Aligning Your Mission with Customer Value

There is so much choice today for the consumer. Whether it’s buying a new car, new clothes, new appliances, new mattresses, new shoes, food, etc. How do we decide where to shop? For retailers and other organizations, we must capture and retain customers. The loss of just one customer can have a dramatic impact on future sales. Why? Because unhappy customers relate their story of bad customer service over and over again to everyone who will listen. As well, through social networking, they spread the word rapidly.

Where to start
The creation of a powerful and meaningful mission statement [http://www.bia.ca/vision.htm] is important to all organizations. Here is a great example from Sleep Country:
“To earn customers trust and exceed their expectations when they purchase a new sleep system. We care as much about the service you receive as the bed you purchase.”

This particular mission continues to say: “If you have any questions or comments regarding either your product or our service, please don't hesitate to contact us.”

Mission statements help to attract customers. These are often used in marketing campaigns and posted where every customer can see the promise of service delivery. However, like Pandora’s Box, any level of service that is contrary to this promise is often met with the wrath of an unhappy customer. The consequences can be severe in the loss of reputation, lost sales and lost future customers.

How to quickly lose a customer
The best way to understand this is through a story.

We purchased a mattress from Sleep Country 10 months ago. The customer service representative was knowledge and very helpful. It was an easy decision to buy from her. The promise of a warranty and other on-going service put us at ease. Not that we’ve ever had a problem with a mattress before but it is always reassuring to hear the words.

After 6 months or so we noticed that the mattress was starting to sag. After another couple of months we found that the sagging was continuing to get worse and was affecting the quality of our sleep. We are neither tall nor heavy so this was a surprise. We’d been given a promise of service so we immediately contacted them.

An inspector arrived at our doorstep. He measured the sag and declared that it was only 1-¼ inches deep. While the inspector admitted that it was probably uncomfortable to sleep on, after measuring it, he told us that it did not qualify for a return to the manufacturer because it needed to be 1-½ inches. Sleep Country would not replace the mattress until the sagging got worse. As well, he advised that we do not qualify for another home inspection for at least 3 months.

So we contacted Christine Magee. After considerable research we realized that she is now only a marketing celebrity and the “voice” for the organization. However, our attempts to contact her successfully brought a response from Sleep Country Canada’s Customer Service Manager. The Customer Service Manager sent me an email that was quite extraordinary. It included statements such as:

“A call in to the customer service department may have assisted in trouble shooting the issue. (Our email had already informed her that we did this to no avail so it is a mystery why she would even mention this) Based on the information you have provided, it seems that the issue was a non warrantable concern, and may fall into the category of a body impression. (We had never heard of body impressions on mattresses before.) I would like to ensure you that Sleep Country Canada is dedicated to providing exceptional customer service by processing warranty claims that would normally be handled by the manufacturer at the customer’s expense.” (We have never had to go directly to a manufacturer for any product under warranty and pay for a claim. We’re still wondering who she might be referring to?)

She invited us to contact her directly. Our phone call gave her the opportunity of talking about how most customers are happy and that there is nothing wrong with their mattresses. The idea of a faulty mattress to her was unimaginable. We brought up the fact that we have purchased many mattresses over the years (although none through Sleep Country) and never had any sagging occur, not even after 10 years of ownership. This was of little importance to her. She continued, throughout the conversation, to insist we must be at fault, not the mattress. She repeated how they have so many happy customers and there was really nothing that she is willing to do, except set up another inspection appointment at least one month later.

Clearly, this experience did not reflect the organization’s stated mission statement: “To earn customers trust and exceed their expectations when they purchase a new sleep system. We care as much about the service you receive as the bed you purchase.”



How to ensure your customers continue to come back
Go back to your mission statement. Does your service delivery [http://www.bia.ca/courses-leadership/service-quality-for-managers.htm] promise align with the delivery of service to your customers? Do you find yourself trying to defend your products? If so, why do you believe you have to defend your products? If they are of the level of quality that you promise in your mission, this shouldn’t be necessary. When managing customer expectations are you aware of the consequences of an unhappy customer?

Mission statements are powerful. They are positive statements about what you stand for, what your organization believes in and what the customer means to you.

Sleep Country did everything within their power to lose our trust and not meet (let alone exceed) our expectations. They clearly demonstrated that they neither care about service delivery nor the bed their customers sleep in. So why do they bother with a mission statement of service promises?

Conclusion
Establish a clear and meaningful mission. Market it to your customers. But, most importantly, do what you say you will do – to ensure your customer’s satisfaction is your most important act. The outcome will be beneficial for the continued sustainability of your organization and its bottom-line.

Quality Trend 3 - Six Sigma initiatives will be successful when they are managed as a Project

A great challenge in Six Sigma initiatives is that although they follow a clear process and quality standards they may fail because they are not well managed as a project. This has led to problems for Six Sigma initiatives becoming over time, over budget and not meeting their customer expectations. Individuals apply the Six Sigma methodology but fail in their execution. Success on Six Sigma will continue for those organizations that apply a project management approach to how Six Sigma initiatives are structured, managed and processed.

Quality Trend 2 - There will be a trend towards Profound Knowledge.

Ultimately, organizations led by people who are guided by the System of Profound Knowledge are likely to be much more efficient and successful than organizations which continue with the prevailing style of management. Profound Knowledge systems integrate increasing knowledge as part of the system. To this end, no longer is quality management relegated to production and no longer is project management only an IT initiative. Quality and project management are infused into everyone position within every department within every organization. This is equally true for both public sector and private sector organizations. We are seeing training and development initiatives as well as consulting assignments focusing on how to develop quality measures to all work, projects and learning. This includes details on how to transfer this knowledge to others so that it stays resident in the organization when staff leaves. This is becoming critical as more and more long-term staff retires.

Quallity Trend 1 - Quality Management is not dead – it continues to evolve

Quality Management never really died. It evolved. Rather than being relegated as a position title or a department, it has been infused into the way everyone works in every single position within their organizations. Quality is about products and services. It is about people and processes.

Quality management has become a critical element contributing to the successful development of innovations. It is now integrated into project management. Successful projects have clear quality processes, tools and templates. Quality management is well, alive and living in organizations today and in the future.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 8

Risk management will become standard practice for all projects

Project teams will conduct regular risk assessments at the beginning, mid-way and at the end of a project to proactively identify what might prevent success in the management of a project as well as to have contingencies in place to manage a risk, should it occur.

Proper risk management implies control of possible future events, and is proactive rather than reactive. It will reduce not only the likelihood of an event occurring, but also the magnitude of its impact. Organizations that consistently follow a risk management process on all of their projects will see a reduction in their management by crisis. There will always be some things that will occur but most of these, through sound risk management, can be managed, rather than reacted to.


Concluding Remarks
Many of you will read these trends and believe that you are not “senior” enough in your respective organizations to ensure these trends are effectively implemented in your organizations. This is not at all true. One of the great strengths of leaders is their ability to use influence and critical thinking skills to bring about positive change. Each of us can choose to be either a leader or a follower. We must decide. Our organization’s future may depend upon the right decisions being made today. Hopefully, knowledge of these trends will help you stay ahead of your competitors and help you contribute to your organization’s future success.

I look forward to hearing your comments,
Michael

The Future of Project Management - Trend 7

Organizations will increase the use of Project Health Checks and Project Audits

There will be more project health checks to quickly identify the interim issues, concerns and challenges being experienced by projects. This will reduce fire-fighting and management by crisis by quickly identifying the root causes of the problems. This forensic view will identify the actions required to realize the project’s opportunities and provide assurance to the organization that the project will meet the required schedule, budget and customer requirements.

There will be more project audits completed at the end of projects in order to identify the lessons learned that will help future projects gain knowledge from the project’s successes and challenges. This knowledge will be incorporated into project data repositories to ensure the lessons learned can easily be accessed by project managers.

The Future of Project Management - Trend 6

Organizations will use Best Practices and Knowledge Transfer to successfully launch projects

Organizations that follow best practices will be at a competitive advantage to those who do not apply a structured process to each project. Project management best practices include a disciplined approach to planning, executing and learning from projects.

As part of the move towards greater use of best practices we will also see:
•Use of competency assessments to select the best project resources for any given project.
•Incorporation of project management best practices into all aspects of project management infrastructure including tools, templates and techniques.
•Incorporation of portfolio project management to make sure that projects are prioritized and resourced to align with corporate strategies.
•Increased training for project sponsors to improve their understanding of their roles in helping projects succeed.

Organizations will find value in recording and documenting “Lessons Learned” on projects as a means of passing along the things that worked or did not work on a project. This kknowledge retention and transfer will be a major benefit to organizations because it will contribute to continuous learning and avoidance of repeated mistakes.