Flowserve Case Study

The Business Situation
In the latter part of 1999, American-based pump manufacturer, Flowserve, acquired Ingersoll-Dresser Pump, a $900MM joint venture between Ingersoll Rand and Halliburton. For two years, Flowserve sought to seamlessly integrate the large acquisition into itself, but due to the size of the acquisition, many of the original goals could not be achieved. In 1999, Ingersoll-Dresser Pump hired Customer Integrated Solutions (CIS) to conduct its initial Voice-of-the-Customer (VOC) study of the customer base. In 2002, due to continual problems with integration, CIS was hired for a second time– this time by Flowserve – to conduct a more expansive study and to help develop a plan for future growth.

Our Approach
After entering into its contract with Flowserve, CIS developed a comprehensive strategy. During work sessions with senior leadership, Flowserve segmented and prioritized their customers world-wide. Executives identified their top strategic issues, as well as their understanding of the issues confronting these customers.

CIS interviewed 150 customers worldwide, in 75 locations from 15 different companies. The various segments that were studied were customers from Chemical, the Process (Oil & Gas), Power, Industrial and Water. The goal of this study was to provide Flowserve with a thorough understanding of how customers perceived them in light of the recent acquisition, their level of satisfaction and loyalty compared to other pump providers, what their expectations were regarding service and products, and to identify the strategic issues confronting them. This research was conducted over a 7-week period.

The Results
In order to effectively educate Flowserve executives as to the meaning and significance of the findings, as well as to assign roles and responsibilities, CIS held a two-day work session with executives and upper management of Flowserve. The Voice of the Customer Action Workshop began with a thorough briefing of the research findings. These findings included competitive gap analysis, prioritization of customer needs, performance measures, and over 250 pages of customer verbatims. Additionally, CIS analyzed the needs and current perceptions of Flowserve among specific customers, generating profile sheets of each customer to explain their current experience and expectations, as well as specific market information about that customer. The remainder of the Voice of the Customer Action Workshop focused on the refinement of Flowserve’s strategic plan in the context of these findings, as well as the linkage of customer needs to resource allocation and metrics. A 90-Day Action Plan was developed with clear ownership for next steps, ensuring that the data did not wilt away on a shelf. An aggressive communication plan was also executed, both internally within Flowserve and back to the customers interviewed. “A significant effort is being placed on developing a customer-oriented mindset at Flowserve, driving the business from the outside to the inside and enhancing our overall value proposition to you. The work Customer Integrated Solutions did with Flowserve has been the center piece of this effort, the burning platform for our reorganization and strategy moving forward,” said John Jacko, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Management for Flowserve.