
For many
years I have been a very successful businessman. The main product in any
business is of course: Customer Service.
When I
was studying World Class Manufacturing at the University of California in
San Diego, I was amazed at how many people do not understand that fact. That
is possibly the main reason for businesses not to succeed, not only in
America but anywhere in the world.
What
is quality? Professor Bill Evans asked. A hundred definitions could be
elaborated, but the only one right answer is:
Quality
is what the customer says it is.
If we
want any business or activity to be really successful, the very critical
ingredient is...
customer
satisfaction!
We have to make perfectly sure that
each and every person in the organization is aware of that vital fact. Each one should
do their job having in mind this question: How does this particular
operation contribute to customer satisfaction? This is true even in a one
person operation, like mine. In this same way, we may be able to find a
number of non-value-added activities that do not mean any advantage to the
customer. That is, in many cases we are doing something for our product or
service that our customer is not willing to pay for. On the other hand,
there may be some improvements that we can implement that will add real
value (the kind of value the customer is willing to pay for).
When
each element in our organization is focused on this purpose, a good number
of good ideas come out to improve and make our product or service superior
to our competitors'. When we are in charge of a department or internal
operation within a company or a greater organization, our focus not
necessarily is the final buyer of the finished products. In those cases more
likely our customer is the department our service is being delivered to.
Such is the case of maintenance or administrative services. We are there to
please that immediate customer.
For
some 12 years I worked at Ford Motor Co., the concept there was very clear.
Each line would "buy" the sub-assemblies or sub-products from some
other line or working cell. At that time there still was a Quality Control
Inspector who would be the one to "buy" or "not buy" the
quality delivered by the "supplier". Today, in a cell environment,
the quality is defined by the following person in the process. No one should
accept no-quality parts from the previous person.
Today,
Quality Control is not a department, it is an assignment of each of us. We
are or should be aware that it is our task to put in the process the quality
that is expected. It is no gracious to produce quality, it is the only way
we are expected to perform.
4 Steps to
create a
Better Customer Service:
1.- Identify
your Customer
2.- Establish
a good communication so you learn what your customer's expectations are
about your service or product
3.- Create or
modify your product or service according to that information
4.- Make sure
everyone in your company or organization is aware and willing to improve the
customer service vision and mission
If you would
like to get all your employees really involved in this improvement of the
customer service, please read...
Also
Read: Quality
Customer Service is Everyone's Task