October 18, 1999

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Why Siebel Matters
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The Modern Call Center Customers Get Royal Treatment

Siebel's integrated, expanded customer-service software arrived at a time when companies were putting renewed emphasis on customers--how to develop new ones and, especially, how to retain existing ones. The benefits of Siebel's technology weren't hard to fathom: By understanding customers' service histories, for example, companies could better sell to them.

"Tom Siebel has the correct vision," says Frank Veros, manager of the Business Assistance Center at Ford Motor Co., a Siebel user. "Whoever's going to be successful in the next millennium is going to have to have a magic touch with the customer." Other Siebel users point out that, with its background in sales-force automation, the vendor is well-suited to help businesses increase sales to customers.

Tom Siebel says his company's success is driven by its culture--customer-centric to the core. Signs of the customer-oriented culture are everywhere in its headquarters. Conference rooms are named after top customers. Every piece of art in Siebel's hallways is from a customer--an ad from Nike, a letter from Kellogg's.

The company's button-down ethic is another manifestation of its customer centricity. Although Tom Siebel hesitates to say the company has a dress code, it does: Employees are required to wear suits and ties when meeting with customers. "When you show up in jeans and a T-shirt, you lose credibility," he says. The guidelines extend to the way employees act, even in their offices. "Other companies behave like they're an extension of a dorm room or a frat house," says House. "Our customers deserve for us to behave professionally."

Just as visible--and perhaps more critical--is the way Siebel treats its customers. Siebel guarantees customers will be 100% satisfied, and takes that pledge seriously. Siebel salespeople, for example, are compensated not just by the size of a deal but by customer satisfaction; the vendor surveys its customers every month, posting results in headquarters for the whole company to see. Tom Siebel says he spends 60% of his time on customer calls.

Ford bought Siebel products to form the backbone of its Business Assistance Center, a call center that handles interactions with dealers and business partners. It picked Siebel in large part, the center's head says, because of the quality and integrity of the salespeople. "These people were our front line," Veros says. Tom Siebel visited them personally and has made himself accessible for questions and concerns. "If I were really unhappy, I could pick up a phone and call Tom Siebel," he says. "And he'd take care of it."

Siebel's implementation team is also making sure that Ford's IT organization understands the nature of the software and how it works, passing on best practices and tips. For Ford, that's translated into fewer consultants involved with the project and the confidence that once the project is finished, Ford will be able to handle problems with the applications on its own.

Siebel also involves customers in product development. The idea is that the suite should be developed by businesspeople and the people using it. That's why the product-marketing people spend much of their time traveling and listening to customer requirements. "If you sign on for a product-marketing job, you know you're going to get quite a few frequent-flier miles," says president and chief operating officer Paul Wahl, who as former chief of SAP America knows the difference between an engineering-driven company and Siebel's customer-centric approach.

Marriott International Inc. is using Siebel software in its event-booking centers and in its overall sales organization. Marriott has also installed the Siebel software as the backbone of what it calls the Guest Experience System, which tracks guests' interactions with the company. When guests check into a resort, Marriott will know who they are, what their preferences are, and how valuable they are to the company. The Guest Experience System is in place in seven resorts, with 30 more scheduled.

As it did with Ford, Siebel has been consulting with Marriott during the two-year implementation of the applications--consulting that cuts two ways. "They're always asking 'how does this help your business?'" says Mike Dalton, Marriott's senior VP of lodging systems services. Dalton says that, because of such interaction, Marriott has been able to ensure its requirements will be in the next version of Siebel's applications, such as a sales compensation package on which Marriott has been advising Siebel. "We have a five-year plan, and we know where we're going--and they're going to stay one step ahead of us," Dalton says.

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Photo of Siebel and Dalton by Peter Lopez
Photo of Clarke by Giorgio Palmisano

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