A Customer complaint management systemWritten by Jose Sanchez
Background The company was experiencing an increase in number of customer complaints and an increase in cost of processing them and we were hired to analyze current situation and develop recommendations to increase effectiveness of process of administering and resolving complaints. Identify Customer Requirements A consultant was assigned to design of customer service systems and complaint processes, and who had done extensive work in QFD (Quality Function Deployment), which is a methodology that analyzes needs of customer and integrates them with company processes to ensure needs are met. The first task was to identify what customers' requirements were for complaint handling and how well customers felt their complaints were resolved. This involved conducting interviews with customers who had filed a recent complaint.Customers were asked to talk about their experience with complaint handling process. The purpose of this exercise was to: determine positive and negative incidents in complaint handling process. determine important information regarding customer's feelings about resolution of his/her complaint identity main reasons for deficiencies in process develop suggestions on how to improve system. Review Existing Complaint Process The review of process started by developing a complaint management questionnaire that was administered to all complaint handlers. This provided a view of complaint handling process across all departments of company and at same time it identified areas for improvement. An operations study was performed on current complaint handling process. A Service plan was developed that detailed complete current process for a customer reporting a complaint to company. A Serviceplan shows a cross sectional view of what is happening to all participants of process at each step. This includes customer, front line personnel, support personnel, other departments, and outside regulatory agencies. With Service plan it is easy to see escalation points and interfaces to other personnel and departments. This is critical information to understand when streamlining a process.
| | Quality consulting major consumer products companyWritten by Jose Sanchez
Organizational TQM Assessment The executive staff was trained on key components of Malcolm Baldridge criteria, and facilitated discussions that resulted in a baseline evaluation of organization's TQM implementation. The Baldrige criteria, used as basis for this evaluation, provided a focus for next year's operational plan. Internal Operations Assessment Interviews were conducted with representatives of most significant portions of business to better understand and document formal and informal operations of company. This was instrumental in developing Macro Process Interface Diagram, which provides a pictorial display of how business operates and helps to address where improvements should be targeted. Interpreting Diagram, we identified problems common to different business units, such as Strategic Planning Integration process and Communication of Business Strategies. Customer Needs Analysis A group of mid-to-upper level managers used available information about their clients, as well as their knowledge of business, to build a matrix highlighting most valuable information about their customer requirements. Through group discussions and review of available data, management then prioritized these needs based on several factors relevant to their business (Voice of Customer). Next, group developed a list of core processes of business, utilizing Macro Process Interface diagram that was developed during operational assessment. They analyzed impact of these core processes on customer requirements. This resulted in a concise demonstration of correlation between business functions and achievement of critical customer needs. Finally, group developed a list of current and approaching problems and opportunities focusing on business perspective (Voice of Business). This list considered internal factors as well as external influences. The problems were prioritized based on importance and business strategy.
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