time, and we were thrilled at our 83 percent rate.
The reason I tell this story, is that I’ve just read Informatica’s renewal rates once again exceed 95% (for six years in a row). Try and find that kind of renewal rate (outside of Apple, of course). I’ve tried.
The number comes, not from Informatica, but a 2011 Data Integration Customer Satisfaction survey conducted by TNS, an independent research firm. Customers are asked to share their views and perceptions of all the vendors across a range of measures. 89% of them said Informatica’s strategic vision maps with their own. Good number, but even better is that these customers actually know Informatica’s strategic direction.
I have followed Informatica, albeit casually, for years and one thing I’ve found is that these are not people that believe in doing anything half-heartedly. And they also realize you have to stick to it. As colleague Ed Thompson says, “our research shows that there is no one quick fix that will drive great customer experience … a great experience is built from thousands of small improvements over time.”
So here’s a shout-out to the freaks at Informatica, who simply can’t resist making customers happy, satisfied, productive – and apparently, informed. It’s what they live for. Okay guys, good work. Now, go play some foosball.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Greg Mason October 12, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I enjoyed and can relate to this article. I still remember the first Apple IIe I was able to touch (and write a little integer BASIC on) as well as the first mouse I ever used. The world of computer technology as well as customer-service could use another Steve Jobs. My experience with Informatica Corporation is that while they are very foward-looking they still maintain a level of customer service that I dream other vendors could provide. Most of the issues we have are handled by first-line support folks – which to me is amazing. For the tougher issues, especially in time-critical situations they always come through with workable solutions. Great people, products, & support!
2 Tejasvi Sridhar October 13, 2011 at 1:32 am
When ever we reach to Informatica Corporation for any kind of technical support , i have always received positive response and their approach to the problem is amazing .Talent pool is outstanding and I have to mention about online knowledge bank , which has vast collection and is great help for any first line support folks.thanks to project managers at Informatica who never turned down our last minute requests.statistics in the blog is true reflection of their hard work and commitment look forward to have same kind of commitment and amazing experience. keep rocking !!!!
3 Richard October 14, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Thanks for your comment, Tejasvi. Our research shows over and over .. the value of front line, first call resolution. When the person who takes the call also solves the problem – customers repeatedly comment on how fast resolution was reached – and they tend to understate it. For example, it took an hour to solve the problem, but the customer says it took 20 minutes (when first line resolution is practiced).
The reverse is also true. When customers get bounced around … they overstate resolution time. So even though it took 15 minutes to solve their problem (with multiple people and getting put on hold) the customer reports, “It took them an hour to solve my problem.” Funny how that works.
4 Wendy Wong October 17, 2011 at 12:21 am
Dear Richard,
Good article you have here and I share the same experience in regards to Informatica support that my project received for the past 1 year. My experience with Informatica support team has been superb and extraordinary as they go above and beyond their level of support to help their customer to solve issues. What I appreciate most is their willingness to listen, transparent sharing of their findings, structured approach in problem solving and delivery of high quality deliverables.
Lastly, I echo Greg’s comments above Great People, Extraordinary Support and Good Product ……
I specifically would like to send special appreciation to Ramkumar, Informatica Support lead that I am working with.
Regards,
Wendy Wong
Regional IT Project Manager