More likely, a thief that has stolen your identity will have a credit card issued in your name. It will be sent to the thief. Upon receipt of the new card, thief will sign your name on the back of the card in his/her handwriting. When making a purchase, the thief will sign your name in her/his handwriting on the receipt. The bogus signature on the receipt will match the bogus signature on the bogus card, and the transaction will not be stopped.

Enter the bureaucrats at the United States Postal Service. If you try to purchase stamps at the counter using a credit card with “See ID” on the back, your card will be rejected because it is not signed. As we have seen above, a signed card is no guarantee of a legitimate transaction. A card with “See ID” on the back has more chance of being legitimate, especially if the postal employee checks the cardholder’s ID.

The most ridiculous part of this antiquated policy is that you can purchase stamps on-line from the US Postal Service with or without a signature on the back of your card. You can even purchase stamps, and postage for shipping large letters and packages at the APC (Automated Postal Center) machines that are located in the lobbies of many Post Offices. The APC requires the use of a credit card, however, the machine does not care if the card is signed or not.

To recap, if you use an automated process at the Post Office, you can use a credit card with “See ID”, or nothing, on the back. However, if you need the services of a person at the counter, “See ID” is not acceptable. The card must be signed. What is the USPS trying to achieve with this customer unfriendly policy? Is it trying to obsolete the people in the post office by making it difficult transact business with them?

The market has changed. E-mails, texting and social networking have greatly reduced the need to send cards and letters through the USPS. Rivals such as UPS and FedEx have siphoned off package business. For any business, having customer unfriendly policies and procedures is not a good strategy for combating rivals in your industry.

This difficult economy presents all of us with a perfect opportunity to review our policies and procedures. We all need to ensure that we make it as easy as possible for our customers to do business with us. In a tough competitive environment, don’t give your customer a reason to seek out your competition.

It started when we pulled into the hospital garage. The parking fee is normally $1.50 per hour, but when we arrived, the gate was up, and no ticket was required. When we arrived at the flu shot area, we were told that the line started around the corner. (Our natural thought was, how far around the corner?) To our surprise, the answer was, not far. When we entered the line we were given the usual consent form to complete and sign. By the time we completed the form, we were at the front of the line, handing in our forms to the designated person. There were about 20 stations where the flu shots were administered. After a quick review of our paperwork, we were each directed to a different open station where we received our shot. The process was completed in less time than it took us to walk to and from our car in the parking lot. As we drove out of the lot, there was no one collecting parking fees.

As someone who is passionate about customer service and delivering on the promises that are made to customers, I was extremely impressed by BJC’s efforts. Even thought the service was FREE, BJC dedicated sufficient resource (people and flu shots) to ensure that the process ran quickly and smoothly. They even took this commitment beyond the flu shots themselves and into the parking garage. No one had to stop on the way in or out of the garage to get a ticket or pay money. The entire process was focused on getting the customer in and out quickly while efficiently providing the advertised service.

BJC did a remarkable job with this FREE service. Do your paying customers deserve any less consideration? Continually think of ways to make it easier for your customers to do business with you. If you do, you will be greatly rewarded by many loyal and profitable customers.

That is when the connection occurred. I was also the parent of a child with disabilities. All of a sudden, she was no longer my new boss’s boss. She was another parent of a special needs child. It was easy for me to put myself in her situation. I called my contacts at furniture manufacturers, and I called local retailers to find a bed that would fulfill the required needs.

I gave her all of the information that I had collected. Her comment to me was that she did not expect me to do so much work on her behalf. However, to me it was not work. I was just helping another parent with a special circumstance and need.

It is not always this easy to put yourself in the position of your customer; however, it is the key to giving great customer service. When you can empathize with your customer, when you can truly understand how (s)he is feeling about an issue, your ability to satisfy him/her will be greatly enhanced. When this happens, you customer will feel like (s)he received great service.

The Profit Archaeologist^SM

• Digs up the hidden profit in your organization.
• Has a mission to reduce costs by improving service to the customer.
• Is coming on September 15.

For a sneak peak click here: The Profit Archaeologist^SM

This seemed like an easy decision, limited over-the-air channels for $35 or 100+ cable channels for $5 less. Needless to say, I scheduled an appointment for the installation of the cable outlet with the Charter representative at their customer call center. The technician arrived on-time. He was polite and friendly. He installed the outlet under the cabinets in the kitchen professionally. He cleaned-up the dust, and the TV worked great when he left. I was extremely pleased with the service until I received my monthly bill.

My bill included the $30 charge for the outlet, plus a $35 charge for a “wall fish”. Naturally, I called Charter’s customer service number to inquire about the extra charge. I was told the charge was valid because the cable wire had to be run through the wall to the under-the-cabinet location. I explained that I was told the charge would be $30 not $65. The explanation – Charter’s charge was only $30. The additional $35 charged was from the installer.

Unfortunately, this argument is not valid. To me, or to any other customer, there is no difference between Charter Communications and their 3^rd party installer. I scheduled the service call through Charter. Charter selected the person that came to my home. Charter wrote the work order for the service. Finally, Charter billed me for the service. My contact and agreement was with Charter Communication and not with any 3^rd party entity. The fact that a company chooses to use a 3^rd party to perform a service is irrelevant to the customer.

The customer service representative to whom I was speaking kept telling me that I didn’t understand that the installer that came to my home was not from Charter but from an installation company. (This is another big customer service no-no. Don’t argue with the customer.) I kept telling him that I understood this perfectly. However, the manner in which Charter went about accomplishing the installation was not my concern. I asked to speak to a supervisor. When I explained the situation to her, the $35 “wall fish” charge was removed from my bill.

In this situation, every customer would expect the cable to be run through the wall. TV cables don’t hang exposed from ceilings or come up from the middle of the floor. If the customer service representative said that the charge would be $65, I would not care how it was listed on my bill. However, you cannot quote one price without letting the customer know that an additional charge will occur. All this accomplished was to take a good service call and make it a poor experience for the customer.

ANALYZE

Once the data has been collected, it must be analyzed to determine where the breakdowns occur. If manufactured parts are unusable in the next process, why is this occurring? If rework is needed, what is causing the need for rework? If customers are unsatisfied with a service, why are they unsatisfied? If you have identified the proper variables and taken the proper measures, these questions can be answered. The questions to be answered will be established in the Define phase. The appropriate variables and measures in the Measure phase.

Example:

• According to the weight standards for height, 20 pounds needs to be lost.
• Lifestyle is sedentary with little exercise.
• Current calorie consumption is 3,000 per day.

IMPROVE

Once the data has been collected and analyzed, it is time to decide on the interventions that will be put in place to resolve the issue and improve performance. These interventions must be permanent changes to the process, not temporary changes. Measurement through this phase is extremely important. You need to know if the interventions had the desired effect. Be sure to publish the results. Your workforce will be energized when they see that the interventions are having the desired effect.

Example:

• Add a 2 mile walk each day to the daily routine.
• Cut calorie intake to 2,500 per day.
• Record weight every Saturday morning.

CONTROL

It is unlikely that every intervention will achieve the desired results. As you analyze the measurements after the interventions are implemented, you will be able to determine which interventions did not succeed as planned. Now is the time to make modifications to the interventions. Continued measurement and analysis is still critical to determine if the modified intervention worked. Continue this part of the process until the desired results are achieved.

Example:

• Weekly measures show a loss of 1 pound per week, 33% below target.
• Decrease calorie intake to 2,200 per day.
• Continue recording weight every Saturday morning.

Conclusion

A couple of key concepts in this process are that the changes must be permanent and that the measurements must not stop. For the weight loss example that we have used, many such attempt show initial results but fail over the long-run. This is because the changes made are not permanent and measurement of calorie intake stops.

Business processes are no different. Once measurement stops, the workforce perceives that the improved process is no longer as important as it once was. They will focus more attention on what is currently being measured. If the changes to the process were not permanent changes, the old habits will return and the improvements will be lost.

The 6-sigma methodology provides many tools to guide an organization through these steps. However, even if your organization does not have a 6-sigma program, it can benefit greatly by using the above methodology to improve performance and profit.

Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control

Let’s look at each of these are their importance to the improvement process. In this posting I will cover the Define and Measure steps. A future blog will cover the balance. As we move through each step, I will use the process of a person desiring to lose weight as an example to demonstrated how each of these steps can be used to improve a process.

DEFINE

Before any improvement project can be initiated, it needs to be defined. The following are some things to consider when defining the project. What is the current process? What is the issue? What negative effect is it causing? If the process were running optimally, what would it look like? What is the goal of the improvement project?

One of the main goals of this step is to be as specific as possible. Too broad of a definition will make improvement difficult. It is also important to know the desired outcome. A good definition of the issue to be resolved will help the improvement team focus on the relevant issue. A well defined scope will keep them from getting off target and diminishing their effectiveness.

Example:

• I am overweight, and I need to lose 20 pounds.
• Goal is to lose 1.5 pounds per week until 20 pounds have been lost.

MEASURE

Before any improvement can be made, the current state must be understood. A baseline measurement of how the process is currently performing is needed. Without it, it will be impossible to know if the interventions improved the process and how much improvement has occurred. If you don’t know where you are currently, it is very difficult to draw a road map to where you want to be. In addition, any variables that are important to the process must be identified and measured.

Why is measurement so important? Measurements tell everyone what is really happening. They are fact-based data that can be used for decision making purposes. They remove the emotions and finger-pointing about who causes the issue or where the issue is caused. Fact-based data allows everyone to focus on the process. They take the focus off of the people in the process. Once everyone realizes that breakdowns in the process cause the issues, not the people operating the process, enthusiasm for the improvement builds. Also, when measurements are published, they highlight to the entire organization what is important to the process. As the measurements show improvement, it builds a sense of accomplishment and pride within the organization.

Example:

• Weight before any intervention needs to be known.
• Important variables are calorie intake and exercise.
• Calorie intake and exercise before any intervention needs to be known.

Look for the conclusion to this post on Friday, 5/29.

While I have another year to go in the Master’s program, the very time consuming project has ended. I intend to be back to blogging in this space on a regular basis.

In a previous position I the opportunity to travel internationally. The Masters of International Business is a great fit with this prior experience. Because of my interest in this area, I am initiating a second blog Global Commerce. I hope you have the opportunity to visit that blog and find the information valuable.

My experience facilitating teams has shown me that this is the best approach when undertaking positive change that will improve the organization. Why is this so? It is because the team is actively engaged in understanding the issues and developing solutions, THEIR solutions. The people in the process have the most intimate knowledge about its nuances; therefore, they are best equipped to plan for all contingencies. The facilitator helps them explore the nuances, develop the contingencies and develop a final product that will meet the stated goals.

If a plan were forced upon them by management, no matter how good the plan would be, it would be resisted. The people in the process would pick at various parts of the plan and state that it will not work. The plan would receive half-hearted implementation at best. This type of reaction is just part of human nature when change is forced upon someone. So, do not fight human nature.

In contrast, when the team develops the plan, the team has a vested interest in seeing the new process succeed. It is their plan, a plan that they researched, discussed, evaluated and implemented. After all of that work, they want it to succeed. Since it is their plan, they will not resist it. They will embrace it.

The payoff of this approach is more time spent on activities that enhance customer value and less time spent on activities that waste time, money and resources. Once the team experiences success they will want to continue the improvement process. They will be motivated by their success. As they spend less time on activities that kept them from doing their jobs as efficiently as possible, their frustration levels will decrease. This translates to better customer satisfaction, both internal and external, with reduced costs. Nobody looses. Everybody wins. What more could you want from your workforce?

The answer is simple. It is the people that are currently working the process. There is nobody inside or outside your organization that has more knowledge about the process. A project team should be organized. It should be composed of a representative of each group involved with the process. To be successful, however, they will need help. Four key elements are listed below.

(1) Senior Management Support

I don’t think that there is anything more important than this. Without the enthusiastic support of top management, nothing will happen. The effort will not produce the expected results.

(2) Time

The team will need time away from their day-to-day duties to attend meetings and to implement solutions. The team will not be their full-time job, but they will need a few hours a week to accomplish the improvement goal. If management makes the team members feel like the day-to-day operations are more important than the improvement team, the improvement will suffer greatly. Ensure that you have a plan to handle the day-to-day routine for the time that the team is involved in the improvement process.

(3) Empowerment

The team must be empowered to implement its recommendations. If its recommendations are second-guessed or not implemented, the team will quickly realize that it does not have management support. It will feel that it has wasted its time, that the need for improvement is just talk and that the status quo cannot be changed.

(4) Facilitation

The team will need a facilitator that has experience with process improvement projects. The job of the facilitator is not to design the new process. (S)he helps guide the team through the process, using established process improvement tools. (S)he helps the team (1) analyze the current state, including the need for accurate and relevant data, (2) envision the future state and (3) develop a plan to get from where they are today to where they want to be.

The benefits of using this approach will be discussed in my next posting, The Benefits of an Engaged Workforce, on Friday, 8/15.