Since its foundation, Panasonic has aimed to contribute to society through its products and services, while always putting the customer first. The Group seeks to improve customer service (CS), and it offers products, solutions, and services that enrich the lives of people around the world. When providing CS, the Group strives for sincerity, accuracy, and speed, and it acts with humility and appreciation. This finds its basis in the CS principle of “true service” that the Group’s founder described. Our fundamental stance is thus to provide customers with trust, peace of mind, and satisfaction.
Service Philosophy (True Service)
The customer’s satisfaction is our satisfaction.
True service resides in mutual satisfaction.
Service is an integral part of any business. A business that does not provide service is no business at all. Service, therefore, is the duty and obligation of any business person. But there’s nothing more aggravating than service provided only out of a sense of duty. Customers can sense it.
Service means satisfying customers, and when we satisfy our customers, we in turn find satisfaction in a job well done. Satisfied customers and satisfied employees: This is what constitutes true service.
Konosuke Matsushita
August 1967 issue of PHP Magazine
Policy
We have established a set of Operational Rules for Response to Customers (compliant with ISO 10002 and JIS Q 10002) to provide guidelines to group companies in Japan for responding to inquiries and complaints from customers.
We have also stipulated the following provisions as part of our Operational Rules for Response to Customers:
- We strive to deliver the utmost satisfaction to all customers;
- We approach our customers and utilize their opinions in our management decisions.
Following the above rules and policies, Each site in Japan has implemented a Management System for Response to Customers as a mechanism for utilizing information received from customers in its management approach. These sites conduct periodic self-audits and make other efforts to improve the quality of customer relations. Outside of Japan also, we have implemented ISO-compliant management systems based on the Operational Rules for Response to Customers and tailored to the legal system in each country or region.
Responsible Executive and Framework
The Group Chief Technology Officer (Group CTO) is the Executive Officer responsible for the CS of the Group (as of August 2024). The CS departments at each of the 8 operating companies cooperate to implement the Group’s customer satisfaction initiatives. Overseas, the CS departments of Panasonic Group’s sales companies around the world collect local information concerning services and quality, as well as customer requests and so forth. This information is used to ensure the quality and safety of products and to help develop products that match the needs of customers in each department.
CS staff in Japan and abroad share the knowledge and experience that they have accumulated to endeavor to provide better customer service around the world.
Customer Relations Structure (as of August 2024)
Customer Relations Structure
(as of August 2024)
*Example based on home appliance products
▪Customer Inquiry Response System
In Japan, we deal with inquiries from customers before they purchase products as well as with their concerns about how to use them after purchase through the Customer Care Center. The Customer Care Center is open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday through Saturday, excluding Sundays, national holidays, and the first three days of the new year. There are separate phone numbers for each product. Customers rarely spend a long time on hold; the Customer Care Center is organized to provide accurate and rapid service. We accept inquiries for residential equipment and building materials products 365 days a year.
When customers make inquiries on the Panasonic website by typing in a question, the site displays multiple relevant FAQs. Thus, the company strives to provide quick responses to questions. Regarding the content of its FAQ pages, the company analyzes the search keywords that bring customers to FAQs, as well as the number of times that the questions are viewed, to increase the precision of the FAQs, so that the information that customers require is accurate and displayed quickly. In recent years, the company has also been undertaking initiatives to use Facebook and other social media outlets to post various types of useful information in a timely manner, such as when the seasons change, and to entice customers to visit relevant FAQ pages using LINE’s autoreply service. Because these FAQs are organized so that customer’s problems can be solved without the customer needing to contact the Customer Care Center, the number of inquiries at the center is trending downward. Panasonic group sales companies and sales agencies operate call centers in each country/region outside of Japan as well, handling all types of inquiries as well as intake for repairs.The website for each country also includes FAQs, and we are working on building ways to allow customers to resolve their own issues as they are able to in Japan.
Number of Inquiries at the Customer Care Center (for Individual Customers) Over Time *In Japan
Number of Inquiries at the Customer Care Center (for Individual Customers) Over Time *In Japan
▪Repair Service Organization
The CS Company (repairs and spare parts department) of Panasonic Marketing Japan Co., Ltd. is in charge of repair services for consumer electronics products in Japan. Panasonic Techno Service Co. is in charge of housing facility products. These service companies constitute a network across Japan and employ full-time customer engineers who have close ties to their local regions as well as advanced technical skills and experience. The network provides swift and reliable on-site repair services in response to customer requests. The repair services system is organized such that repair requests are received 24 hours per day, 365 days per year; Panasonic Group makes particular efforts to provide repair services as quickly as possible for products that are everyday necessities.
- Number of Service Locations of the CS Company, Panasonic Marketing Japan Co., Ltd. and affiliates: 97 locations throughout Japan (as of April 2024)
- Number of Service Locations of Panasonic Techno Service Co., Ltd.: 41 locations (as of April 2024)
▪Initiatives for Improving Repair Service Contact Point
For household appliance repairs in Japan, we have made arrangements for receiving requests via websites and for courier services to pick up customers’ products before repair and to deliver the repaired products when they are ready with the goal of making it more convenient for customers requesting repairs.
Customers can get a diagnosis from our website before requesting for repairs, allowing them to confidently use our online repair service. To receive a diagnosis, customers enter their product numbers and select the appropriate symptoms, and the system provides useful troubleshooting approaches to solving their problems. If the system deems repairs to be necessary or is unable to resolve their problems, customers can review the estimated costs for repairs and apply for them.
▪Global Repair Service Centers
For customers outside Japan, Panasonic sales companies, call centers and service centers operated by distributors, and call centers and certified service providers commissioned by sales companies or distributors offer repair services meeting local needs and business practices. We have been strengthening our initiatives in each country toward improving experiential value through the repair services and responses to inquiries we offer our customers. We have also been working to bolster our response in terms of how we communicate with our customer base as it continues to become more diverse, including initiatives involving new methods for communicating with customers on social media.
We are striving to improve and provide better service by using questionnaires to get customers’ opinions about our response. As measures to contribute to environmental protection in the after-sales field in response to recently heightened environmental awareness, we are focusing on reducing waste through recycling together with cutting down on on-site repairs by providing a more comprehensive FAQ and remote diagnosis.
Number of Repair Service Centers (FY2025)
| Region | Number of Repair Service Centers |
|---|---|
| Japan* | 138 |
| North America | 369 |
| Latin America | 657 |
| Europe & CIS | 989 |
| Southeast Asia & Pacific | 1,588 |
| India, South Asia, Middle East & Africa | 558 |
| China & Northeast Asia | 3,472 |
*Japan: CS Company, Panasonic Marketing Japan Co., Ltd. And affiliates, Panasonic Techno Service Co.
▪CS System for Enterprise Business
Electrical & Housing Equipment and Appliances
Through its corporate customer support window for lighting fixtures, information systems, electrical facility materials, housing facilities and materials and energy-related products such as solar power generators, power storage facilities etc.— Panasonic Group has created a rapid system that can respond to its corporate customers (partners) with problems regarding construction, installation, and configuration 365 days a year.
Commercial Equipment
In the area of commercial equipment—which includes video, security, information communications, automotive, and commercial air conditioning equipment—Panasonic Group’s sales companies in each field provide unified support at every stage, from proposals for devices and systems to their design, construction, customer inquiries, and repair services. By providing total solutions that meet its customers’ needs, the Group strives to improve its CS.
Commercial Solutions
The Panasonic Group sales division in charge of commercial solutions, our sales companies and sales partners of our products understand the diverse needs of individual customers and provide total solutions that optimize operations and improve productivity at our customers’ sites, including everything from system implementation to sales, construction, maintenance, repairs, operations services, and cloud services. These solutions support customers in the implementation of their product strategies and the improvement of their operations. Through its CS-related activities, the Company uses its points of contact with its customers—including support desks, repair services, and maintenance—to build trusting relationships. Panasonic Group has created a responsive system that provides quick, continuous support to its customers when they experience difficulties.
Automotive Equipment
Concerning automotive equipment, the Panasonic group sales company cooperates with dealerships to provide afterservice for Panasonic-produced car navigation and other equipment in an effort to improve CS. We are also building organizations and systems that allow early detection and early resolution of nonconforming products to provide rapid and thorough services to meet the needs of car manufacturers in the provision of genuine on board equipment.
Initiatives Related to Improving Customer Satisfaction
▪Promoting the Acquisition of Consumer Affairs Advisor Credentials
Panasonic Group actively promotes the acquisition by its employees in Japan of the “Consumer Affairs Advisor”* credentials with the aim of fostering a customer-oriented corporate culture. Credential holders play an active role as leaders to realize a consumer-oriented management. As of April 1, 2024, 300 employees affiliated with the Panasonic Group had acquired this certification.
*Consumer Affairs Advisor System
The Consumer Affairs Advisor System consists of a qualification based on certification under the authority of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. (Examination and certification organization: the Japan Industrial Association, General Incorporated Foundation.) As a bridge between consumers, companies, and the government, the System aims to effectively reflect the ideas and recommendations of consumers to corporate management and government administration. The goals is to foster individuals who can contribute to society in a wide range of fields, including by being able to provide quick and appropriate advice in response to consumer complaints. (From the Japan Industrial Association website)
▪Customer Month Initiatives
We believe that a customer-oriented corporate culture will become even more important in serving our customers in the future, so in Japan we have designated May as “Customer Month” to make it easier for all Group employees to get involved. In accordance with the Japanese government’s designation of May as “Consumer Month”* Panasonic Group actively implements the following unique measures every year in May in order to cultivate such culture in all its employees.
- The Group CEO sends out a message regarding the “Introduction to the Customer Month”, informing all employees of the significance of this special month.
- The Group within Japan create a unique Customer Month poster (in a digital format) to spread the word about Customer Month by distributing it to all operating companies and including it in on digital signage and the like.
- We strive to promote a consumer-oriented management by holding a “Customer Month Commemorative Symposium,” which involves the participation of those employees responsible for consumer-related activities, as well as all other employees. In fiscal 2025, We invited a lecturer to give a talk titled “TORIDOLL’s customer-oriented business thinking – KANDO (passion) value strategy –”, to explain the importance of “thinking independently and acting speedily, like having a KANDO for food”, that can’t just be learnt from a manual, and the idea that KANDO comes from a diverse workforce enjoying their work.
* Consumer Month
Japan’s Consumer Protection Fundamental Act (predecessor to the Consumer Basic Act) was enacted in May 1968. On the 20th anniversary of the creation of this law in 1988, May was designated Consumer Month. Every year during this month, consumers, businesses, and government agencies come together to participate in focused work on education and awareness raising concerning consumer issues.
▪Reflecting Voices of Customers in the Products and Services (VOC Activities)
To improve our business activities, Panasonic utilizes analysis of customers opinions (Voice of Customer, VOC) by text mining tools (Mieruka Engine) to promptly understand overall trends and acquire useful information.
The voices of the company’s customers are heard via the opinions received through the Customer Care Center and Panasonic Group’s sales persons and partners, showrooms, and service companies. We use the results of these analyses for product development, functionality, quality, updates to instruction manuals and catalogs, and improvement of sales activities through a collaboration between product planning, design, technology, and quality control departments on one hand, and their marketing and sales departments on the other. Panasonic Group considers those VOC activities to be practical implementations of its Basic Business Philosophy, which aims to improve customer satisfaction. The company encourages all employees to engage with the voices of the company’s customers throughout various aspects of their work.
Outside of Japan, Panasonic Group strives to improve its customer relations by using Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys and post-repair questionnaires to evaluate the performance of authorized service providers and service engineers, who are one of the points of contact with our customers.
▪Response to the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities
The amendment to the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (obliging companies to provide reasonable arrangements for disabled persons) came into effect on April 1, 2024.
When Panasonic receives requests from disabled persons, we will sincerely consider how to respond on a case-by-case basis and take action in accordance with this Act.
▪Educating Consumers to Use Products Safely
As part of our ESG efforts toward addressing the pressing social issues of countering global warming and promoting carbon-free solutions, we have partnered with local governments, corporations, and companies to provide courses for local communities in Japan, mainly on environmental education.
Our goal is to help participants understand what they can do as members of their communities and raise awareness that drives action on themes that are highly socially relevant and interesting to consumers, such as the environment and energy issues. Recently, we have noticed a marked uptick in the frequency of parent-child study sessions, in which lecturers incorporate complex topics into everyday life situations, and participants learn about energy conservation, using energy from natural sources, and other familiar issues in a fun and easy-to-understand manner. We also actively participate in government-hosted environmental events as part of our broader engagement in promoting education and raising awareness.
The Group’s domestic Japaneselanguage site provides information to customers, including basic knowledge about electricity, laws and regulations concerning home appliances and their disposal (recycling), along with precautions related to protecting home appliances from disasters including warnings on what to do during natural disasters.
The Panasonic Group provides information to give our customers a better understanding of safety, from how to correctly use their household appliances for safety and product longevity, illustrated using practical and realistic examples.
