The Service Request Quality and Speed Improvements Nordstrom Was Shopping For

Results

• Created all forms within 90 days, versus 18 months previously.
• Cut by 50 percent the time required to produce new self-service Web forms.
• Enabled changes to forms to be made in minutes, versus up to an hour.
• Reduced fulfillment time by 50 percent.

Background

Kinetic Data Helps Nordstrom Extend Its “Great Customer Service” Philosophy to Internal “Customers”

Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion specialty retailer, offering clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and children. Since 1901, Nordstrom has been committed to providing customers with the best possible service and to improving it every day.

The company started in Seattle as a small shoe shop. Today, Nordstrom serves customers in 35 states and three Canadian provinces with 123 full-line stores, 141 Nordstrom Rack outlets and a growing online presence. It’s widely recognized for providing the best customer experience in the retail industry. That reputation, and a commitment to quality, maintains the loyal Nordstrom customer base.

To extend that great customer service approach internally to employees—who are the “customers” of IT, HR, facilities, and other shared services groups—Nordstrom implemented a service catalog to improve IT operations and service delivery in 2012. The initiative’s goals were to better align IT to the business, improve the employee IT experience and create a scalable model to support future growth.

Unfortunately, the system proved to be labor intensive, requiring numerous steps to complete simple tasks. IT complained that it was neither intuitive to use for those responsible for defining and providing services, nor for the employees requesting them.

Based on recommendations from other companies, Nordstrom selected Kinetic Data’s enterprise request management software (ERM) to replace its service catalog system. In less than 90 days, the retailer used Kinetic Request’s portal and Kinetic Task’s workflow engine to move into production all of its original service requests. These had taken nearly 18 months to create in its original system.

Fashioning a Better Fit for Nordstrom

Before selecting Kinetic Data’s ERM software, Nordstrom determined it needed a self-service portal and workflow automation engine that could:

• Give employees an easy-to-use, intuitive customer experience;
• Accommodate any type of service request, from a task as simple as increasing the size of an email mailbox to providing service workflow as complex as employee onboarding;
• Align to corporate branding standards;
• Support faster, easier management and improve complex business processes; and
• Be manageable by nontechnical process owners.

“The ease, look and feel were big hits with users,” according to Rory Rabourn, process improvement analyst with Nordstrom’s service management group. “Our IT service group loves the speed at which we can create new service requests, the flexibility in adding components like approvals and the ability to apply corporate branding to the selfservice portal.”

The Results Check Out

The time required to create new forms and service items has been cut by 50 percent since implementing Kinetic Data’s ERM software. Service request fulfillment time has also been reduced by half. And changes can be made to existing forms in minutes, compared to an hour or more with the previous software.

“I can’t say enough about what a great experience it’s been. The smooth transition, responsive customer service, follow through, recommendations, and suggestions enabled us to roll out the portal and workflow engine quickly,” says Rabourn. And with the improved ease of use and faster response time to requests, “Kinetic Data makes me look good.”

It sure does. As a result of the efforts of Rabourn and the service management group team, Nordstrom won the “Rookie of the Year” award at Kinetic Data’s annual Kinetic Enthusiasts Group (KEG) customer event.