Great Customer Service via Operational Excellence

This article is written by my friend and colleague Peter Sluka

Very often when service issues exist, the cause of the problem is complicated.  The fact is, the cause may be due to the employees, training, measurements, lack of service standards, objectives, or many other factors.  If you have already embarked on your Service Journey you are no doubt beginning to see real, tangible benefits. Maybe you noticed an employee going the extra mile to win the lasting loyalty of a customer. Maybe you feel that heightened energy level in your call center. And maybe you have even noticed improved retention, attrition, conversion rates and repeat business. You’re on your way!

 But that’s not enough. Your motivated, accountable, aligned, caring, customer-centric workforce must also be enabled to achieve service excellence through highly capable processes and the appropriate tools. Too often the rug is pulled out from under them by processes (and technology) not capable of consistently meeting customer requirements. Even if your people have the skill and the will, they will be let down if the process is flawed.  Bad processes trip up good people. Your customers are impacted and frustration sets in with your employees.

This is where six sigma can help.  Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.  With properly selected and executed six sigma projects, your people will be rowing downstream with the wind at their backs. The synergy of a caring, customer-centric workforce along processes optimized through Six Sigma will ensure a wildly successful workforce, differentiated service and market share gain.

Six Sigma starts by finding out which attributes are most critical and identifying the processes that produce them. Then, in a fact-based, data-driven way the root causes that prevent consistent fulfillment of customer requirements are identified. The optimal solution set is identified and implemented. And finally, steps are taken to ensure the ongoing performance of the process.

By the way, you can expect the typical Six Sigma project to yield $200,000 to $500,000 in sustainable hard dollar benefits virtually ensuring a positive first year ROI. The Service Journey and Six Sigma ... powerful synergy.

Improve your clients' experience by improving the processes that cause inconsistent client experiences.  Peter is a Master Black Belt and was the COO at a division of American Express.  For more information on Peter's background, click here.  Contact us for more information and to get started on your own six sigma projects!