Focus on Customer Satisfaction Part 3: To Satisfy the Custom Cabinet Consumer, Check and Survey Your Customers and then Act!
Last time we talked about the PDCA cycle which stands for Plan, Do, Check, and Act, we realized that in order to expect to achieve customer satisfaction, it will have much more to do with ‘what you do’ than what you say. But, how can you be sure that what you are doing is being appreciated by the customers?
For starters, professionals in the home improvement and kitchen cabinet profession and more so for custom cabinets, we must realize that even if we are sincere in our intentions to satisfy our customers, it does not mean that we are succeeding. This is precisely where in the cycle ‘Check and Act’ come into play.
"Sincerity is not a test of truth. We must not make this mistake: He must be right; he's so sincere. It is possible to be sincerely wrong.” -- Jim Rohn
Checking or measuring for customer satisfaction monitors the delivery of the performance measures set in the planning stage against customer expectations and perceptions. For most businesses including those serving the discriminating custom cabinet consumer, it doesn’t make sense to measure everything, so to confirm that the plan is being carried out properly, critical data and information needs to be captured, analyzed, and reported. Measurement is not a “create it and forget it” management practice, but by aligning what is measured internally with customer needs gives a better understanding of customer intimacy and trust.
The Importance of Surveying Customers
It should be noted that no company can safely assume which drivers are most important to customers “without surveying them as to exactly what drivers they consider important”. In addition to measurements from traditional management inspections, consumer-oriented companies will make great efforts to survey their customers, analyze survey results, and take actions to address areas of dissatisfaction. Doing this constantly, you will be able to focus more on preventive solutions instead of curative ones.
Additionally, surveys allow a numerical score for each question, as well as an overall score, which can be compared year after year to gauge.
Take Action!
Acting for customer satisfaction is focused on transforming the data collected into actionable information. Overall, organizations are collecting mountains of data through more and more applications. Relevant, actionable data identifies whether the company’s satisfaction levels are increasing or decreasing, and which performance areas need improving. Actionable data will empower managers to make changes needed while improving the plan and process.
The new law for satisfying customers consistently simply states that “what gets measured, improves; and what gets measured and reported, improves dramatically". Many tasks are performed over the course of serving the typical customer and many organizations take advantage of various checklists and perhaps a prioritization matrix to help improve customer satisfaction levels. Develop a process for identifying your top 10 ‘problem areas’—the ones that are creating the highest service costs; or causing the greatest amount of customer dissatisfaction—and take action.
It has been said that trust takes a long time to earn, but only a second to lose. Common sense tells us that a company, whose clients are completely happy with the products and services they provide them, is less likely to lose that customer. Saying the words is easy: “The customer is number one”, “The customer pays our salary”, “The customer is always right”. The hard part is to create an organization that lives by these words.
As stated so clearly by author Thomas F. Wallace in his book Customer-Driven Strategy: Winning Through Operational Excellence, “Delivering superior customer satisfaction works. It results in more business. Over the long run, it separates the winners from the losers”.
See you at the top.
Crossroads Custom Cabinetry redefines the U.S. cabinet industry by making premium quality, custom cabinetry widely available at greatly reduced prices. Webinetry.com is a completely new portal for the way today's American consumer can research, preview, budget, and finalize their cabinet purchasing decisions. With our professional network, home improvement professionals enjoy a flow of free qualified sales leads, member pricing and innovative sales support tools that are designed to achieve an optimal selection process with the homeowner.