- Improvement of Customer Satisfaction
Feedback from our customers is the origin of all our ideas. In order to increase customer satisfaction (CS), all Toshiba Group employees operate from a customer perspective. This applies not just to those who work in direct contact with customers, such as those in sales and after-sales services, but in all divisions, from development, design, manufacturing, product quality, corporate staff, and so on.
FY2023 Key Achievements
- During Customer Satisfaction Improvement Month (November), we provided Toshiba Group employees with e-learning training on the importance of improving customer satisfaction as well as lectures from external speakers.
Toshiba Group Customer Satisfaction Policy
The Customer Satisfaction Policy of Toshiba Group is to make the voice of customers the starting point for all ideas and provide products, systems and services that deliver customer satisfaction.
Toshiba Group Customer Satisfaction Policy
We make the voice of customers the starting point for all ideas and provide products, systems and services that deliver customer satisfaction.
- We provide products, systems and services that are safe and reliable.
- We respond to requests and inquiries from customers sincerely, promptly and appropriately.
- We value the voice of customers and endeavor to develop and improve products, systems and services to deliver customer satisfaction.
- We provide appropriate information to customers.
- We protect personal information provided by customers.
Customer Satisfaction (CS) Promotion Structure
For cross-functional activities in accordance with the Toshiba Group Customer Satisfaction Policy, working groups (WGs) by subject and the After-sales Service Improvement Committee have been set up.
CS Promotion Structure
Initiatives for After-sales Services
To enable each after-sales services division in the Toshiba Group to share their CS improvement issues and good cases as well as to carry out service improvements across the Group, we have established an After-sales Service Improvement Working Group. This working group’s activities include surveying service sites to identify issues and providing training for service engineers.
Initiatives to Improve the Quality of Call Center Customer Support
The Call Center Improvement Working Group aims to improve response quality at Toshiba Group call centers in Japan. This working group conducts surveys to identify issues with call centers and quality checks based on the Toshiba Group Contact Center Guidelines, and works to improve various issues.
Sharing and Utilization of Voice of Customers
Toshiba Group have set up call centers for different product groups and services. We share complaints, opinions, and requests regarding our products and services received through our daily sales, repair, and service activities, as well as by telephone and the Internet, with relevant departments, and we use this information to improve product quality and repair services.
Toshiba Group in Japan respond to customer inquiries concerning the products and services offered by Group companies, both in Japan and overseas, through the Toshiba Customer Information Center. It provides cross-divisional services to our customers, by guiding them to our specialized call centers, and forwarding calls to the division in charge, etc.
Toshiba Group Call Center Structure in Japan
Activity Example: Connecting Directly with Customers to Provide Security and Peace of Mind
Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has established Service Information Centers in Tokyo and Osaka. These Centers serve as command centers for maintenance services by collecting and sharing information on approximately 110,000 elevators and buildings facilities nationwide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system we have established enables the Centers to provide full backup even in the event of a failure or disaster, in cooperation and collaboration with the Company’s branches nationwide. As part of its CS activities, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has set up a booth where customers can experience the Service Information Centers and learn about their initiatives in areas such as operations, monitoring, and disaster response. In FY2023, about 1,800 people visited the Centers.
Toshiba Elevator and Escalator Corporation
East Japan Service Information Center
Toshiba Elevator and Escalator Corporation
West Japan Service Information Center
Activity Example: Providing Various Services around the Clock throughout the Year
Toshiba Automation Systems Service Co., Ltd. provides maintenance services for social infrastructure system equipment, such as banknote processing equipment, ID issuing equipment, railway station equipment, and logistics and postal equipment, and supports customers in around 20 countries, including Japan, with a 24/7 support service network. The call center has many service experts and features a layout that gives consideration to operators’ work environment. There are enrolled and striving to improve the quality of daily operations by leveraging their experience to improve customer satisfaction.
Toshiba Automation System Service Co., Ltd.
Call Center, Technology administration department
Activity Example: Aiming to be the Contact Center of Choice through Visualization
In January 2022, Toshiba IT-Services Corporation relocated its contact center functions from Fuchu City in Tokyo to Shinkoyasu in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. In order to provide support that meets the needs of our customers in their business environment, we created a single point of contact for general inquiries and a point of contact for issues and offer support for a wide variety of products, including business systems, storage, networks, and servers. To facilitate smooth service, we brought together engineers involved in after-sales support at the Shinkoyasu office and made it a base for technical support. Furthermore, during tours, we provide demonstrations utilizing tools to introduce aspects from telephone service to dispatching maintenance personnel and providing on-site technical support as a visualization of our services. We aim to be the contact center of choice by sharing value with our customers.
Toshiba IT-Services Corporation
Shinkoyasu office
Improvement of Support to Customers
Toshiba Group is working to develop human resources and improve customer support by providing the various types of training for employees involved in daily inspection, repair, and service activities, and holding a CS Competition, which compares their technical abilities and customer support capabilities.
Activity Example: Human Resource Development Activities of Toshiba Elevator
To provide customers with more reliable and higher quality services, Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation has installed a large number of elevators and escalators at its Field Training Center in the Fuchu Complex. The Company is focusing on providing training to specialized engineers to familiarize them with the equipment through its own unique training programs, including training on maintenance work, learning how to use measuring instruments, safety training, and passing on know-how that has been accumulated through many years of experience. In FY2023, approximately 4,500 people have been working to improve their skills by taking courses in specialized technical training and management training.
Field Training Center
Training
Activity Example: Strengthening Customer Support Capabilities through the CS Competition
Toshiba IT Services Corporation holds a CS Competition in which employees compete to demonstrate their task competence, manners, and skills in various service activities. This competition is derived from the “Maintenance Technology Contest,” which was held starting in 1987 and later revived in 2007 with the aim of “bringing back the good culture of the past and realizing a cheerful, energetic company” as well as “realizing a company that customers and their families can be proud of.” It has become a place both to demonstrate advanced technical skills and to take the next step forward for young engineers.
In the milestone year of FY2023 (the 30th event), 32 people competed in 4 categories,* and 590 people from customers and Toshiba Group companies attended. By sharing the competence of the competitors, we are working to improve Employee Satisfaction (ES) and thus Customer Satisfaction (CS).
- “Business negotiations,” “system operation,” “telephone answering,” and “maintenance techniques.”
The “telephone answering” competitions
The “maintenance techniques” competitions
Improvement of Customer Satisfaction (CS) Mind of Employees
Customer Satisfaction Improvement Month
In FY2015, Toshiba Group created Customer Satisfaction Improvement Month. Thereafter, we implement measures to promote and raise employees’ awareness about the importance of CS during November every year.
E-learning to Improve Customer Satisfaction
We provide e-learning for Toshiba Group employees to improve customer satisfaction. In FY2023, we held e-learning sessions for 72,280 Toshiba Group employees in Japan, representing that 99% of all employees attended the sessions and learned about the importance of enhancing CS.
Customer Satisfaction Lectures
We hold lectures for Toshiba Group employees introducing the activities of companies and people working actively to enhance customer satisfaction and external experts with knowledge.
In FY2023, we had a lecture by Professor Jouji Ono (Aoyama Gakuin University) on the topic of “What is the CS that B2B companies now need to achieve?” The lecture was broadcast online and made available as an archive during Customer Satisfaction Improvement Month, helping to deepen understanding of the importance of CS.
Training of Employees on Supporting Customers
Toshiba Group offers various training programs for its employees to help them understand the importance of customer satisfaction and acquire the skills necessary to provide good customer support services.
In FY2023, we distributed two training videos in June on “The basics of business communication” and “The basics of writing business e-mails” to improve skills.
Policy on Customer Information Protection
Toshiba was quick to recognize the importance of protection of personal data, and in 2000 established the Toshiba Personal Data Protection Program based on its Privacy Policy. The Company strives for continual improvement in its management system.
Toshiba clearly states the purpose while using customers’ personal data and, in principle, obtains such information directly based on the consent of customers. The majority of the information is basic personal data essential for contacting customers or providing services, such as name, address, telephone number, and email address. Toshiba appropriately handles personal data in accordance with internal regulations and rigorously controls personal data using a framework integrated with the data security management structure. When outsourcing operations that involve the handling of personal information, we select and manage contractors in accordance with our internal standards.
The principal purposes of use of personal data held by Toshiba are published on the following website.
Please refer to the Cyber Security Report for details on personal information protection.
Universal Design
In the society in which we live, there are people of different ages, gender, races, and religions, and persons with disabilities.
Toshiba Group is promoting universal design (UD) in order to contribute to the realization of a society where everyone can live at ease and in comfort, regardless of these differences.
Toshiba Group will further deepen each employee's understanding of the concept of universal design, and will create UD products and services that incorporate user feedback and ideas. We will also promote UD in the workplace.
For details on our initiatives, refer to the Universal Design section on the Toshiba website.
Activity Example: ALWAYS® V On-site Survey System for Care Needs Assessment Wins the Gold Award in the Healthcare and Welfare Design Category of the IAUD International Design Award 2023
The care needs assessment support system ALWAYS® V offered by Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation has won the Gold Award in the Healthcare and Welfare Design Category of the IAUD International Design Award 2023, hosted by the International Association for Universal Design.
This product is a system that enables a single tablet PC to perform a series of tasks that surveyors have conventionally done on paper during site visits conducted by municipalities that have received an application for a care needs assessment. After interviewing care insurance assessors and the families of those eligible for assessment, we tested and verified the design repeatedly, and the user interface was designed to be both intuitive and flexible, making digital input easy just like writing on paper while making it simple to search for and reference information. In addition to supporting fair and accurate surveys that are not affected by the experience level or information literacy of the assessors, it is also possible to share survey know-how and have third parties check the data by leaving handwritten notes during the survey as survey records.
We will continue to work toward the realization of a society in which the dignity of each and every person in need of care is respected so that they can continue to live with peace of mind.
Internal Education
In FY2023 as part of our internal universal design education, we implemented “Instant Senior*,” a simulated senior experience program for designers who joined the Company in FY2023. Experiencing body movements and physical states similar to those experienced by seniors was an opportunity for people to become aware of various physical and psychological aspects of senior life. They realized that the everyday items they casually use have been carefully designed for user-friendliness. They also noticed that as their sensory functions declined, they became less sensitive to other people’s presence, and they grew quieter. We will provide the viewpoints required for design, and connect these to our future activities.
- A training program that enables participants to wear 9 types of equipment, including weights and supporters, to have them temporarily experience conditions similar to those experienced by seniors. This is a registered trademark of the Japan Well Aging Association.
Communication with Outside Organizations
To spread and promote the use of universal design, Toshiba Group provides information on its own initiatives and the results of its activities and also actively collaborates with outside companies and organizations.
Activity Example: Provided Free Online Seminars on Ergonomics
Toshiba is committed to the practice of universal design with the aim of contributing to the realization of a society in which everyone can live with greater comfort and ease. This includes holding the “Ergonomics – Learn from a Designer Series,” a free online seminar on ergonomics, which is the basis of universal design, since FY2021. In FY2023, we held three such seminars.
In the seminars, we explained the basics of usability and human error, which are also important concepts in universal design. Around 100 participants attended each session, and we received positive feedback in the form of comments such as “This is a way of thinking that is necessary for manufacturing,” and “I want to recommend it to my friends.” Going forward, we will continue to disseminate information on universal design in this way.
