At SAS, we’re proud to have customer satisfaction rates reaching up to 90 percent – that’s among the highest in the industry. But we didn’t get there by resting on our laurels.

Our customers expect the best from us, and we want to deliver. To that end, we’re making a big change: Five of our top customer-facing groups – Education, Publications, Technical Support, Professional Services, and Customer Loyalty – have been combined into ONE division: Customer Engagement and Support (CES).

If you’re a SAS customer, these are the groups you interact with the most. And now these five groups can more easily work together to create a seamless customer experience.

You talked, we listened
This change was in large part based on feedback from our customers. Customers want to know that no matter who they’re talking to at SAS, they’re talking to someone who really knows them and their business. So now, whether you’re signing up for a training course, ordering a book or implementing a software solution, CES can make sure that each piece will support all your business needs.

What can you expect from the new CES?

• Streamlined experience. We’re streamlining legal and contractual processes. Instead of different contracts for different types of services, customers now just get one. We’re knocking down walls between groups to give us the flexibility to serve you better.

• One point of contact. In the hotel rooms at SAS Global Forum 2014, the phones had a smiley face button for easy communication with the front desk. That’s a “we can handle anything button” and the person who answers on the other end can address any question or concern you have. The CES group will be that button for SAS customers – that’s where we want to be.

• Quicker, more prescriptive responses. Our goal is to understand customers better so we can respond more quickly. If we can see the entire customer relationship, we can be more proactive about the kinds of services we offer.

For example, if you call CES with a problem, you might assume you need Professional Services, but your CES contact will be able to determine exactly what you need and take care of it for you.  In CES, we can get a complete view of the customer journey – and smooth out the road ahead. And we’ll do it by being adaptive.

You might see Professional Services folks teaching classes, or SAS trainers working on projects. Publications editors can see how their books support a real, live project in the field. We’ll now have the flexibility to make anything possible, as quickly as our customers need it.

All in all, we will get better at what we do by keeping the focus on why we do it – to help our customers do what they do – better.

Editor’s Note:  Fritz shares more about the CES Division and how SAS is bringing a more comprehensive level of service to customers in this SAS Global 2014 Live Report.