Customer Satisfaction as a Strategic Lever: An Interview with Ricardo Garcia, CEO of PROMEA

The Key Factors for Ensuring Service Quality

Kathrin Neumüller: PROMEA has been achieving very high satisfaction ratings for years. Where do you currently see the most important levers for not only maintaining this high level but also specifically building on it?

Ricardo Garcia: In our latest customer survey, we included a new question that allowed customers to choose from more than ten options to indicate what matters most to them about our service. The big—and very positive—surprise was that quality was ranked first, even ahead of price.

Of course, price remains a very important factor, but quality is an even higher priority for our customers. This shows us that our focus on first-class services is the right approach. Interestingly, a recent price increase had only a marginal impact on satisfaction with our value for money, which further supports this insight.

Kathrin Neumüller: How exactly do you define quality at PROMEA?

Ricardo Garcia: In the customer survey, the customers themselves defined the most important quality characteristics. These include, above all, quick response times and high availability. For us, these are not abstract concepts, but measurable metrics.

For example, in our ERP system, we track the lead times for all processes in our mass-market business. We set clear goals in this area and can closely monitor progress over time. This ensures that we meet our own quality standards and our customers’ expectations.

Sustainability: Hype or a Relevant Factor for Customer Satisfaction?

Kathrin Neumüller: Sustainability is a topic that is the subject of intense public debate. However, the results of your customer survey show that sustainability currently plays a lesser role in your customers’ satisfaction than other factors. How do you interpret this finding?

Ricardo Garcia: I wouldn’t say that sustainability is overrated, but people’s priorities are often very pragmatic. At the end of the day, what matters most to many people is what ends up in their own wallets. Sustainability is seen as an important value, but people’s willingness to sacrifice returns or accept higher costs for it is limited. We see this in referendums in Switzerland as well: Basically, everyone is in favor of sustainability—as long as it doesn’t cost anything. This pattern is also reflected in our customer survey.

However, we have also found that the importance of sustainability among our customers has increased significantly compared to the 2023 survey. We asked the same question again, and the percentage of customers for whom sustainability is a relevant criterion has risen from around 45% to over 55%. This is a significant development. When compared to older customer surveys—such as the one conducted by AXA, where approval ratings were just over 40%—it appears that our customers attach above-average importance to this issue. This is particularly interesting given that many of our customers are industrial companies with low margins, for whom cost efficiency is paramount.

Toward Greater Customer Satisfaction: From Analysis to Concrete Implementation

Kathrin Neumüller: How do you ensure that the results of the surveys are not only analyzed but also translated into concrete decisions and priorities?

Ricardo Garcia: The results are directly incorporated into our strategic planning. We have a clearly defined process in which the insights from the customer survey are integrated into our annual strategy workshop. There, the results are presented, discussed, and used to derive concrete actions. These actions are then incorporated into the performance agreements for individual departments and employees. This ensures that the customer’s voice is not only heard but also translated into concrete action.

Kathrin Neumüller: Can you give a specific example of a situation where insights from the customer satisfaction survey led to a direct change?

Ricardo Garcia: In addition to the chatbot example mentioned earlier, we have also made adjustments in the area of communication. The customer survey showed that our clients want even more proactive and clear communication, especially regarding complex topics such as changes in the law or amendments to the investment regulations. In response, we revised our communication processes, introduced new formats such as explanatory videos, and increased the frequency of our newsletters. The feedback has been very positive.

The Role of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) as an Internal Performance Metric

Kathrin Neumüller: What role does customer satisfaction or the NPS play at PROMEA as an internal management or performance metric? Is it incorporated into management discussions or strategic deliberations?

Ricardo Garcia: NPS is a key performance indicator for us. It is an integral part of the annual strategy workshops mentioned earlier and is discussed at the highest levels. The trend in NPS is an important indicator of the success of our initiatives and directly influences the company’s strategic direction. It serves as our compass to ensure that we are on the right track and remain focused on our customers’ needs.

Transparency as the Key to External Positioning

Kathrin Neumüller: PROMEA publicizes the results of its customer satisfaction surveys very prominently, including on its website. What role do these results play in your external positioning?

Ricardo Garcia: A very important one. For us, transparent communication of results is a clear commitment to customer focus and a key differentiator in the marketplace. We want to show potential customers that we take their opinions seriously and are willing to be judged by our performance. The high satisfaction ratings are, of course, a strong selling point and help us build trust. At the same time, however, we’re also signaling that we’re not resting on our laurels, but are continuously working on improvements.

Customer Satisfaction: The Value of Independent Measurement

Kathrin Neumüller: What specific added value do you see in working with an independent institute like ValueQuest?

Ricardo Garcia: Working with ValueQuest as an external partner offers us several key advantages. First, it ensures an objective and neutral perspective. An independent market research firm isn’t blinded by its own perspective and is willing to ask tough questions when necessary.

Second, we benefit from the expertise and benchmarks that ValueQuest brings from other industries and companies. This helps us better contextualize our own results and gain new insights for our work. And third, having the assessment conducted externally enhances the credibility of the results, both internally among employees and externally among customers.

Future Challenges for Customer Satisfaction

Kathrin Neumüller: Where do you see the biggest challenges when it comes to continuing to systematically measure customer satisfaction in the future and maintaining it at a high level?

Ricardo Garcia: One of the biggest challenges is certainly the increasing individualization of customer needs. A “one-size-fits-all” approach is becoming less and less effective. We must be able to respond flexibly to different requirements without sacrificing efficiency in our mass-market business.

Another challenge is digital transformation. Today’s customers expect a seamless and intuitive digital customer journey. We must continue to invest in this area and remain innovative so as not to fall behind. Finally, it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw the right conclusions from the vast amount of data and identify the areas that truly require action. The systematic analysis and interpretation of data will therefore become even more important in the future.

Kathrin Neumüller: Mr. Garcia, thank you very much for this insightful conversation.