conduct one-on-one discussions with the client sponsor and other key client stakeholders to solicit real-time performance feedback, gauge customer satisfaction, and identify opportunities to increase the value delivered. Any dissatisfaction is also quickly identified and addressed. IPM seeks to delight our customers and to exceed their expectations. New approaches and/or deliverables that achieve this level of response are incorporated into future offerings (e.g., a graphically oriented Final Project Summary has become commonplace following rave reviews to the creativity of one of our PMCs working with our Creative & Communication Services (CCS) department). Within two weeks of completing an engagement, the PPE is administered to key client stakeholders to solicit feedback on IPM performance. The PPE includes numerical rating, pick- list, and qualitative response questions. Following our 2015 ILPEx application, the survey was revised. To drive increased client responsiveness, the entire survey was shortened by eliminating some questions and tightening others. A free-text field now allows survey takers to indicate how IPM exceeded their expectations or how they were left dissatisfied, providing a way to capture the ratio of satisfaction to dissatisfaction (Figure 7.2-5) . While the PPE had always asked about a client’s likelihood to recommend IPM, the switch to a 10- point scale for all questions allows us to present the query in a format that mimics Net Promoter Score (NPS). The change to the 10-point scale from the previous 5-point scale was motivated by a desire to gain additional granularity. Another revision in our survey process occurred to enhance data integrity. AMs can now eliminate questions to ensure all queries are germane to an engagement, as irrelevant questions had previously resulted in some confounding data. PPE results are reviewed by the AM and the PMC to identify performance that exceeds client expectations and builds loyalty. These examples serve as models for service improvement. When unfavorable feedback is received, an investigation is started, which may include direct follow-up with the client to fully understand their concerns. Actions are then taken to mediate customer issues. If appropriate, lessons learned from unfavorable feedback are shared among Ops management to minimize the risk for recurrence. Customer engagement is determined through the NPS question. IPM also uses our client retention metric to measure engagement (Figure 7.2-10) . New business opportunities that are derived from repeat customers and customer referrals are recorded accordingly in Deltek to enable analysis of trends. Aggregated PPE data have been captured on The Hub since 2016, creating a central database for all results and improving the functionality and ease of retrieving and analyzing them. From this data, senior leadership gleans insights into our performance, service offerings, and strategy, which are then shared at quarterly Staff and Directors’ Meetings. 3.1b(2) Satisfaction Relative to Competitors A primary motivation for adding the NPS question to the PPE was to use it as a benchmark for comparing our customer
satisfaction with the NPS of other organizations. The 2015 PPE revision also added a relative satisfaction question, asking clients to rate our performance relative to their satisfaction when hiring various categories of competitors (Figure 7.2-4) . On the qualitative side, information relative to competitors is obtained through discussions with current and potential customers. 3.2 Customer Engagement 3.2a Product Offerings and Customer Support 3.2a(1) Product Offering To determine what services to offer, senior leadership evaluates opportunities and trends, the business environment (internal and external), and IPM’s Strategic Advantages (SAs). The results of the Industry and Regional Assessment Summaries (IAS and RAS) are taken into consideration to better determine customer and market needs and requirements for our services. Utilizing IPM’s listening methods (Figure 3.1-1) , BD, Marketing, and Ops identify unmet customer opportunities and industry trends, which are logged in the Observations & Trends (O&T) site on The Hub. All entries are then analyzed by senior leadership. During the Business Planning Process (BPP), Strategic Initiatives (Initiatives) are then developed, as appropriate, to adapt product offerings to better exceed customer expectations. Additional input to the development of Initiatives comes from interactions during the sales process and client feedback via the PPE and are reviewed at quarterly Directors’ Meetings. In 2014, the BPP yielded the creation of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) for four of our service lines—Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Change Management, Business Technology, and Life Sciences Quality and Regulatory—to identify and adapt offerings to meet and better serve current customers and thereby expand the relationships. This is accomplished through the development of processes, tools, resources, training, and support structures. The CoEs are additionally showcased by Marketing and BD to facilitate entering new markets and attracting new customers. Adaptation to our CoE service lines occurred in response to market conditions, when two factors influenced the addition of a CoE for Mergers & Acquisitions in 2015. First, for years we had been assisting customers struggling with integrations and had seen the value we could provide in this area. Second, consolidation and acquisition had increased in our industry segments. And again in 2016, we realized that the need for regulatory and quality support extended beyond the Life Sciences. The Food Safety Modernization Act was among the most prominent examples of the increased regulatory oversight that many of our industry segments were experiencing, and knowing that our expertise would cross over effectively, the Life Sciences–specific CoE was adapted and re-cast as the industry agnostic Regulatory & Quality CoE. This change allowed us to attract new, non–Life Sciences customers.
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