Using Customer Feedback to Improve Processes
Close the feedback loop.
Michelle Cowan
APQC’s 2009 study, Operating Tactics in Tough Times: Reduce Costs and Retain Customers, revealed that 81 percent of the 281 organizations surveyed capture process feedback from their customers, but only 49 percent have a formal process to embed that feedback into their processes.
These findings signal a major disconnect between the information received from the customer and the integration of that information into the organization, where it could be used to improve performance and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. The most responsive and successful organizations capture feedback and seize the opportunity to learn and inject that feedback into their processes.
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Examples
Harland Clarke Corporation and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (two best-practice organizations examined in the 2009 APQC study) have formal mechanisms for collecting and disseminating customer feedback and requirements. These mechanisms include surveys, face-to-face interviews, visits, and customer events.
When Harland Clarke Corporation, a $1.2 billion organization offering products and services related to financial institutions, started researching and analyzing clients’ needs, the company quickly realized that one size does not fit all in managing client relationships. Each client has different types of products and expectations. Harland Clark developed a plan for collecting feedback on its management approaches and processes. Using the feedback, the company segmented its clients into divisions that could be addressed according to particular requirements.
Harland Clarke’s structured voice of the customer (VOC) process was initiated in 1999. The process includes receipt of customer feedback, entering the feedback in a VOC database, following up on the data (determining whether action or resolution steps are required), documenting and communicating results, then aggregating and analyzing information for possible future action. The company shares customer comments, offering analysis by keyword, client, date, and other parameters. Its customer-focused approach enables problem resolution and effective communication about issues with clients.
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Tata Consultancy Services, a worldwide organization (part of the Tata Group) with revenues at $6.01 billion in 2009, collects feedback from various consumers: customers, practitioners, partners, suppliers, alliance partners, shareholders, professional bodies, and analysts. Feedback is consolidated into measures used when the organization considers changes or adjustments in technology, activities, processes, or groups of processes.
For input that cannot be gathered during usual business interactions, Tata Consultancy employs client visits, surveys, and events. The company’s frequent customer satisfaction surveys yield feedback used in prioritizing improvement projects and uncovering potential opportunities for enhanced customer service. Each active project includes a customer survey every six months.
Conclusion
Best-practice organizations find ways to collect feedback from customers and integrate that feedback into business strategy as well as continuous process improvement. They set up systems fostering transparent relationships between organizational leadership, customers, and all other stakeholders. Communication enables them to be more responsive to customer needs and to provide services that advance the enterprise, providing maximum value to customers. •
Michelle Cowan is an APQC knowledge specialist.
About Benchmarks: An essential part of enterprise excellence is knowing where you are in comparison with where you’ve been before — and with what’s possible. Target selects materials from published research to provide a snapshot of informative points that you can use to assess your organization.
