1. Customer satisfaction: the cornerstone of qi
Chris Bujak, Continual Impact, LLC
Beth Pierson, Franklin County Department of Public Health

2. Customers Who Are They? What Do They Want?
How Do I Add More Value For Them Than Ever Before?
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

3. For This Workshop, You Are The Customer
What are your expectations?
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

4. How About This For An Objective?
TO: Explore the ways organizations can improve focus on their Customers.
FOR: You, your teams and the Customers you serve
BY:
Discussing the key elements and methods that create a stronger customer focus in your organization
Seeing an example of an organization trying to improve
A quick workshop to self diagnose your organization, find gaps and consider improvements
SO THAT: You are more successful in your Vision of serving them
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

5. Customers: Why Do You Care?
“The customer is the most important part of the production line. Without someone to purchase our product, we might as well shut down the whole plant.” W Edwards Deming
Why does your organization exist?
Do Customers want your product or service?
Is it at the optimum performance and price?
A quality delivery each and every time?
More so every year? Do you “delight” them?
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

6. Customers and High Performing Organizations
High performing organizations use a deep understanding of Customer values* to drive all decision making
Organization improvement plans
Improvement projects and events
Daily interactions with Customers
Identifying products, services and features to add
They create a culture where everyone understands the Customers’ values and acts accordingly in their daily activities
*Values- an experience a customer seeks to have or avoid
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

7. Do not detract from the primary responsibility
Who Is My Customer?
Customer: Uses the offering; whose success your offering is to enable immediately
Stakeholder: Have requirements that you must satisfy if you are to succeed in your purpose
Getting a flu shot
Child getting the shot?
Parent?
Medical professional?
Funding source or Society?
Do not detract from the primary responsibility
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

8. Inside the Organization: Are We Each Others Customers?
Thinking of each other as a “customer” can be positive
Requires we consider their needs
Taken to an extreme, it can detract from satisfying the recipient of the offering—the real Customer
Internal requirements can add time and cost that reduce the true Customers’ satisfaction
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

9. Customers Can Have Different Values
Customers for the same offering can have different sets of preferences, expectations and requirements
They can differ depending on a number of factors (E.g. age, sex, ethnic background, location)
Differences may exist between Customers and their Customers
It is important to understand all of the above and react to them
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

10. Characteristics of Values
They are often more than simple requirements
Include essentials and features that must be there
…and features that they may not expect however would delight them and win greater response
Do not have the same importance
Prioritization may be necessary
Have limits with regard to price
Value=f(performance/price) from the perspective of the Customer
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

11. Some values are expected, some delight
Car door handle
Car noise
Heated door handle
MUST BE’s: If absent, rejection of offering; no additional satisfaction
SATISFIERS: the more present, the greater the satisfaction
DELIGHTERS: When absent, a neutral reaction; when present, excites the Customer
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

12. Characteristics of Values Have Two Categories
What do Customers care about in the offering?
Products: Physical or intellectual objects
Function, Form, Fit, Finish
Services: What they alter or create and how it is done
Activities, Setting, Provider
What do Customers care about in the buying- benefitting experience?
How are the features of your offering experienced by the Customer (I,e, access, acquire, prepare to use, and use)?
The “drive by” flu clinic; 4 hr ER wait times
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

13. How Do You Find Out What Customers Value?
There are many “listening posts”
Surveys
Complaint systems
Walk in their shoes
Focus groups
Published information
As you listen, search for 3 items:
What is important
How well you are doing
Are there insights into “delighters”
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

14. Basic Steps in Survey Use
Set the Focus; Goal, Understanding desired
Identify members of target audience
Plan the survey; Establish sampling strategy, method of distribution
Build survey; questions and response options
Pilot the survey; extract learning
Administer the survey and monitor
Analyze and Interpret
Uncover areas of strength and improvement
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

15. Survey Analysis: Uncover Areas of Strength and For Improvement
Simple statistics (eg highest mean levels)
More advanced statistics
Evaluation Matrix (eg Quality Function Deployment (QFD))
Paired Comparisons
Satisfied
Opportunity
Dissatisfied
Low Importance
High Importance
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

16. Use Your Knowledge of Customer Values
Yearly planning for improvement
Use the opportunities as targets for improvement
Identify which components of the organization or major processes have the greatest impact on the target
Guiding improvement projects and events
Make improvements in work processes by eliminating wastes that impact Customer satisfaction
Drive quality into every operation
Convert the values to measureable requirements
Educate team members to detect gaps
Cause and Effect analysis of problems
Evaluate proposed features against Customer values (eg an evaluation matrix such as QFD)
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

17. Takeaways The importance of the Customer Know who they are
Find what they value; the basics and delights
Identify your strengths and areas of opportunity
Use the knowledge to improve; what features of your offering and processes have the greatest impact on Customer satisfaction? What needs to change?
Make focus on the Customer part of the culture!
© 2012 Continual Impact LLC

18. Beth Pierson and Franklin counties’ Journey to improving customer focus
© 2010 Continual Impact LLC

19. Building the Foundation

20. Cornerstones

21. Building

22. Pickles

25. Working Session Let’s try a self evaluation of your current state
Brief “Customer Focus” diagnostic
Group discussion
Common gaps and issues
What kinds of actions can be undertaken to close the gaps?
What kinds of actions do you have underway or planned?
© 2010 Continual Impact LLC

26. Plus Delta Did we achieve our goal for today? What was valuable?
What was not?
What additional information would you like?
© 2010 Continual Impact LLC