Voices of Real Business

After extensive market research, Xerox recognized it needed to change how it engaged customers at the high end of its extensive portfolio. Instead of touting its industry-leading products and services as it had done for over a decade, Xerox needed to focus on what mattered most to its customers—job growth, reduced operational costs, increased revenue, and being delighted throughout the buying/owning cycle.

To accomplish this, first Xerox had to create a whole new messaging platform to articulate its production focus promise to customers. Next, it had to shift the mindset of all customer-facing personnel worldwide in sales and service.

Zimmet Group was brought in to design a program that would inspire the field force to embrace a new set of behaviors and ensure a world-class customer experience throughout the customer journey.

While Xerox had already invested in research to identify the critical production focus areas, work had yet to be done to identify exactly how to infuse it within their global culture. Zimmet Group led interviews with more than 70 professionals at every level of the organization to ensure our program would stick and sustain.

Central to our findings was the need for manager championship and coaching. Also critical was a flexible approach that would allow regional customization. With those findings validated, we were ready to solidify our learning framework.

Our approach centered on creating a continuous learning environment led by team managers. Managers received specific training, account planning tools to track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and coaching so they were prepared and confident.

Individuals across functions were exposed to the program through an internal activation campaign comprising email, video, and live sharing sessions that included inspirational advice from the CEO.

Two interactive eLearning courses—one common to all employees and one role-specific—further prepared each individual for the team-based work that would help fully cement the needed behaviors.

Managers were tasked with hosting specific team role-play and discussion sessions throughout a six-month period. This approach gave space for practice and feedback, and also allowed teams to track the impact using our KPIs.

Feedback from managers in the field was overwhelmingly positive during the program, making it clear that our work was having the intended impact.