Reviewing Processes to set the path to Excellence in Customer Support & Services

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Let’s consider your company wants to excel with customers, you believe you can increase your business results by supporting and serving better your customers and you can create a bond with your customers by treating them better, by considering each one of them unique.

Let’s consider you want to do what every successful company does, put the customer in the center of the organization and processes.

Good call !!

Let’s make it happens.

Listening the Customers

Do you know customer perception about your product, support and services and the company? If not, perhaps that’s a good way to start, go out and listen to what they have to say.

See here and article about listening to the customers.

When we know customers opinion and feedback helps a lot in reviewing the processes.

Customer, one Company Value

To refocus the company and put everyone sharing the same value you need to work on the company’s vision, mission and values and guarantee that the customer focus and importance is clearly stated there.

Once this is done, next step, before start talking about processes is to embed the value into the teams, and this has to be led by top management of the company.

Change Management approach will help you in this aspect. Read more about this here.

Now that your company teams share the same values where customer is right in the middle of it, it is time to roll the sleeves and work on the processes.

Diagnosing current situation

In order to avoid working in all fronts, an internal assessment is rec. Ideally conducted by someone outside the company with knowledge and experience in the area and best practices references “to ask the right questions” revealing what you need to know about how far the company is from excellence, where to work and why.

Best way is to analyze each process against important management cornerstones like people, processes, management tools, organization, suppliers, policies. 

So, all macro-processes, such as product support, customer support, material support, technical publications, customers training, customer relationship, etc shall be entirely reviewed in details identifying weaknesses and strengths.

Having the internal and external (customer satisfaction survey) scenarios well mapped you will be able to diligently decide what to do and when, based also on your internal priorities and resources needed for these exercises.

Remembering that strong processes have strong targets (final and mid-processes), shared KPIs (key performance indicators) that can and will be followed, roles and responsibilities clearly defined and agreed by all players.

See here why process management is the answer.

Processes Review

There are several methods to review processes and you will be able to find one that fits to your needs. A popular one is Kaizen. Learn how to proceed as the dynamics of this period is important. Those methods have been widely used and really work well.

Again, ideally this shall be conducted by someone who is experienced in the process, with other perspectives, not that much linked to the current way things are done, with market best practices knowledge. This will allow interesting discussions, brainstorming, provocations, which will support to build strong processes.

Every single process must be managed, perhaps in certain cases, IT solutions will be needed for execution, control, follow-up and KPIs, which if well used, will support decisions for real time day-to-day operation (pro-active management) and to demonstrate performance and trends (reactive ones). Both are important. Having people, with the knowledge of what tools are available in the market, participating in these exercises may save a lot of time and money.

If you want to know more about KPIs read this article.

Your company must be result oriented and your processes shall translate this definition. 

Here you will see an interesting article about results management.

The processes review period must be supported by top management. They should demonstrate the importance and participate in the discussions. It is normally a long period and people tend to demotivate after sometime. So, creating motivational initiatives during the review program will help keep the level of interest and naturally the quality of the outcome.

After the process is reviewed, it is very important to conduct a continuous follow-up understanding what worked well and what needs to be adjusted/corrected. Nothing is perfect. KPIs (if well chosen) will help you demonstrate where adjustments are still needed. The management procedures for each process shall follow a certain routine like PDCA approach (plan-do-check-act), so the flaws in the process can be identified and corrected.

Working on People

You will most probably pass thru manpower needs, quantities, abilities, knowledge, seniority, experience. A very important part of the process review which will actually happen later, after the process is reviewed, and roles and responsibilities for each position are defined. 

At this point you will define the requirements (abilities, knowledge, seniority, experience) for each position which will help you establish your baseline for hiring and the individual action plans for the ones already in the organization.

Be very disciplined. It is the most important cornerstone, and as such, needs attention, lots of attention.

See a couple of articles about managing manpower and people readiness to work.

Well, I guess if you follow these tips you will conduct your company to better places, hopefully to excellence in Customer Support & Services.

August 2019