For Our Customers
Staying customer-focused
SoftBank strives to provide services and build a network environment that satisfies our customers.
We want to bring customers joy and deliver wonder and excitement.
We strive to provide services that can be used easily and with peace of mind.
Developing highly skilled, service-minded staff
Customer-facing shop staff at SoftBank are known as SoftBank Crew,
and Y! Mobile staff, Y! Mobile Crew. We devote time and effort to
training Crew members to be highly skilled and aware of customer
needs so that customer visits to SoftBank and Y! Mobile shops are
as pleasant as possible.
We train all Crew members in areas such as sharing the corporate
philosophy, customer relations and product knowledge through group
training programs, e-learning and video content matched to their
individual levels, goals and roles, and which also offers us the
ability to view the status of Crew management and training. As
part of this program, we have introduced the Crew Service Type
Determination, which evaluates strengths and points for
improvement based on psychological and statistical data of 230,000
people. Approximately 50,000 Crew members have used this service
since its introduction.
With the aim of creating new educational opportunities for Crew we
have also introduced LIVE Training Seminars, which allow Crew members
to participate in training equivalent to group training programs while
at their respective shops. These seminars, held prior to releases of
new devices and services, enable the direct sharing of information
such as sales points and customer considerations with Crew members
throughout Japan. During LIVE Training Seminars, Crew members can
directly submit questions and receive instant answers, allowing
SoftBank to significantly contribute to their understanding.
To improve customer service at each shop Crew members’ knowledge and
customer-service skills are assessed through the SoftBank
Qualification Certification Exam and Y! Mobile Qualification
Certification Exam. Qualified Crew members wear a certification badge
on their left lapel.
SoftBank shop, Y! Mobile shop and wholesale shop Crew members who have won regional awards participate in the Best Customer Service Contest, which uses role-playing scenarios to select and bestow awards on the very best customer-facing Crew members. Footage of the demonstrations is shown at shops across Japan, providing a platform to share examples of great customer interaction and enabling award-winning Crew members to facilitate even greater customer satisfaction.
Customer Satisfaction Survey
In the FY2020 Customer Satisfaction Survey*1*2, Y-Mobile was ranked No. 1 in satisfaction for the fifth consecutive year*3 We will continue to promote our business and services with the target of maintaining the No.1 position in customer satisfaction and aim to achieve a score of 63 pts or higher every year in order to achieve the No.1 position.
| FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63.6 | 68.1 | 64.2 | 66.6 | 68.8 |
- [Notes]
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*1
“JCSI” (Japanese Customer Satisfaction Index) survey conducted by the Japan Productivity Center.
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*2
Total number of respondents: 27,107 (Internet survey) survey period: July 1 - August 5, 2020.
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*3
Five years from FY2016 to FY2020.
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*1
Rebuilding operation systems and improving customer service quality
Operation and management systems have been completely overhauled with the transfer of customer support centers from the Tokyo metropolitan area to regional cities. In order to manage multiple customer support centers in a unified manner, SoftBank is building a more efficient management system and improving the quality of customer support.
Contact Center Awards
The Contact Center World Awards (sponsored by ContactCenterWorld.com) recognize the best contact centers from around the world, and the companies and people who operate them. Regional finals are held in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, and gold medalists from 25 categories in each region go on to compete at the world finals. An active participant in these awards, SoftBank has previously been awarded a gold medal on the world stage. SoftBank aims to further improve the quality of its customer support while implementing efficient center management and restructuring operation systems.
Improving the quality of contact centers
using customer
satisfaction survey results
The contact centers of mobile phone services, comprehensive broadband services and fixed-line telecommunication/Internet services ask calling-in customers for their cooperation in a customer satisfaction survey aimed at improving service quality and operator expertise in answering inquiries. The system for recording each operator's performance is then used to provide feedback to operators and to improve internal training. Supervisors at contact centers, officers in charge, and the management check survey results on an ongoing basis to improve contact center service quality.
Feedback on contact centers from customers is shared with related divisions and reflected into operational measures aimed at improving service and operations.
Providing a reliable telecommunications network
A reliable network forms the core of all telecommunication services, and to ensure stability SoftBank has engineers stationed at network centers across the country at all times. Expert engineers conduct maintenance of mobile network base stations and network center telecommunication equipment, monitoring the operations of our telecommunications network and radio base stations at network operation centers around the clock, 365 days a year.
A Maintenance Professional Contest is held every year, providing a forum for exchanging ideas on operational improvement devised at network centers and network operation centers across the nation, with a view to leveraging accumulated expertise to ensure stable operation of our telecommunications network.
In constructing systems and pursuing continuous business improvement for maintaining and improving our service quality, we have acquired certifications for such international standards as Integrated Management System, Quality Management System and IT Service Management System.
Research and development of new technologies
To enhance network reliability for all customers, SoftBank provides high-speed network services that use a wide range of frequency bands and is fully engaged in enhancing signals, using big data to improve quality and respond to events that attract large numbers of people. The company is also actively researching and developing new technologies to achieve even higher speeds.