Stop me if you've heard this before. Your CEO or some other top management type addresses the troops in an attempt to rally them to do better.

"Our customers are revolting! They are demanding more for less. They want world class products and services. They want it all and they want it now. If we can't provide what they want, they will find some one who can. Customer loyalty is a myth formed in the mist of our distant past. We must be closer to our customers then ever. We must provide great customer service."

I'd bet some version of this speech has been made at every company in America. I have one question.

Just what is customer service and how do we improve it?

OK, that's really two questions. You may find yourself facing the same executive pressure to improve customer service you may be asking the same questions. What we need is a clear definition of customer service and a plan to improve it based on that definition. I offer the following.

Definition of Customer Service

According to the aca group, customer service is the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need. The aca Group is an alliance of highly trained and experienced consultants and instructors providing Consulting Services, Training & Education to a variety of manufacturing and service organizations, in both the public and private sectors ranging from five million dollars in annual sales to Fortune 500 companies. The aca group defines excellent customer service as the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer's expectations.

This definition goes beyond the traditional way we think about customer service. It covers areas that do not come in direct contact with the customer at all. Manufacturing, purchasing and quality control may never talk to the end user of our products yet they are vital in meeting the customer's needs. If we deliver an expensive product that doesn't work and we deliver it late, that affects customer service just as much as a rude salesperson. The entire organization must pull together to provide excellent customer service.

Customer Service Improvement Focus Areas

Given that definition, how then do we go about improving our ability to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need?

"In order to compete in a truly customer-driven manner, an enterprise must integrate its entire range of business functions around satisfying the individual needs of individual customers - not just marketing, customer service and sales, but production logistics, and financial measurement and metrics." Enterprise One to One by Don Peters and Martha Rodgers

Organizations exceed customer expectations by focusing improvement efforts in three areas: customer friendly processes, employee commitment to customer service, and customer dialog according to Eberhard Scheuing in his book Creating Customers for Life. Each of these three areas has an internal component and an external component. The internal component deals with the way the company acts within its own four walls. The internal component is viewed by observing how the various elements of the organization work together when not in direct contact with the external customer. The external component deals with the way the company acts in the marketplace. It is viewed by observing how the organization acts in concert with its external customers and includes the critical dimension of the customers' perception of the organization. Combining the improvement areas with the components gives us a simple improvement matrix.

You must be excellent in all three areas in both components to achieve excellent customer service. Let's take a look at each of these focus areas.

Customer Friendly Processes

Processes are sequences of activities that take input, add value and create output. Customer friendly processes, be they internal or externally focused, are processes that assure delivery of quality products, on time, at a competitive price. Customer friendly processes assure the products are designed to meet the customer's needs and wants. World class internal operations lead to world class products for our customers. Customer friendly processes are streamlined and have the shortest possible cycle time.

All non-value activities are eliminated. To assure on-going excellence, customer friendly processes should be continually measured to assure they produce verifiable, accurate results. Well designed metrics are critical to continuous improvement. Lastly, customer friendly processes make the customer feel good about the doing business with us.

The internal component of excellent customer service includes all processes used to enter the customer's order, design new or customized products, plan and schedule execution of the customer's order, procure and store the raw materials and components, manufacture, assemble and inspect the product, and also includes distribution and transportation of the product. Excellent customer service is achieved when the organization is committed to continuous improvement of its internal processes.

External customer friendly processes are processes that make it easy for customers to do business with us. Everything from finding us in the first place, to initial contact, through quotation and sales, order status, delivery and invoicing should be designed to make it convenient for the customer. How an organization responds to the customer after the sale is critical to retaining that customer. Post sales support should be dedicated to making the customer's use of our product a wonderful experience.

Employee Commitment to Customer Service

Customer service starts with a clear vision of the customer using our product. Employee commitment to customer service begins when that vision is communicated to and understood by everyone in the organization. Employee commitment is supported with policies that clearly state how customers are to be treated. Commitment is achieved when employees are totally focused on meeting their customer's needs. Excellent customer service is provided by employees who are trained to know who their customers are and who how to exceed their customer's expectations.

In the internal component, the customer we address is the employee's internal customer; the person who receives the output of their process. Employees should all be trained on the concept of internal customer - supplier relationship. They should be taught to identify their internal customers and suppliers. Policies and procedures should make it clear that internal customers are as important as external customers are. Teamwork between customer and supplier departments is required if the organization is to deliver value to its external customers. Customer and supplier units of the enterprise should be organized into cross functional teams that are empowered to design, execute and continually improve the best processes possible.

The employees who deal directly with the external customers are the company in the eyes of the customer. These people are all the customer has to judge us by before they have received our products and services. Excellent customer service is obtained when employees are recognized and rewarded for exceeding customer expectations. An organization gets what it rewards. Unmotivated employees provide indifferent customer service, at best. Employee commitment is achieved by having customer service employees empowered to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy.

Customer Dialog

Customer dialog is the means by which we know what the customer wants and needs. This is true for both our internal and external customers. Customer dialog is the method we use to assess customer satisfaction with our efforts to fulfill their wants and needs. Before we can even begin a dialog with our customers, we have to identify who they are. Customer dialog means listening to customers. In order to listen, we use a variety of tools such as, focus groups, surveys and one-on-one conversations.

Internal customer dialogue is achieved by talking to the internal customers, asking what their needs are and measuring how well they are met. Metrics should be developed from the customer's perspective, reviewed by the customer and distributed to both the customer organization and the supplier's.

Excellent external customer dialog means staying in constant contact with existing customers. All means and avenues should be used to find out what the customers want, and if they're happy with our products and services. We need to understand their world, their problems, their competition and their strategies. Measures of customer satisfaction must be developed and distributed through out our organization. Specific or individual complaints should be reviewed to see if they might affect other customers. The cause of the complaint should identified and a corrective action plan implemented. The focus should be first on correcting the specific complaint then on preventing similar incidents.

Assessment / Needs Analysis

So now we know the definition of customer service and we know the areas where to look to improve customer service. But how do we start a customer service improvement project? The first step in improving customer service is the assessment of each of the critical aspects of the focus areas identified above. Those areas where operational improvements will lead to improved customer service have to be identified. The assessment acts as a strategic customer service improvement plan and training needs analysis that will lead to accomplishment of your customer service goals.

They're are many ways to assess your organization. Good assessment tools measure the following key issues:

1)  Making sure you know what your customers want and expect.
2)  Being flexible in meeting customer demands.
3)  Treating customers like partners rather then adversaries or end-users.
4)  Making it easy for the customer to do business with you.
5)  Having a positive attitude toward customers.
6)  Encouraging customer feedback.
7)  Responding to customer problems.
8)  Developing repeat relationships.
9)  Seeking to exceed customer expectations

The aca Group accomplishes an effective organizational assessment using a nationally known Customer Service Readiness Assessment tool. This assessment instrument is based on the results of five research studies, which include 100 companies noted for world-class customer service. Proper application of this material can provide you with valuable insight into their current ability to deliver world-class service, and then forms a basis to create an action plan for improvement.

This survey tool is used to gauge both manager's and employees' perceptions of organizational readiness and provides excellent stimulus for discussions of improvements. The survey includes an Employee Version, which focuses on an employee's perception of their own abilities and the organization's abilities to deliver world-class service. The 79-item Manager Version, designed specifically for customer service managers and organizational leaders, pinpoints developmental areas and is highly effective for action planning.

Improvement Priority

"Good customer service means looking after every whim of the customer but only within the window you have defined as your particular customer service product." Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard

The aca Group suggests that training and improvement projects begin with the internal component. This means focusing on internal processes and people first before going out to marketplace. Internal in this case means the processes that do not come into direct contact with the external customer.

Why internal first? No organization can be all things to all customers. An enterprise must first define what it does and what it wants to do. It must identify its unique core competencies for these are the source of its competitive advantage. Using the definition of customer service offered here, "The ability of an organization to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need," means you must first assure you can perform the basics constantly and consistently. That means excellent internal processes first. Nothing will damage customer satisfaction more then promises not fulfilled. Going out to the marketplace will tell us what the customers want. If we promise them that, and then we can't deliver it, we are worse off then if we didn't ask in the first place.

Customer's desires only have value in the context of the vision of the supplier. Before we can even ask a customer what they want, we have to frame the question in the context of what we want to deliver and are capable of delivering. When asked what they want, most customers will focus on one or two narrowly defined items of interest at that moment. If their last order was delivered late they might focus on on-time delivery. If the last shipment was of poor quality, they are likely to focus on the quality of the product. That's all good information but it only makes sense in the context of the supplier's overall vision of themselves.

By focusing internally first, we can decide what it is we want to make under what circumstances. Are we out to be the low cost producer of backyard quality sports toys for children or the world's leading developer of innovative, high performance sports equipment? What are we capable of doing constantly and consistently? Those questions and many related questions must be answered internally first before we go out to the marketplace. Once we know who we are and what we want, then we can ask our customers what they want from us.

So now you're ready to take up the challenge. Your boss wants to improve customer service and tells you to get to it. You now have, courtesy of the aca group, a useable definition of customer service, "The ability of an organization to constantly and consistently give the customer what they want and need." You know the focus areas that lead to improved customers service - customer friendly processes, employee commitment to customer service, and customer dialog. And you know that the first step is to assess your performance and develop an improvement plan that includes a healthy dose of education. Now it's up to you. Get to it and don't be afraid to ask for help.

Doug Howardell is an independent consultant who specializes in helping his clients improve their business practices and processes. During the past twenty-five years he has designed new processes and tools, selected and implemented new business systems, and been the project manager on a variety of business improvement projects. He has extensive experience and expertise in all aspects of business management. Additionally, Mr. Howardell has long experience teaching and training. He has been an instructor in the California State University system since 1988.

Mr. Howardell holds board level positions in several professional societies. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and meetings. His client list includes Dole Packaged Foods, Nissan Motor Company, Hughes Aircraft, General Motors, Computer Science Corporation and many small and mid-size companies. He can be contacted at:

Douglas K. Howardell, CPIM
2120 Highland Oaks Drive
Arcadia, CA 91006
626-390-6935
DH@theacagroup.com

Copyright 2000 by Douglas K. Howardell. Used with permission.