Internal Customers Matter Too: Using VOC Methods to Understand and Meet Internal Customer Needs

Transcription

1 Internal Customers Matter Too: Using VOC Methods to Understand and Meet Internal Customer Needs Dr. Susan O. Schall 2011 SPQA Forum Copyright 2011 SOS Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Overview Introduce Voice of the Customer (VOC) and how to obtain and organize it for internal improvement efforts. Customer Interviews & Surveys CTQ Tree Kano Model Stakeholder Analysis Share examples of using VOC tools in context of Lean Six Sigma projects. Discuss benefits of this approach. 2

3 Who is the Customer? Customers Are Recipients of Products and/or Services Process Internal Customer External Customer Organization Internal Customers use the outputs for their processes. External Customers pay the bills. 3

4 Voice of the Customer Voice of the Customer (VOC) is used to describe customers needs and their perceptions of your product and/or service that can be translated into specific product/service requirements for improvement efforts. Can be used with BOTH external and internal customers. Involves BOTH reactive and proactive sources of information. 4

5 Translate VOC to Requirements Voice of Customer (Actual Statements) This remote does not work! I don t want to listen to a bunch of options and then wait on hold. Why do I have to fill out another form? You already have my information on file. Key Customer Issue / Need Does not understand the operation of the remote. Wants to talk to a person quickly when calls for customer service. Does not want to spend time repeatedly providing the same information before obtaining service. Customer Requirement All remote functions are useable with little to no instructions. Less than 3 options on the phone tree and sufficient CSRs to handle peak calls. Verify information and update only when there are changes. 5

6 VOC Data Collection Plan Customer What & Why Reactive Sources Proactive Sources Summary Who is your customer internal and/or external? What do you want to ask them and what information do you need to probe for? Why are you asking these questions what information are you expecting to gain? What reactive actions will you take to gain the information customer complaint data, monthly scorecard information, customer feedback, etc. What proactive actions will you take to gain the information surveys, interviews, customer focus groups, meetings, etc. What information did you gain from the probing? What does the customer need from your process? 6

7 Proactive: Customer Interview Important information gathering technique to understand voice of customer. Fosters cooperative working relationship with customer. Ask open-ended questions such as: Tell us how you use our product/service What barriers do you face with our product/service? What issues do you encounter when? Tell me more about Give me an example of. Use what, how, when or why words LISTEN! 7

8 Proactive: Customer Survey Measure what a person knows, likes and dislikes, and/or thinks about your product and/or service. Must be well designed. Identify needs and goals of survey. Define participants. Determine format and administration of survey. Generate survey questions. Keep short, simple and relevant Keep clean Provide instructions Test/pilot with several participants. Determine how survey results will be analyzed before administration. 8

9 Proactive: Focus Group A small group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product and/or service. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. Useful when desired information about behaviors and motivations is more complex than a survey is likely to reveal and when the dynamic interchange between the group members may result in more in depth and unbiased information than one-on-one interviews. 9

10 CTQ Tree Translates customer expectations into requirements. 10

11 Procedure for Creating CTQ Tree Identify customer needs. For each need, determine what fulfilling that need would mean to the customer. This is a driver. Keep asking the same question what would that mean until you reach a level where a clear and measurable specification can be written. Example: timely and accurate means quick delivery ; quick delivery means receipt the next day. 11

12 Kano Model Customer Satisfaction Delight Neutral Dissatisfaction Absent Resigned to Reality Not Pleased Delighters Degree of Achievement Pleased Must Be Taken for Granted Fulfilled Must be characteristics are generally taken for granted unless they are absent! Delighters are generally not mentioned, since the customers are not dissatisfied with their absence. Customers generally discuss or bring up issues related to More Is Better characteristics. 12

13 Identifying Requirements for Kano Model Must be requirements gather through one-onone interviews and focus groups where you can probe into the customer s requirements. More is better requirements gather using surveys. Delighter requirements gather using focus groups and one-on-one or small group interviews. 13

14 Stakeholder Analysis A stakeholder is anyone who will be affected by improvement efforts. Stakeholders may include suppliers, customers, employees, management, other departments, partners, etc. Stakeholder analysis identifies all the key stakeholders who will be affected by improvement efforts, their current level of commitment and their desired level of commitment and actions to move them from current level to desired level. Communication plan Relationship to / member of team 14

15 Levels of Commitment Complexity (depth of information, interactivity, etc.) Awareness Buy-in Understanding I have heard about the effort Ownership I feel personally accountable for the success of the effort, and I will lead the charge! I agree with the business case and direction of the effort, and will participate moving forward. I understand the business case and direction of the effort, and I will not stand in the way. Time 15

16 Stakeholder Analysis Example Stakeholders Business Leader Operations Business Leader Technology Leader Operations Business Manager Sector Quality Leader Six Sigma Champion Current Commitment Desired Commitment Project Impact Level of Influence Key Concerns/ Needs/Issues Buy-in Ownership Medium High Financial impact of issues Growth No surprises Credibility (personal & business) Timing Buy-in Ownership High High Personal credibility Satisfy Business Leader Leverage to other businesses Understanding Buy-in Medium High Resources End crises Buy-in Ownership High High Fix the issue Credibility Understanding Buy-in Low Medium Looking for things she can leverage Business credibility Awareness Buy-in Low Medium Looking for things he can leverage Business credibility Action Steps Engage re: project roadmap Weekly updates Prep prior to Steering Team meetings Get him comfortable with scope and approach Work with him to create project roadmap Weekly updates Get replacement up to speed Show how the project can help Technology group Add to Steering Team Weekly updates Involve in plant audit plans Add to Steering Team Include in one plant audit Add to Steering Team Relationship Owner Ricky Judy Judy Judy Hugh Hugh 16

17 Background on Organization Unit of large multi-national company. Business services center (BSC) supporting operations in 23 countries in Europe and the Middle East. Internal customers: Accounting/Finance staff in each country; Procurement; Internal Controls; BSC, European, and Corporate leadership. External customers: banks, banking regulators. Second year of Lean Six Sigma implementation. First wave of projects did not incorporate VOC, delaying implementation, limiting application and/or results. 17

18 Vendor Master Data Maintenance Project Problem Statement: The average reject rate of vendor master data (VMD) requests is currently estimated at 14%. This results in longer time spent on VMD maintenance and potential late payments, increasing workload, and decreasing internal and external customer satisfaction. Process Owner: VMD Team Internal Customers: AP Procurement Finance Cash & Banking Internal Controls 18

19 VMD Kano Model Delight Min customer involvement in VMD maintenance Delighters Customer Satisfaction Neutral No clear policies & procedures Not Confirmation > 1 day Pleased Reject rate < 5% Must Be Compliance with SOX Taken for Low Granted rate of rework Dissatisfaction No reminders for late confirmation Processing time 2 days Absent Degree of Achievement Fulfilled 19

20 VMD Maintenance Project Results Expanded scope to include confirmation of VMD changes based on VOC. Used VOC to identify non-value added activities in the process that could be eliminated or changed to add value (i.e., number and type of approval). Achieved project goals: Metric Baseline Goal Project Completion Reject Rate 14% 7% 7% Confirmation Time Reminders Due to Late Confirmation 10.4 hr 8.5 hr 7.48 hr 42/mo 10/mo 12/mo Saved $60,000! 20

21 einvoicing Project Problem Statement: e-invoicing offers an opportunity to substitute manual handling of 3rd party invoices with an automated solution and thus decrease cost per AP transaction. However, cost reduction has not been realized to date. Process Owner: AP Internal Customers: AP Managers AP Supervisors AP Team Leaders Key Users 21

22 einvoicing VOC Interviews Customers Topics Outcomes AP Managers in both locations, CI Manager Desired process status Expected project focus Expected project results Expected impact of project results on operational goals Expected barriers/obstacles/risks Agreement on involvement within project Inputs for CTQ and KANO Focus on understanding process status Focus on involvement of TL & SV AP Manager, CI Manager, AP Team Leader, einvoicing Key Users (project team) AP Team Leaders & Supervisors Personal information needs & relevance for daily work Information needs of customers clients, superiors and reports Self-assessment of einvoicing knowledge level Draft of information distribution flow Customer knowledge & satisfaction over course of project 22

23 einvoicing CTQ Tree Information distribution plan 23

24 einvoicing Kano Model Must be - not given: Control points in place More is better too low: Less manual steps Less time needed for manual steps Process acceptance at all levels Delighters potential: Reporting per country Unified process 24

25 einvoicing Stakeholder Analysis 25

26 26 einvoicing Communication Plan

27 einvoicing Project Results VOC identified need to distribute einvoicing status differently across the organization. Number of reports reduced, remaining reports streamlined to focus on the information stakeholders need to perform their tasks. VOC identified lack of understanding, unclear roles & responsibilities, and hence limited acceptance of the process within the AP Team Leaders and Supervisors. Led to joint meetings and engagement of Team Leaders and Supervisors in the Improve and Control phases of the project which facilitated implementation. einvoice Processing Time Reduced 40% 27

28 Invoice Sorting & Scanning Project Problem Statement: Documents received have to be sorted manually for each country. Sorting process has different exceptions for each country. There are many documents received via which need to be printed, sorted and scanned. In addition, the printed copies of documents from other departments are scanned and archived twice. This results in long cycle times for sorting and scanning and missing invoices. Process Owner: Sort, Scan & Archive Department Internal Customers: AP Internal Audit & Control Customer Service 28

29 Sorting & Scanning Customer Interviews Questions What do I want to find out? How use? What would you describe as perfect AP Sorting, Scanning & Archiving process? What does not work in current process? What outcomes do you expect from the project? How will these outcomes impact your daily work? How will these outcomes contribute to achieving of your goals? What is characteristic of the process from customer POV? Feedback on current process issues. Which project deliverables does the customer value most? How will the deliverables of the project be utilized by the customer? How does the project fit into strategy? Customer need Current issue Calibrate scope Predict impact Predict impact What barriers do you see to achieving project deliverables? Are there any concerns which from customer POV, not visible for us? Why is it important to do this project? What is their attitude to the project? Early warning Check engagement How do you see your role in the project? What is their attitude to the project? Check engagement 29

30 Invoice Sorting & Scanning CTQ Tree 30

31 Sorting & Scanning Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholders Current Commitment Desired Commitment Project Impact Level of Influence Key Concerns/ Needs/Issues Vendor Not informed Understanding Low Low Correct Requirements to Vendor Scanning Department Internal Control & VAT Department Not informed Owner High High The current process need to be changed in order to be more efficient Action Steps (To move from Current to Desired Commitment level?) Cooperation with Procurement Part of project team Not informed Understanding Low Low Legal rules in countries Regular updates with the team AP Manager Ownership Ownership Medium High Increase Efficiency of whole process External Provider (Iron Mountain) AP - Customer Service AP Invoice Audit & Control Local Finance (via AP Reference Group) Procurement (buyers via BPM Group) Goods Recipient Not informed Understanding Low Low Costs Reduction, Resistance to Changes Awareness Buy-in Medium Medium More workload, Resistance to Changes Awareness Buy-in Medium Medium More workload, resistance to changes Not informed Awareness Low Medium To be in scope with legal requirements Not informed Understanding Medium Medium It needs to be strictly advised to Vendors where the invoice should be sent Not informed Understanding Low Low It needs to be strictly advised to Vendors where the invoice should be sent Champion Communication with key contact Regular communication and part of the team Relationship Owner Lenka M./Lucia Scanning Department TL Lucia Lucia Scanning Department TL CS-Lenka M./Lucia Regular communication Katka H./Lucia Updates of regular Reference Group calls Communication and regular updates Communication with local key user Lucia Lucia CS-Katka H./Lucia 31

32 Invoice Sorting & Scanning Project VOC clearly identified the needs and expectations of internal customers: Documents scanned on time s processed on time All documents processed no missing documents Led to reduction of number of both PO boxes and Inboxes, automation of intercompany invoices, simplification and harmonization of sorting rules, and less printing. Saved $40,000 32

33 Intercompany Closing Project Problem Statement: Intercompany closing is taking longer than necessary and mismatches in reporting occur frequently. Not all Intercompany invoices are processed by closing and next payment which leads to accruals and overdue items. As result, more resources and overtime are needed. Process Owner: Intercompany Department Internal Customers: Local Finance HQ Reconciliation Team Internal Audit & Control 33

34 Obtaining Intercompany VOC Teleconference with the HQ Consolidation Team regarding Intercompany mismatches. Review of customer needs in Service level agreement. Customer satisfaction survey (12/2009) taken into consideration: 34

35 Intercompany Closing CTQ Tree 35

36 Intercompany Closing Project VOC clarified reconciliation time requirements (Wednesday 2 pm). Led to discovery of duplicate work within Intercompany team, multiple reports, old vendor data, and manual data checks. Eliminated duplicate work with defined roles and responsibilities, combined reporting tools, automated updates to vendor data, and automated data checks to reduce reconciliation time. VOC clarified requirements concerning mismatches. Led to discovery that mismatches were being investigated by multiple parties and resulting in different reasons. Defined roles and responsibilities and created operational definitions for mismatches. Saved $48,000 36

37 Benefits to Using VOC With Internal Customers Better understanding of value stream. Build relationship with internal customers. Ease of implementation of improvement project action items. Faster results. Expanded results. 37

38 Questions? Susan Schall