 Why
Quality Assurance is Not Enough
How
can a company produce zero-defect products, boast dramatic
cycle-time reductions, be certified for consistent,
reliable performance...and still lose valuable customers?
Doesn’t the systematic effort to reduce waste,
improve yields and streamline processes lead to better
service, higher profits and more loyal customers?
The answer is ‘not necessarily’. Here’s
why:
Quality Assurance (QA) efforts such as ISO Certification,
Six Sigma Quality Control and 10X Cycle-Time Reduction
can lead to greater consistency, lower costs and higher
speed. But these programs alone will not keep your finger
on the ever-changing pulse of your customers’
interests, hopes, needs, fears and feelings.
QA leads to greater predictability and higher standards.
That’s important!
But customers are human. And humans are intrigued by
creativity, appreciation, personal touch, extra-mile
efforts and surprise. That’s important, too.
To win with customers in today’s competitive world,
you need both.
You’ve got to work on both continuously. You’ve
got to be on time, and turned on. You’ve got to
be accurate, and passionate. You’ve got to meet
standards, and exceed expectations. You’ve got
to please your customer, and sometimes tease your customer.
Key Learning
Point
You must always improve
your systems, methods, standards and procedures. But you
must also cultivate the human qualities of intimacy, connection,
caring, personality and style. Yes, squeeze those defects
out the door, but keep the window open! Let your humanity
come shining in.
Action Steps
Review the active
improvement efforts at your organization. You should have
ongoing QA programs featuring hard statistics, real experiments
and rigorous workflow mapping. At the same time, you must
have ‘soft skills’ programs to improve listening,
personal communication, cultural respect, ethics, responsibility,
recovery, service mindset and customer delight. Make sure
you have a healthy mix of both for the success of your
business, your employees and your customers.
Next Article in Customer Service Measurements >>
Turtles Deliver The Internal Mail
First Article in Customer Service Mindset >>
Leave This Place Better Than You Found It
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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service.
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