Ricoh Wins Gold in 9th Annual Best in Biz Awards

Ricoh USA, Inc. has been named a gold winner in the Most Customer Friendly Company category in the Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications in North America.

Ricoh earned this honor thanks to a number of initiatives within the company's overall strategy to make customer satisfaction and success the primary metric by which it measures its own success. To fully commit to this approach, Ricoh created a role focused entirely on "voice of the customer" data collection, survey governance and feedback implementation, which served as the bedrock for further changes to shorten feedback loops and improve measurement of customer satisfaction. Among these changes:

• facilitating real-time data ingestion and analysis, empowering teams to reduce lead time on reporting and analytics from weeks to days;
• augmenting a quarterly reports system for customer feedback with a live-updated, accessible-anywhere visual dashboard of customer survey responses; and
• automated flagging of urgent issues, so if a customer survey response mentions a pressing concern, a support ticket will automatically be created and Ricoh will proactively reach out to address the problem within 24 hours.

The company also implemented Smart Hands, a program that puts Ricoh's 3,000-plus field technicians in instant, hands-free contact with the company's vast knowledge resources. The Smart Hands mobile application allows technicians to both provide a live feed of what they see and access information or collaborate with other remote technicians in real time, while keeping their hands free to continue working on repairs – the first time such a technology has been deployed in the print space.

"At the end of the day, there is only one way to succeed long-term in the B2B space: bring value to customers," said Heather Loisel, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Ricoh Americas. "Once you accept this, it only makes sense to focus your efforts on understanding and driving customer success. When our customers provide feedback, we don't just listen – we act on it. To make sure we are responsive, effective, and useful to our customers, we needed better ways to measure: shorter feedback loops, automated issue flagging, and faster, more effective data ingestion. We are pleased to report we have found a better way, and we intend to continue improving, every day."

Since 2011, Best in Biz Awards entrants have spanned the spectrum, from the most innovative local companies and start-ups to some of the most recognizable global brands. With more than 700 entries, the 9th annual program attracted a record number of entries from an impressive array of public and private companies of all sizes and spanning all geographic regions and industries in the U.S. and Canada. Best in Biz Awards 2019 honors were conferred in 80 different categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company, Most Innovative Company, Best Place to Work, Customer Service Department, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Product, Enterprise Product, Best New Service, CSR Program, Event and Blog of the Year.

Each year, winners in Best in Biz Awards are determined based on scoring from independent judging panels assembled from some of the most respected newspapers, TV and radio outlets, and business, consumer, technology and trade publications in North America. Combining top editors' and reporters' unparalleled expertise and experience with the objectivity inherent in the journalistic ethos and further enhanced by the breadth and variety of outlets represented on the panel, Best in Biz Awards is uniquely able to determine the best of the best from among the hundreds of entries. The 2019 judging panel included, among others, writers from Accounting Today, AdWeek, Associated Press, Barron's, Consumer Affairs, eWeek, Healthcare Innovation News, Inc., Investment Advisor Magazine, USA Today and Wired.

"It seems to get harder each year to select the best of the best in Best in Biz Awards," said Mark Huffman, Consumer Affairs, returning to judge Best in Biz Awards for the sixth year. "As a consumer reporter, it is particularly gratifying to me to see so many businesses striving to enhance the customer experience."

For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2019, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2019-winners.

Source: Ricoh USA

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Wide-Format Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Wide-Format Impressions.