Service: at the heart of all we do

Why Tchibo values its customers and their satisfaction so highly.

Each week, over ten million customers visit Tchibo shops in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alone, as well as Tchibo’s online shops. Their satisfaction is our top priority. Consistent customer orientation is therefore a central value of Tchibo’s corporate culture. We listen to our customers, learning from their criticism and suggestions just as we do from their wishes and ideas. We take targeted measures within the scope of our market research activities, not only to ascertain and evaluate opinions, but also to align our operations with customer feedback.

We are judged by our standards of service as well as by our products, and therefore these standards have top priority. We want to bring people to our business through our service promise and standards. We present ourselves to customers with openness, honesty and transparency, values also represented by our skilled customer service operations and professional, comprehensive complaints management system. We want to harness these services to continue to improve our services and products in the future. “Whatever we do, we do it for our customers” is our business principle. If for some reason our customers are not satisfied, we do everything we can to find the causes and to avoid future mistakes.

Listening to our customers: The online survey centre

Before we can understand our customers’ expectations, we first have to know what these are. For this reason, we established the Tchibo Expert Online Panel customer survey centre in July 2008. Over 4,000 Tchibo customers are regularly interviewed through this market research tool on topics concerning Tchibo. “Panellists” can provide their opinions online. Employees in the market research department then present the results and make these available to the appropriate departments, such as product development. Through this system we are able to base decisions concerning our product range directly on our customers’ wishes.

When it comes to sustainability, our customers expect even more

In 2010, we carried out a survey on the issue of sustainability with the help of the Tchibo Expert Online Panel. The result: There is a fundamental interest in social and environmental issues, but half of the respondents were unaware of our activities in this respect – and only one-tenth of respondents felt well-informed. These figures show clearly that we have not yet been able to satisfy our customers’ need for information on the topic of sustainability. In 2011, we will work even more rigorously to develop measures that will keep our customers still better and more fully informed of our ecological and societal efforts.

Service concept

We want Tchibo customers to feel right at home with us. We are dedicated to keeping them satisfied with premium products and outstanding service. Our customers experience our service not only through direct contact with our skilled and dedicated employees in our shops, but also through the quick and easy ways to reach our customer services department, such as email and telephone.

Shop service

Every day, Tchibo employees are at the side of customers with help and advice, making them the face of our company. The trust that the Tchibo brand enjoys is based on these people’s skills and passionate efforts. Therefore, Tchibo places great value on preparing employees for customer contact as thoroughly as possible and on regularly keeping their training up to date with courses and motivational training sessions.

Customer service and complaints management

Tchibo wants to satisfy its customers. Therefore, our qualified customer service employees are available around the clock to answer questions and to listen to what customers want. Additionally, Tchibo’s technical service centre takes care of reports of faults in products under guarantee. We also react to criticism quickly and reliably: Our complaints management system helps us to continuously improve our products and services.