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by Fred Reichheld, a Bain Fellow and founderof Bain & Company’s Loyalty Practice. It is ameasure of customer loyalty, based on thequestion “How likely are you to recommendour company/product/service to your friendsand colleagues?” NPS is calculated bysubtracting the percentage of detractors,customers who are least likely to recommenda company’s product/service, from thepercentage of promoters, customers whoare most likely to recommend it.Paull, who is Vice President of C&PS atHoneywell Aerospace, explains, “We werechallenged to improve our Net PromoterScore – to simplify and improve ourcustomers’ experience on an ongoingbasis. This was in the context of a multiyear strategic planning process. We wantedto take customer experience to the nextlevel. We wanted to be able to compete oncustomer service.”Paull knew that competing on service wouldrequire that all 1,400 of his Customer &Product Support employees across the worldbe a part of a culture of excellence – speakingthe same language of service, operating onthe same framework. Getting there wouldrequire a true teaching environment whereall employees could experience the processof “learning-by-doing” themselves ratherthan simply being trained by rote to performsteps 1, 2, 3, etc. The act of understanding,experimenting, seeing the results of thatexperimentation, and then finding one’senvironment changed as a result is apowerful learning reinforcement. It’s like theparable “Give a man a fish and you feed himfor a day. Teach a man to fish and you feedhim for a lifetime.”Solution: A TeachingEnvironment WhereEmployees Could Learnthe Science of ServiceResolved to establish a culture of serviceexcellence that would enable Honeywell toraise its Net Promoter Score and differentiateitself from its competitors, Paull – who isalso a member of the Center for ServicesLeadership Board – began a conversationwith CSL about how the Center could help.Honeywell Service LeadershipAcademy Certificate Details Not-for-credit certificate – but offering.5 continuing education units (CEUs)per course Eight CSL courses with 5 - 8 hoursof student time required per course Courses offered on a monthly basis Employees had four weeks to completeeach course Certificate awarded upon completionof all eight courses Quarterly recognition for excellentperformanceIn response, CSL – in collaboration withPaull and his team at Honeywell – developeda program that would advance serviceexcellence and drive Net Promoter Scoreimprovements within Honeywell Customer &Product Support by: Delivering foundational and advancedservice excellence knowledge to allemployees Encouraging employees to apply,develop, and implement ideas basedon what they learn in the courses Creating and embedding a vocabularyof service excellence across the entireorganizationCreating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy4

In March 2011 the Center for ServicesLeadership launched the first course of theHoneywell Service Leadership Academy –a professional certificate program deliveredcompletely online. Every month (exceptJanuary and December) for three years,eight to nine groups of 50 Honeywellemployees each took a course. Every C&PSemployee – from front-line customer servicerepresentatives to managers – was requiredto complete the program. By November2013, 1,600 Honeywell employees had takenat least one course, and more than 1,000employees had completed the program.A Framework for Customer Service,Grounded in Faculty Researchand ExpertiseOver the course of three years, the eightHoneywell Service Leadership Academycourses were delivered by 15 course leadersfrom the Center for Services Leadership’sfaculty network. Of the 15 instructors, 14had PhDs and all had special expertise inparticular areas of service. Faculty engagedwith students even beyond the onlinecoursework, adding their own expertiseof the issues being discussed. “There’sonly one school in the world that could puttogether that kind of team,” explains CSL’sNancy Stephens.The team of faculty with both expertise inservice and expertise in teaching was criticalto making the program one that would seta framework for Honeywell employees towork within, rather than work by rote. DawnFeldman, Executive Director of ExecutiveEducation at the W. P. Carey School, explains,“In contrast to a consultant, who wouldexplain how a particular problem should beresolved, in a true educational setting facultycan teach the science behind the concepts.University Education ina Flexible Online Setting Allowed employees to move at their ownpace to earn their certificates in less thanthree years Required all employees to register for andcomplete at least one course in Year One,and earn their certificates by the end ofYear Three Provided flexibility – via regular courseofferings and one-month coursetimeframes – for managing workloads Enabled employees to review contentindividually but also benefit from interactive learning across the global C&PSnetwork through discussion boardsIt sets a framework for employees to figureout how to resolve challenges as they arise.”“Ofteninconsultingengagements,employees are told what solution toimplement but not how and why that solutionwas derived,” Stephens says. “If you’re tryingto turn a battleship – change the culture of alarge organization like Honeywell – you haveto arm employees with the internal abilityto change. They have to understand therationale, the framework. They have to adoptit and live it as their own.”Results: A Shared-LanguageCulture of Service ExcellenceThe Academy did effect positive changeswithin Customer & Product Support, saysC&PS Vice President Adrian Paull. “TheAcademy got employees speaking thesame language of service, understandingthe science behind service. They learnedCreating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy5

Anatomy of the Honeywell Service Leadership AcademyModule 1Designing and Delivering Service QualityObjective: Learn cutting edge customerservice tools and skillsModule 2Gaining Customer KnowledgeObjective: Gain fundamental knowledgeof customers and their businessCourse 1Designing Customer-FocusedService ProcessesGoal: Give customers better experiencesKey Content: Design Factors to Consider Service Blueprinting Collaboration across Internal GroupsCourse 5Understanding Your Customerand How Your Customer CompetesGoal: Develop customer focus & perspectiveKey Content: Customer’s Businessand Business Model Customer’s Industry andHow the Firm Competes Goal and Objective SettingCourse 2Delivering Service Quality at the Front LineGoal: Develop better relationships withcustomersKey Content: Trust and Rapport Building Active Listening Approaches to Difficult SituationsCourse 6Understanding How Your Business BuyersMake DecisionsGoal: Achieve deep customer knowledgeand understandingKey Content: Models of Buyer Behavior Factors that InfluenceBuyer Decision Making Customer’s Buyer Centerand How to Analyze Rolesin Decision MakingCourse 3Understanding Service Quality (and Metrics)Goal: Understand major elements of servicequalityKey Content: Models of Service Quality(GAPS, SERVQUAL) Service Quality Improvement Service Quality MeasurementCourse 7Segmenting Your Business CustomersGoal: Focus on key groups of customersKey Content: Bases of BusinessCustomer Segmentation Strategic Use of CustomerSegmentation Data Customer ValueCourse 4Recovering from Service FailuresGoal: Learn how to keep the customerafter mistakesKey Content: Service Failure Analysis Customer Expectationsin Failure Situations Profitable Recoveryfrom Service FailureCourse 8Listening to the Voice of the CustomerGoal: Learn how to listen thoroughlyand creativelyKey Content: Methodologies and Techniquesfor Listening to Customers Responses and Reactionsto Customers’ Compliments,Complaints and Ideas Feedback Loops intothe OrganizationCreating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy6

for themselves how to excel at serving thecustomer, and came up with some great ideasthat we implemented in the organization.”Results of the Honeywell Service LeadershipAcademy included: A culture of service excellence An understanding of the sciencebehind service A common language Implemented improvementsA Culture of Service ExcellenceDeveloping and maintaining a customerservice organization that allows the companyto legitimately compete – and win – onservice requires developing an organizationwide culture of service excellence. Mary JoBitner, Professor and Executive Director ofthe Center for Services Leadership, explains,“It’s easy for organizations to think that theycan make a pronouncement that ‘customerservice matters’ and then suddenly becomea service organization, but it doesn’t workthat way.”“TheHoneywellServiceLeadershipAcademy got Honeywell’s C&PS employeeson the same page, focused on the customer.Perhaps more importantly, the value AdrianPaull and his team placed on the programreinforced the belief that customer serviceis indeed critical to the organization. It isemployees who create the service realitywithin the organization. So when Honeywellinvests in employees’ development, it makesclear that service excellence is not just atalking point,” Bitner says.Also important is the content that the Academydelivered. From understanding service gapsand service recovery to delivering servicequality strategically and service blueprinting,the eight courses in the Service LeadershipAcademy program provided a framework foremployees to understand how and why todeliver excellent customer service.An Understanding of theScience Behind ServiceOne of the most valuable outcomes of theService Leadership Academy, says Paull, wasthat employees learned the science behindwhy they do the things they do. “It’s hard notto be pulled into the moment, especially whena customer is being unfair,” he explains. “Butwhen you understand the science behindcertain actions and reactions, you can thenhave a sort of out-of-body experience. Youknow to let the customer vent, then to useNeuro-linguistic Programming to engage thecustomer. The science allows you to be moreeffective in every aspect of the customerservice role.”“We’ve used consultants for customer servicetraining in the past, and their mnemonics fordealing with intense situations – like Chill.Identify. Satisfy. – might work for entrylevel customer service representatives, butwe needed a program that would teachemployees the science behind service,”Honeywell’s Director of Learning Pat Cramerexplains. “The feedback from employees was‘I get now why we’re supposed to do thingsa specific way. I get why certain things doand don’t work.’”A Common LanguageBecause the Service Leadership Academywas online, and designed for the entireCustomer & Product Support organization,it enabled employees to connect with, andlearn from, their peers across functionsand around the world. Specifically, twoof the eight courses required students towork together with co-workers in differentgeographic locations and often distant timeCreating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy7

zones. This proved in the end to be one ofthe richest experiences in the discussioninteractions.“At first, the employees really resisted beingassigned to global teams with people theydidn’t see and work with every day,” explainsCSL’s Nancy Stephens. “But then they sawhow beneficial it was and ultimately they werereally grateful. They were able to solve realissues by working with colleagues from otheroffices, who faced similar issues.” That, saysMary Jo Bitner, was exactly the point. “Thegoal was to change the Honeywell C&PSservice culture from one of command-andcontrol – i.e., do what the manual says – toone where everyone is on the same page,talking a common language, working togetherto resolve common issues.” It became part ofthe “spirit” of powerful customer interactionas opposed to just being correct intellectualuse of a set of skills.Honeywell’s Adrian Paull explains, “TheService Leadership Academy knitted theorganization together in ways that wouldn’thave occurred otherwise. It gave employeesa forum to deal with daily challenges – thediscussion boards were a great asset tofoster interaction. Employees got to learnabout what their colleagues’ jobs entail,what others go through to take care of ourcustomers. It got everyone on the samepage using the same language to approachchallenges and opportunities within thesame framework.”The results are apparent, Paull says.“The lessons are embedded within theorganization now. I hear people sayingthings like ‘Is that how we blueprinted it?’That’s how I know the culture changed – Ican hear it in employees’ conversations.That’s why it’s so important to have everyonein the organization go through the program.It demonstrated how committed we were tohaving everyone in the organization talkingthe same language as a foundation for aculture of service excellence.”Implemented ImprovementsThe Academy was designed to engagestudents in discussions of how the customerservice lessons they were learning mightapply at Honeywell. “Each course had anactive discussion board where the facultymember asked provocative questions abouthow students thought the material couldbe applied at Honeywell. Participationin the discussion boards was a courserequirement,” explains Stephens. “Eachcourse also required students to completebetween two and four graded assignmentsin which they had to apply material to anissue they faced at work.”Applying lessons learned to real-worldproblems extended beyond the course.Paull explains, “I received many unsolicitedemails from employees telling me how theyhad put in place a service improvementbased on what they learned in the Academy.They really are thinking about how to applythe tools they’re getting from the courses.They’re being more deliberate about actingbased on what they’ve learned about thescience and psychology behind service.”Importantly, Honeywell was responsiveto employees’ recommendations forimprovement. “When we received unsolicitedideas, we figured out ways to integrate theminto our processes. It was important thatemployees see that the ideas they weregenerating out of the Academy were actuallymaking a difference for the organization,”Paull explains.Creating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy8

Best Practices for Creatinga Culture of ExcellenceHave a Strong, CommittedExecutive ChampionThe Honeywell Service Leadership Academysucceeded because Honeywell was fullycommitted to it, explains W. P. Carey ExecutiveEducation Director Dawn Feldman. “Acommitted champion within the organizationis critical. Someone who can articulate – inalignment with the message coming from theuniversity – why the program is important tothe business.”Service Blueprints in ActionWhen Honeywell recently went through itsHoneywell Operating System process, it drewon the service blueprints employees out of theAcademy had created. C&PS Vice PresidentAdrian Paull explains, “Employees had alreadythought about the processes; the work they haddone in the blueprinting course was a startingpoint for the Honeywell Operating System,which required having a clear understandingof what is value for our customers. It createda different way of thinking about how weoptimize processes.”CSL Director Mary Jo Bitner explains, “AdrianPaull championed the effort, endorsed theprogram, and made clear that all employeeswould be expected to complete it. Heexplained why it was important to him and tothe business. He articulated to supervisorswhy it was important for their employees.And he reinforced those messages acrossthe three years of the program in large groupTown Halls, meetings with managers, andeven one-on-one discussions.” The newlanguage was visible and ever present inemployees’ daily lives.Get Supervisors on Board EarlyEnsuring that employees’ supervisorsunderstood the purpose of the programand were committed to it was important fortwo reasons. First, for employees to be fullycommitted they had to have the support oftheir immediate supervisors. Second, it wasimportant for supervisors to understandwhat their employees were learning about inthe courses.Honeywell’s Adrian Paull explains, “When itcame to responding to and actually integratingemployees’ ideas, at first employees werea bit ahead of their supervisors. It wasimportant to ensure that supervisors wereaware of what their employees were learningso they’d have context for the new ideas thatemployees were bringing up.”Require Full Participationfrom All EmployeesRequiring that all 1,400 Customer &Product Support employees complete theprogram was essential to its success. CSL’sNancy Stephens explains, “If you only send afew people through the program, that’s still agreat benefit to them personally, but they’renot going to be able to effect a culture shifton their own. If you really want to change theculture, you have to send everyone.”And Honeywell made it clear that employeeswere expected to fully participate. “It wasclear that this wasn’t the kind of coursethat you could log in, check the box, andbe done,” Stephens explains. Honeywelllinked employees’ performance reviewsCreating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy9

to participation in the program. And if anemployee fell behind, the Center for ServicesLeadership would notify that employee’smanager. “We didn’t allow supervisors to seethe discussion board – we wanted studentsto feel free to be open in their comments andobservations – but we did give them visibilityinto students’ progress,” Stephens explains.Have a Point Person on the CompanySide and the University SidePutting 1,400 Honeywell employees aroundthe world through eight online courses overthree years was no small logistical feat. “Theclass itself is just the tip of the iceberg interms of the work that is involved in runninga program like this,” explains Alicia Holder,Director of Business Partnerships at theCenter for Services Leadership.In addition to the faculty experts who createdthe courses and the faculty network whotaught the courses, the team at the Centerfor Services Leadership included an onlineacademic services team and a 24x7 technicalsupport team to address students’ needsacross the globe within 30 minutes. And adedicated project manager on both sides ofthe engagement to manage logistics.At the W. P. Carey School, Holder andschool leaders were able to work acrossunits to bring together a highly effectivesupport team. “Getting the right people fromthe Honeywell side and our side on a teamtogether, building relationships, being able totalk to each other was critical. It didn’t makesense for one person to be the intermediaryfor everything. So, for example, the IT personin charge of the project from the W. P. Careyside interacted directly with the IT personfrom Honeywell. Once those relationshipswere developed everything was easier.”Holder’s counterpart at Honeywell wasJane Williams, Customer Support ProgramManager. “We also needed a dedicatedperson here at Honeywell to managelogistics, communication, and administration;and that was the role that I took on.” Williamsexplains. “Some of those things were bigpicture, impactful, but I also dealt with a lot of‘Where’s my completion sticker?’ or chasingpeople who weren’t participating. But it wasall important to keep employees engaged inthe program.”Recognize Service ChampionsAll participating students received amilestone certificate to visually display in theiroffice to help them track their progress foreach course. In each course, the instructorrecognized each student’s outcome as eitherDistinguished or Completed; each studentwould receive a sticker to signify the differentaccomplishment rating. At each HoneywellC&PS Town Hall, Adrian Paull and his teamrecognized the Distinguished studentsindividually and put them in a drawing for aprize. Then, among the students who wereDistinguished in multiple courses – “ServiceChampions” – twelve were selected to travelto Phoenix and attend the annual W. P. CareyCenter for Services Leadership Symposiumwith Paull.“Recognizing the employees who weretaking the courses seriously and workingreally hard at them was a great way forHoneywell to boost employee morale andto help employees see themselves asprofessionals,” explained CSL’s Alicia Holder.The really outstanding students – those“Service Champions” – are those who droveculture change in the organization, bringingtheir peers along with them.Creating a Shared-Language Culture of Service Excellence: The Honeywell Services Leadership Academy10

Honeywell’s Paull recounts, “There was thisnaturally occurring ‘achievement orientation’– people were trying hard to get theDistinguished recognition. It was sort of likethe Dean’s List; employees would put therecognition stickers and certificates on theirwalls.” By clearly making outstanding studentsvery visible within the organization, Paull wasreaffirming Honeywell’s commitment to theprogram, explains CSL’s Mary Jo Bitner. “Itwas affir

Honeywell Service Leadership Academy courses were delivered by 15 course leaders from the Center for Services Leadership's faculty network. Of the 15 instructors, 14 had PhDs and all had special expertise in particular areas of service. Faculty engaged with students even beyond the online coursework, adding their own expertise