Hilti International

Hilti North America Customer Service

Company Description

Hilti provides leading-edge technology to the global construction industry. Hilti products, systems and services offer the construction professional innovative solutions with outstanding added value.

The headquarters of the Hilti Group is in Schaan in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Hilti North America headquarters is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hilti Western Hemisphere has over 3,700 employees.

Some 20,000 employees in more than 120 countries around the world create enthusiastic customers and build a better future. The corporate culture is founded on integrity, courage, teamwork and commitment.

Hilti excels through outstanding innovation, top quality, direct customer relations and effective marketing. Two-thirds of the employees work directly for the customer in sales organizations and engineering, which means a total of more than 200,000 customer contacts every day. Hilti has its own production plants as well as research and development centers in Europe and Asia.

Founded in 1941, the worldwide Hilti Group evolved from a small family company. Since 2000, the Martin Hilti Family Trust holds all shares and, since January 2008, all participation certificates of Hilti Corporation. This safeguards the further development of the company founder Martin Hilti's life's work in the long term.

Hilti upholds a clear value orientation and pursues a policy of stakeholder value. Integrating the interests of all the company's partners – customers, suppliers and employees – into its strategy and actively honoring its social and ecological responsibility creates the foundation of trust that makes possible the long-term success of the company.

Contact Center Description

Hilti North America has two contact centers, one located in Tulsa, Okla., for U.S. operations and another in Mississauga, Ontario, for Canada operations. The contact center structure focuses on two key functional areas for the Hilti organization, sales teams and support teams. Hilti Customer Service is led by a vice president, two division managers for the sales teams, a director of Canada operations and a manager for the support teams. There also are regional managers who lead the frontline sales teams, support leads, and staff comprised of systems support and analysts. The centers are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. central time Monday through Friday. Customers are provided service in English, French and Spanish.

The Hilti Customer Service team works in a business-to-business model with a core purpose to passionately create enthusiastic customers and build a better future. Both centers combined handle more than one million inbound customer calls per year and also conduct business via fax, e-mail, post mail and EDI (electronic data interface). The Customer Service sales teams are structured to mirror our customers with a focus on segmentation by construction trade and geographical alignment to best serve our customer needs. Outbound sales teams also are in both centers and focus on developing customer loyalty and account growth. Customer Service sales team members handle customer needs by providing product, technical and Hilti services information, application expertise, order placement and all general questions.

The Customer Service support team provides support services to Hilti's direct sales force of more than 1,600 field account managers.

CCEOC Certification

Hilti North America Customer Service received their first CCEOC certification in 2008 achieving a Gold-level designation and a Silver-level designation in 2009. Hilti will continue to seek CCEOC certification on an annual basis.

Key Performance Measures

There are four key areas in which Hilti North America Customer Service provides constant measuring. They are Growth, Productivity, Differentiation and People Development.

Growth factors are measured to ensure that as an inside sales department we are contributing to the overall growth of the organization and helping Hilti continue to be a leader in the industry by gaining market share. Common growth performance measures are forecast achievement.

Productivity factors are measured to ensure that as we grow we are doing so profitably. We measure sales per FTE (full time equivalent) to continue to bring about a culture of sales and balance our headcount needs to match our customer and budgeting needs. Customer Service levels are measured by average speed of answer, which is targeted at 15 seconds or less, and abandonment rate, which is targeted at 7 percent or less. We also measure our customer credit note rate, which ensures we are providing our customers with the right product and delivery at the requested time.

One of Hilti's key competitive differentiators is our ability to develop and bring to market new innovative products that help our customers perform their jobs safer, at a higher quality and with productivity savings. Customer Service teams are then measured on their capability to help bring those innovative new products and services to their customers in the marketplace. Customer satisfaction also is measured formally on an annual basis through an in-depth, blind survey conducted by an outside vendor that measures customer satisfaction in key areas of the company. Customer service is one facet of the survey that provides feedback on how customers rate Hilti North America's Customer Service department.

Another advantage Hilti has in the marketplace is its people. Hilti develops, manufactures and sells direct to their customers. The ongoing development of our people and the satisfaction of our employees are vital to ensure our customers receive the best service possible. On an annual basis, Hilti conducts a Global Employee Opinion Survey that provides feedback on employee satisfaction. It provides feedback on areas in which their management team, team entity and the company are performing very well and areas that need improvement. All employees also receive ongoing feedback from their direct manager through the PMP (Performance Management Process) on a quarterly basis. This allows the employee and manager to discuss team member goals and results in their business targets, personal development targets and career path goals. This allows the manager to then praise the progress of the employee or help in developing action plans to improve as needed.

Technology and Ergonomics

Hilti North America Customer Service uses an integrated system solution with SAP as operating platform and CISCO as our telephony platform. Inbound sales team members are provided with dual monitors to improve their workflow with customers. Both wired and wireless headsets are available for team members.

All employees have ergonomically correct chairs and Human Resources conducts measurements for employees to ensure ergonomically correct desk, chair and computer heights upon employee request.

Training and Development

All Customer Service sales personnel must successfully complete a Basic Training Seminar, which is a nine-week training course that provides all customer-facing team members an in-depth knowledge of Hilti products, applications and services, training on industrial and construction trades including common applications aligned to those trades, and phone and operating systems training.

Ongoing training and development include the following:

• Hilti products, trade and application training provided monthly
• One-on-one and team coaching by regional manager on sales, phone and computer skills
• Annual two-day Culture Journey development with immediate team
• Career development coaching and planning provided in a one-on-one environment and supplemented by classroom or field training
• All customer-facing personnel take an annual field trip to their aligned geographically assigned area to meet customers and further expand their jobsite and application knowledge
• The Hilti training department offers training classes that are open to all Hilti employees including: Mastering Impactful Communications, Presentation Skills, Time Mastery and Leadership Series Training for Management
• Hilti benefits plan also provides an educational assistance program for employees wanting to earn a college degree or higher level education.

Growth Prospects

Growth prospects for Hilti North America Customer Service are strong. Hilti is a forward-thinking organization that seeks out new ideas and products that will help their customers build a better future. To achieve these aggressive goals, Hilti recognizes their biggest asset in achieving this is their people. As a strong growth company there is a continuous need for team members who aspire to develop within the organization, this provides ongoing development opportunities for team members in Customer Service.

CCEOC Attributes

• Strives for customer service excellence
• Excellent orientation and training programs
• Development opportunities
• Sales, support and technical roles
• Rewards and recognition
• Community support opportunities
• Health and wellness
• Open communication
• Ongoing coaching and support
• Excellent convenience amenities

Health and Wellness and Work/Life Balance

Hilti has adopted a wellness philosophy that focuses on preventive care to help team members become healthier. In addition to Hilti's Medical, Dental and Vision plans, these programs are offered as part of our focus on health and wellness.

• Annual health screening
• Nutritional Health Coach Program
• Smoking Cessation
• Corporate health facility (Tulsa)
• Yoga (Tulsa)
• Off-site fitness center discounts
• Indoor walking circuit

Demands on all individuals continue to grow in today's society. Hilti recognizes these demands and offers the following benefits to help employees ensure they are achieving an appropriate work/life balance.

• Employee Assistance Program
• Time off program
• Flexible scheduling
• Convenience amenities
• Yoga
• On-site massage therapist (Tulsa)
• Relaxation room
• On-site dry cleaning
• Maternity room

Rewards and Recognition

One of Hilti's three key pillars in Our Culture Journey is "We encourage each other and recognize results." All Hilti team members recognize that it's everyone's responsibility to recognize a team member for a job well done. It may be a verbal "thank you" to an individual or it may be recognition through Hilti's Rewards & Recognition program.

Ways that Hilti Customer Service employees receive rewards and recognition are:

Rewards and Recognition

One of Hilti's three key pillars in Our Culture Journey is "We encourage each other and recognize results." All Hilti team members recognize that it's everyone's responsibility to recognize a team member for a job well done. It may be a verbal "thank you" to an individual or it may be recognition through Hilti's Rewards & Recognition program.

Ways that Hilti Customer Service employees receive rewards and recognition are:

• Rewards & Recognition Program
  • Recognition tickets - redeemable for Hilti-branded items
  • Raving Fan Award
  • Spontaneous Leadership Award
  • Enthusiastic Customer Award
  • Legacy Cup Award
• President's Club - top sales people win trip for themselves and their significant other
• Weekly cheers e-mail
• Quarterly bonus program
• Monthly and yearlong sales promotions
• Monthly and quarterly team contests - gift cards
• Hilti anniversary recognition program

Culture and Social Environment

Our four core values are Teamwork, Integrity, Courage and Commitment.

The way we do things at Hilti is based on living strong values. We act with integrity in all we do, we demonstrate courage to go beyond the circle of habits, we outperform through teamwork, and we have commitment to personal and company growth. We share a common purpose of passionately creating enthusiastic customers and building a better future. We take self-responsibility for the development of the business, our team and ourselves. We encourage, coach and support each other to achieve outstanding results.

Customer Service team members are very proud of the customer service excellence that they provide to their customers. It is common practice for customers to ask for a Customer Service team member by name. We encourage our team members to establish good business relationships with our customers. Our team members take ownership of each call they receive to ensure our customers are raving fans.

Hilti Customer Service team members can participate in the companywide Hilti Enrichment, Enlightenment & Entertainment Team (HEEET). The HEEET team's purpose is to enhance our work environment and create a connection to Hilti through a variety of events and programs designed to enlighten, enrich and entertain. This team coordinates events both on campus and off campus throughout the year and typically holds monthly events. Examples include the annual Burger Burnout where management team members grill hamburgers and hot dogs for all employees. HEEET may organize discount tickets for team members to attend a local sporting event together or monthly book exchange club.

Above and Beyond Factors

The service our employees strive to provide our customers every day is above and beyond and is exemplary in the market. This is measured based on annual feedback from our customer opinion survey. Our management team strives to provide our team members with the same above-and-beyond leadership as demonstrated by an open-door policy, monthly roundtable breakfasts, peer council team and the recognition that each employee is a unique individual and deserves one-on-one coaching and development time. We know that the products and services we provide our customers is worthwhile work – they help to build safer high-rises, bridges, schools, hotels and other buildings for our society.

Management recognizes the value our team members bring to our customers and we work to bring them the tools they need to do their job well and continue to make their workplace even better.