PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
Jason St.Clair

In my previous post, I touched on why it is vitally important to build relationships with the customer. This led to process improvement. What exactly is process improvement? The official definition from our wonderful google search is, … “is the proactive task of identifying, analyzing and improving upon existing business processes within an organization for optimization and to meet new quotas or standards of quality.” In short, this is the process to make our actions and results better than they were with our customers.

Why is process improvement important with your business? Process improvement takes the, “What you think the customer wants” guesswork out of the equation. By listening and adjusting your interactions with the customer you help refine your interactions with them. Take the fluff and error out, make your process less clunky. This helps you streamline your interactions with your customers, which leads to happy customers, happy customers lead to more sales.  

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT OUTLINED:

-Identify

-Plan

-Execute

-Follow up

Example from the above. You run a video game arcade center. One of your top customers, in this case, being the parent of a child that loves your establishment, you notice is visibly upset. You approach the customer and ask how their visit to the arcade is going. They are very standoffish; they give an obviously fake smile and say everything is fine. You know that everything is not fine. You know that this customer doesn’t want to be pressed on why they are upset, as a matter of fact, it may not even be the experience they are having at you Arcade why they are upset. Therefore, at the conclusion of their visit, you wish them well and thank them for coming. You take note of this transaction and set yourself a reminder to follow up with said customer in one weeks’ time. A week passes and you email the customer to ask how the visit went and if there was anything we could do to improve. If was any details that you remember about that visit also make sure to touch on them. Something like, “I hope Jane’s firefighter toy set is going well!” You almost immediately get a response from the parent. The email goes as such, “Thank you, overall our visit was amazing, Jane’s toy set is great, she loves it! However, I just want to let you know, that I think that the entrance on the rear is a little too dim. There were some older children hanging out there and it made my daughter feel a little unsafe. I wanted to tell you at the time, however, the older kids were standing right next to me. Quite honestly I was a little intimidated. Thanks for reaching out!” You read that email and know that you need to fix that problem asap. You go to the store, buy higher watt bulbs and install them at that door. Once you complete that task you write back. “Hi, thank you for letting me know that! I’m so sorry for that inconvenience. I wanted to let you after I read that email, I immediately went to the store and bought much brighter bulbs, its actually now one of the much brighter areas of the Arcade! Thank you for reaching out, I hope your day goes well and we look forward to seeing you and your family again!” The family does indeed come back, you see them and go right to them, say hi and follow up and ask for confirmation that the corrections are to their pleasing.

This was one example of process correction that will lead to a long lasting relationship for both you and the customer. Take advantage of this! Trust me, your customers will love you for it.

Regards,

Jason