Start with your customer data. Typically, every company has file cabinets, or the electronic equivalent, full of historical complaints and returns from customers. It is also typical that very few companies use this data. The first step is to convert this data into information. Go through the data and determine the chronic reasons for the complaints. The useful tool to use here is a Pareto diagram.
This is an excellent way to prioritize your programs. Usually you will find three to six big reasons why your customers are unhappy with your product or service.
Once you know the reasons for customer dissatisfaction, determine what departments and work units are involved in providing the product and service.
Identify the teams that will be needed to improve the performance, and recruit team members from every unit involved.
Provide the required training. Charter the teams with eliminating errors and defects.
Another tool for gathering customer information is an annual customer satisfaction survey, best conducted by a third-party service provider experienced in interviewing customers. These surveys will yield information that otherwise will go unknown. Many customers will not complain, often because they do not like the confrontation associated with complaining. They quietly drift away to one of your competitors.
A third-party provider can offer anonymity and put customer representatives at ease. Experienced third-party providers also can digest the information and deliver a report with prioritized issues that you need to improve.
An annual customer satisfaction survey contains both closed ended questions and open-ended questions. A typical closed-ended question may be, “Compared to other suppliers, the timeliness and professionalism from Customer Service is: (excellent (good (average (fair (poor.” Using 5 for excellent, 4 for good, 3 for average, 2 for fair, and 1 for poor, the numerical scores for each of the questions are summed.
This provides the information necessary to prioritize customer satisfaction improvement projects.
A typical open-ended question may be, “What three things do you like least about doing business with XYZ?”
The patterns and issues in the subjective information contained in the responses to such questions will provide additional information, leading to customer satisfaction improvement projects.
You also need to look at your financial performance.
Determine where you are spending too much money due to poor quality. For example:
❑ How much of your cost-of-manufacturing is caused by rework and repair?
❑ How much of your cost-of-manufacturing is caused by in-process scrap?
❑ How much of your customer service budget is used for doing damage control
following customer complaints?
❑ How much money are you spending on final inspections because you can’t trust your
operation to produce defect-free product?
❑ How much business have you lost because of poor service or product?
❑ How much could improved quality increase your market share?
Every line item on your balance sheet is affected, either positively or negatively, by your quality performance. Capture your costs of poor quality and prioritize the need for continuous improvement teams.
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