Quality Management

Total Quality Management

                       

                        Total Quality Management is a concept to the art of management. It is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that aims to provide and continue to provide its customers with products and services that satisfy and anticipate their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects pf the company’s operations. Total Quality Management concept orients the organization in dealing first with the customers. The customer’s satisfaction is the main priority of the company. Within the ambit of the customer satisfaction, the company believes to be successful. The TQM concept aims to the context of being sensitive to the customer’s requirements and goes beyond error and defect reduction and merely specifications or reducing customer complaints. The concept of requirements is expanded to take in not only product and service attributes that meet basic requirements but also those that enhance and differentiate them for competitive advantage.

                       

                        The major new element in world market competition is quality. Within the concept of TQM, quality is accomplished in the concepts of customer satisfaction. Improving competitive position and profit has always been the responsibility of management. . Managers must adopt the objectives of customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. They must implement the change to achieve these objectives through their personal and continuous involvement and in the reeducation of everyone in the organization in TQM principles and practices.

                        TQM is a way to continuously improve performance at every level of operation, in every functional area of an organization, using all available human and capital resources. Improvement is addressed toward satisfying board goals such as cost, quality, market share, schedule, and growth. It demands commitment and discipline, and an ongoing effort.

 

Customer Satisfaction

 

                        The importance of customer satisfaction and support is increasingly becoming a vital business issue as organizations realize the benefits of customer relationship management (or CRM) for providing effective customer service. Professionals working within customer-focused businesses, or those running call centers or help desks, need to keep informed about the latest customer satisfaction techniques for running a valuable customer service function. From small customer service departments to large call centers, the importance of developing a valued relationship with customers using CRM is essential to support customer satisfaction and long-term business growth.

                       

                        E-business developments represent a significant step in the evolution of inter-organizational systems (IONS). Their impact on external supply chains is a major area of discussion and analysis in the literature, principally examining issues of governance structure and process efficiencies. The challenge for organizations committed to the highest levels of customer service, is how to create, increase and maintain such service on a daily basis through-out their organization. But, the true worth of “service values” comes from the extent to which they are religiously practiced – rather than merely professed. To make service excellence a reality, therefore, requires both leadership and a sense of mission. Improvement planning is a vital, but often missing, part of customer satisfaction measurement programs. It begins with an analysis of the key survey findings. There is obviously a strong link between customer satisfaction and customer retention. Customer’s perception of Service and Quality of product will determine the success of the product or service in the market.

 

                        With better understanding of customers’ perceptions, companies can determine the actions required to meet the customers’ needs. They can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, where they stand in comparison to their competitors, chart out path future progress and improvement. Customer satisfaction measurement helps to promote an increased focus on customer outcomes and stimulate improvements in the work practices and processes used within the company.

 

                        Customer expectations are the customer-defined attributes of your product or service you must meet or exceed to achieve customer satisfaction (Nigel, 1996). Customer Expectations are of two types – Expressed and Implied. Expressed Customer Expectations are those requirements that are written down in the contract and agreed upon by both parties, for example, product specifications and delivery requirements. Supplier’s performance against these requirements is most of the times directly measurable. Implied Customer Expectations are not written or spoken but are the ones the customer would ‘expect’ the supplier to meet nevertheless. For example, a customer would expect the service representative who calls on him to be knowledgeable and competent to solve a problem on the spot. There are many reasons why customer expectations are likely to change over time. Process improvements, advent of new technology, changes in customer’s priorities, improved quality of service provided by competitors are just a few examples. The customer is always right. Supplier’s job is to provide the Customer what he wants, when he wants it. Customer Satisfaction is customers’ perception that a supplier has met or exceeded their expectations. It is therefore important to periodically update our knowledge of customer expectations.

 

Meeting nag Beating Customer Satisfaction

 

                        To achieve customer satisfaction, the company has to respond rapidly to customer needs. This implies short product and service introduction cycles. These can be achieved with customer-driven and process-oriented product development because the resulting simplicity and efficiency greatly reduce the time involved. Simplicity is gained through concurrent product and process development. Efficiencies are realized from the elimination of non-value-adding effort such as re-design. The result is a dramatic improvement in the elapsed time from product concept to first shipment. The goal of improving customer service levels is an article of faith. And so it should be, because there’s an overwhelming body of research to show that building customer loyalty has a major impact on profitability.

 

                        Clearly, there are significant benefits to be realized from trying to improve an organization’s service/quality. And that’s why managers devote so much time and money to training programs that “instruct” employees on the specifics of dealing with customers. What these managers don’t understand, however, is that such attempts are largely cosmetic. Real improvements in customer service start with providing superior service and support to the employees themselves.

 

                        The company should check its  “OPERATIONS” if they are running smoothly. Customers know what they want and the company must better knew it too. The company must have a competitive stance on how to meet and beat the customer’s expectations. The operations should check its customer contact elements, they should be integrated for the company’s maximum sales impact, cost-effectiveness and customer understanding. To care for the customers is to know them and to instill their loyalty, you have to serve them more than what they deserve. To give the company’s maximum customer service, an on-line customer care can be effective.

                       

            Customer Care

 

                        On-line customer care is very similar to traditional customer care, with the key distinction being the methods of acquiring information and interacting with a customer-care professional. On-line customer care allows customers to navigate through a company’s web site to obtain answers to questions or gather information without the support of a customer-care agent. If customers are unable to find the information they need on the web site, on-line customer care allows customers to interact with agents using mediums such as e-mail, live text chat or web collaboration, and voice over internet protocol (VOID)- in addition to the traditional communication methods of telephone, fax, and mail.

 

                        As with traditional customer care, each method of communication enjoys benefits and challenges. The same is true with on-line customer care or e-Care. Before rushing to implement, it is wise to consider the interaction from the customer’s perspective and then establish procedures that will supplement the limitations that e-commerce mediums can potentially pose for the customer. A good place to begin is by re-examining customer service contact utilizing the telephone and what its limitations are from an e-commerce or e-Care customer perspective.

                        Telephone — The telephone is the most common method of business-to-consumer customer service interaction. Via telephone, customers can air their questions and problems and usually it is readily resolved in the first instance of calling and can have some additionally clarifying questions.  While still on the telephone line, one can attempt to sell or offer the customer additional products or services. However telephone as a medium of customer care is typically on of the most expensive. The Call volume is another disadvantage using telephone.

                        E-mail — E-mail is rapidly becoming a preferred method of customer service interaction. Contacting a company via e-mail allows customers with only one phone line in their house to stay on-line to obtain an answer to their questions, rather than logging off the Internet, making a phone call, and then logging back on. It also allows customers to receive a response in writing and, if necessary, to save the response for future reference. E-mail management systems can be costly. However, the option of “hosting” a system from an application service provider is typically less expensive than purchasing a system. Responding to e-mails takes a very different skill set than answering the telephone. Finding agents with strong written communication skills is sometimes challenging and typically requires a higher rate of pay since this is a relatively new skill for the traditional customer service agent. There is a fine art to writing e-mails.

                        Text Chat — Customers are staffing to get comfortable with live text chat. Live text chat allows customers with only one phone line in their house to stay on-line and obtain immediate assistance from a customer-care agent while the customer remains on the web site. Responding to customer questions via text chat requires a skill set similar to that for e-mail; and as with e-mail, identifying skilled customer-care agents is sometimes challenging and typically demands a higher rate of pay. As with e-mail, using text chat also results in the loss of direct contact, so responses will need to be carefully crafted and clear so the customer will understand the message and not misinterpret its meaning.

                        Self-Help — Self-help empowers customers to find information themselves. Obviously, self-help is the most cost-effective method of on-line customer care. However, a company’s self-help information must be easy to find, easy to navigate and search, and be clearly written. A good rule of thumb is that a help page must always be only one click away. A self-help center and customer information must be organized in a way that is easy to navigate and must be clearly written to leave no room for misinterpretation. A self-help center will need to be revised and improved constantly to ensure that ease of use is maintained. Self-help pages should always include key word search functionality. Help information should include the rules of any promotions, which could be challenging if a company runs multiple promotions that change often. If customers can’t find the information they are looking for or don’t like the answer they’ve found, they will typically call or e-mail a company’s customer service center and are typically frustrated by the time they get to an agent. Therefore, agents are dealing with a greater percentage of frustrated or irate customers and must be trained to handle these situations.

                       

                        Improving and developing new schemes in meeting and beating customer satisfaction is really a hard work. Different factors within the organization should be taken into considerations. One of the factors that to be considered and mostly the crucial factor to take consider is the financial department of the organizations. Improvements within the organization to beat the competition in the market are inevitable in business yet budget matters often times restrict the developments and new schemes of the organizations.

                       

                        Cost proved to be a driving issue with most companies nowadays. Keeping cost factors in thoughts, it is best to manage technique of contact in the order of cost efficiency. Therefore, when customers ask for assistance from the company, customer representatives should be equipped to direct them down to the most cost-effective way. Preferably, a customer should start by going to the help hub on a web site and reviewing a list of Fads (Frequently Asked Questions), the second alternative is for the customer to send an e-mail; and so on. A toll-free customer-care telephone number should be listed, but may be listed last, thus encouraging customers to prefer other manner of communication first.

           

                         As in traditional call centers, providing agents with the characteristics of quality customer interaction, training to attain those attributes, monitoring an agent’s performance, and providing appropriate feedback to the agent are still very important–maybe even more essential since representatives are performing responsibilities that are new to them. An e-Care quality guarantee plan should determine value service levels of customer interactions by any communication medium–phone, e-mail, text chat, etc. Doing this can involves the realization of technology that tolerates the capture of voice as well as system screens or screen scrapes.

 

            Leadership and Performance

 

                        Taking an organization from good to great customer service ultimately depends on the people who provide that service. It can only happen through the volunteerism – the willingness to go beyond what is merely required – of people who serve on the front lines. Going from ordinary to extraordinary performance happens through the discretionary efforts of frontline staff deciding to make the thousands of “moment’s) of truth” (any time a customer interacts with the company in person, by phone, or electronically), they manage every day as positively as they possibly can. This enthusiasm, loyalty, or devotion can’t be forced on people. It only happens thr0ough a “culture of commitment,” where frontline people reflect to the outside the intense pride and ownership they are experiencing on the inside.

 

                        A company’s external customer service is only as strong as the company’s internal leadership, and the culture of commitment that this leadership creates. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, our service or brand promise can’t fool all of our customers all of the time. If the service messages are out of step with what’s ultimately experienced by customers, marketing dollars are wasted. And customer dissatisfaction rises right along with staff turnover. There is a saying goes that “Great brands are earned, not bought. Customer experience is where brand is built not in the marketing budget.”

 

Assessment and Evaluation

                       

                        Comparing yourself with the same sector might be difficult in some countries, where a provider has a monopoly on its service or product. Or the competitors’ standards might be worse. Although more difficult, the process of comparing yourself with other sectors is a creative one. You have to find patterns which can be compared. And you might get totally new ideas. For example, hospitals in many countries (including the US, the UK and Germany) now are forced to compete amongst each other and to attract their ‘clients’ (i.e., the patients). As a consequence, many hospitals start to market their services similar to private service providers. For example, they start to implement the idea of customer orientation, they introduce new forms of team work, and they present themselves in the Internet.

 

                        Benchmarking is a process that takes time. Depending on the subject and the information available, a benchmarking exercise might run over three months up to one year. It should be repeated after a certain time period, and the impact needs to be monitored. However, it is not advisable to start a benchmarking process on your own unless your staff is trained in the subject. In any case, it is recommended to employ a consultant who initiates and monitors the process.

 

                        It is practical and far less costly to keep existing customers than to win new ones. Loyal customers buy more products and help bring in more business by recommending your product to others. So if customer loyalty is the goal, then the organization’s efforts should begin with the knowledge of what constitutes value to his customers and the market. An organization should always keep on improving so as to achieve a greater profitability. This can be achieved by knowing the market well and understanding exactly what the customer wants, needs and beating those elements. By discovering what the customer wants, the organization can begin to understand how his products and services provide value for his customers. A simple method is to take customer satisfaction surveys and analyze the customer feedback. This gives the supplier an insight on where he lacks in delivering his products or services and where is the scope of improvement.

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