Q1 Q1- Describe in your own way the simple technique that Enterprise used to

find out how satisfied its customers were with their service.-

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is in the car rental business and operates a fleet of more
than 850,000 vehicles. In Enterprise’s view, the business it
is involved in is customer satisfaction. This is a characteristic that it shares in
common with every successful service company, large or small. Enterprise Rent-A-
Car believes that customer satisfaction is an investment. It is the equivalent to
research and development in a manufacturing company. Customer service is an
important part of the culture of Enterprise.

Customer service is a process of spotting the needs of customers. On a whole, it

is an act of identifying and attempting to satisfy customer needs and requirements.
Enterprise has always shown commitment towards fulfilling customer satisfaction.
The goal of the company is to go beyond expectations laid by customers.

They have followed a simple method or process to find how satisfied its
customers were with their service. The management team came up with an
uncomplicated but very effective questionnaire to gauge the level of satisfaction.
The questionnaire was based on 2 questions such as : 1. How would you rate your last
Enterprise experience? This is ranked on a scale from ‘completely satisfied’ to
‘completely dissatisfied’. 2. Would you rent from Enterprise again? This is a novel
type of customer survey.

Throughout its history, Enterprise has followed founder Jack Taylor’s advice
who believed that if the company took care of its customers and employees first,
profits would follow. Therefore, Enterprise conducted Service Quality Surveys to
track customer satisfaction. The survey included questions that could provide
information which it was trying to gather like;
- How satisfied was the customer on his recent car rental from Enterprise?
- What, if anything, could Enterprise have done better?
- Did the customer experience any problems during the rental process?
- How was the telephone reservation process?
- How would you rate the car
- How is the Handling of paper work
- What is the Mechanical condition of the car
- How is the Cleanliness of the car interior/exterior?
- If next time you needed to pick up a rental car, how likely are you to call Enterprise?

Enterprise had used the survey results to calculate an overall average Enterprise
Service Quality Index (ESQi) score for the company and a score for each individual
branch. The new way of measuring customer satisfaction was called ESQi. ESQi
is a quantitative term that focuses basically on SERVICE and QUALITY. It is a score
that measures the percentage of the customers that are completely satisfied. The ESQi
survey concentrates on those aspects of customer satisfaction which are very positive.
It measures on complete satisfaction rather than mere satisfaction.

ESQi hinges on two simple words: completely satisfied. Every month, they
measure customer satisfaction with each local branch through telephone surveys of
hundreds of thousands of our customers. Each branch earns a ranking based on the
percentage of its customers who say they were completely satisfied with their last
Enterprise experience. They call that ranking "top box," and that's the standard of
excellence they set for themselves when they work with their customers.

The survey was developed through an intensive process over a number of years.
The process was focused on refining the survey with the result that it appears simple.
The survey finds out what makes loyal customers and who the loyal customers are. It
delivers results which allow Enterprise to concentrate on the key driver for the
company - making loyal customers. This leads to profitable growth.

Enterprise then targeted customers who were highly satisfied and would rent
from the company again.These were customers who filled in the top boxes on the
survey. Customers who had filled in the survey were called by external telephone
researchers. They were asked how many cars they had rented since taking part in the
survey and what Enterprise’s share of those rentals had been. This consisted of more
than two million customer contacts each year and therefore has significant cost.
Studying the data showed that ‘completely satisfied’ customers were more than three
times as likely to become repeat customers as those who said they were only
‘somewhat satisfied’.

The best part of this unique survey is that it was short and concise unlike
other surveys. Filling up surveys is generally considered as a boring job which not
many people like being a part of. By acquiring the results of this survey, the company
would easily find out how satisfied its customers were with their service and would
again avail of their service.

Q2 Explain how the method of measuring customer satisfaction provided the

company with meaningful data.

Proactively analyzing member satisfaction to confirm high-quality service is a must in

today's ultra-competitive finance world. Relying on an occasional letter or a call to
determine how well employees are serving members is not enough. Rather,
developing a quantitative survey system to test and gauge member satisfaction will
not only provide useful data and measurable results, but can have a positive impact on
members and employees. There is a measurement tool called the Enterprise Service
Quality index (ESQi), which is based on a customer service survey. The new way of
measuring customer satisfaction is called ESQi. ESQi is a quantitative term that
focuses basically on SERVICE and QUALITY. The ESQi survey concentrates on
those aspects of customer satisfaction which are very positive.

ESQi provided the company with meaningful data in the following ways:

• ESQi helped the company to categorize customers who have been impressed by the
services offered by the company. So as to identify how many customers would
come again to avail of those services.

• This directly reflected that if a customer is satisfied he will definitely have a recall
value and would also refer to others. It is a general tendency that we humans tend to
share good experience and also recommend a service provider to our friends and
family.

• This data motivated them to work more towards customer satisfaction.

• It also highlighted what policies and measures were working out positively and
receiving a positive response from customers.

• As this activity was carried out area and region wise, it was easy for Enterprise to
understand the diverse needs of customers based on region, location, etc.

• Customer satisfaction matters not only to the customer, but even more so to the
business because it directly impacts a company’s bottom line profits. Furthermore, it
is one of the most important components of a company’s positive brand image.

• It provided the data about how many cars they had rented since taking part in the
survey and what Enterprise’s share of those rentals had been.

• It provided the information about some sectors of the business that were
underperforming in terms of customer service.

• The ESQi results have helped to teach Enterprise what drives customer satisfaction.

• It found three factors that were important. These were:

i. the attitude and helpfulness of Enterprise employees
ii. the speed of the transaction
iii. the cleanliness of the car.

• It added real value to Enterprise

• It helped to know about how to provide high quality service across a
worldwide network of locations.

• Enterprise's approach to measuring customer satisfaction indicated that

internal policies dedicated to strengthening service and rewards for employees
adhering to those policies that are beneficial across the board.

• Another way of measuring customer satisfaction was questionnaire. The

questionnaire helped Enterprise to find out quickly what customers think of each
and every one of its businesses.

• They are relatively easy to analyse and simple to administer;

• The data showed that 'completely satisfied' customers were more likely to
become repeat customers as those who say they were only 'somewhat satisfied'.

Since this method of taking customer feedback via a simple survey was easy
and trouble free, it gave detailed analyses of what the customer wants and what
should be done to fulfill it.

Q3 How did Enterprise use the information it collected? How did this enable the
company to make improvements?
 Enterprise Rent-A-Car is in the car rental business and operates a fleet of more
than 850,000 vehicles. In Enterprise’s view, the business it
is involved in is customer satisfaction. This is a characteristic that it shares in
common with every successful service company, large or small. Enterprise Rent-A-
Car believes that customer satisfaction is an investment. It is the equivalent to
research and development in a manufacturing company. Customer service is an
important part of the culture of Enterprise.
Enterprise collected information through questionnaires and Enterprise Service
Quality Index (ESQi). Enterprise has played it safe and smart. Through a long
process, it narrowed down on questions those were easy to comprehend. The two
questions in the questionnaire for consumers were –

1. How would you rate your last Enterprise experience?

This is ranked on a scale from ‘completely satisfied’ to ‘completely dissatisfied’.

2. Would you rent from Enterprise again?

By asking the first question the company came to know how satisfied or
dissatisfied its customers were. This helped them to understand their stand in the
minds of customers majorly. As mentioned in the case study, they selected a special
team which would call the ones who selected completely satisfied and take details
about their experience with the service provided by the company. Through this
process, they knew what percentage of existing customers would come and be their
customer for a long time over and over again.

This helped the company largely to make improvements as the ESQi (Enterprise
Service Quality index) facilitated to guide Enterprise as to what drives customer
satisfaction. The data was like a mirror for people working with Enterprise as the
strategies used by them were working out or no. it guided them as to what their
customers exactly wanted and expected out of the company. As enterprise works
towards exceeding customer satisfaction, it is like detailed analyses of what enterprise
can do to improve services.

It enabled the company to make improvements by developing a completely new

way of looking at the company, beginning with choosing the winners of the annual
President’s and Chairman’s Awards (the top honours in the company) on the basis of
ESQi scores. The next step was to make the ESQi scores the basis for determining
promotion. This really got people’s attention because Enterprise only promotes from
within the company. 99.9% of top executives in the company started their careers
behind the counter as management trainees at an Enterprise branch. Using the new
formula a person’s career would only develop with a high ESQi score. If for example
a branch manager¡¦s ESQi score is below the company¡¦s average ESQi score ,he/she
won¡¦t get the promotion until the scores improves. There was therefore a clear
incentive for ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction. ESQi scores were
published alongside profits for every branch. League tables of branches were
published.
 Enterprise used the information from the surveys to make improvements. For
example, theyhave developed a ‘Cycle of Service’ training programme. This gives
new employees a number of practical tips about how to take care of customers.
The ESQi system is managed by a team at Enterprise specially set up for this purpose.
The team uses an independent telephone survey company to provide the survey
results. Whenever a customer communicates any dissatisfaction on the ESQi survey,
the phone representative asks the question ‘Would you accept a call?’ More than 90%
of these customers agree to be called. Branch managers are given details of the
complaint and can ring the customer to find out the root cause of the problem. The
branch is expected to work out solutions to resolve the complaint.

Another way in which Enterprise has improved customer service is through a

system of constructive criticism known as ‘The Vote’. Each week members of a
branch are asked to rank other members, from best to worst, based on the quality of
their customer service in the previous week and to explain why. The results are
published for all to see. Awards are given to top-rated employees. This system of
positive criticism works well and very quickly branches with low ESQi scores
improve in the performance tables.

Concentrating on customer satisfaction helps Enterprise to achieve healthy

growth in the markets. It also supported the desire of people working in the branches
to be entrepreneurial, that is, to have ideas of their own to improve service.
Concentrating on customer satisfaction helped Enterprise to achieve healthy growth in
international markets in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Canada. It also helped the
company to be successful in new business segments including on-airport rentals and,
in the USA, in commercial truck rental, car sales and leasing.

The survey helped Enterprise to make improvements in the following ways –

 Customer Loyalty
 Customer satisfaction
 Effective Communication
 Spotting Trends
 Great public relations
 High reputation
 Word-of-mouth praise
 Concentration of quality

Feedback gained from surveys can be used in training activities to help employees to
address customer-related grievances more competently and resolve queries and
complaints more quickly by Enterprise. Analysis of detailed customer feedback
surveys provides customer intelligence that can be used to spur innovation efforts,
research and development and new product development initiatives.
• Customer Loyalty: Understand the magic – what they like about you and
what they dislike. Knowing what keeps them coming back over and over again
is the secret to your success. Loyalty is the magic when they start talking
about you and referring you to others.

• Customer satisfaction: Satisfied customers are those who do not have

outstanding negative issues concerning you on their mind. This doesn’t mean
everything has always been perfect. Sometimes things may not have gone all
right. In all such situations you gave your customers a chance to talk to you.
Sympathetic listening to customers is essential. Online surveys provide a way
where customers get a chance to get their side of the story out without being
interrupted. A second essential is follow-through. Proper tools of analysis will
help you segment your customers into different categories based on what you
need to do in return.

• Effective Communication: By inviting customers to talk to you and through

careful design of your survey you can effectively inform your customers about
things they may not know or remind them of important changes or innovations
in your organization. This is clever because customers will read your survey
more carefully than most other communication you send them.

• Spotting Trends: Beyond understanding the drivers behind loyalty and

satisfaction of your customers, you can benefit from the wisdom of the masses
by asking them for their ideas and spotting patterns in their feedback. Spotting
such trends ahead of competition could offer you a significant advantage.