The data-focused and detail-oriented strategies of Lean Six Sigma can streamline any type of operation, ranging from an assembly line on the manufacturing floor to the check-in process at a hospital. In recent years, modern marketers have learned the methodology can also help improve one of the most important aspects of any business: customer experience.
While most often associated with retail, a focus on customer experience can have an impact on the bottom line of any business. Customer experience (CX) focuses on creating happy, loyal customers. And happy, loyal customers mean a stronger bottom line.
Lean Six Sigma practitioners use tools and techniques from the methodology to create a customer-focused operation where CX is a top concern.
Decades of research have proven that Lean Six Sigma tools are beneficial to all areas of an organization, Katrina Schiedemeyer, customer experience and innovation manager at Publicis Sapient, told CMSWire, including CX. “By transforming these tools to the CX industry, organizations will be able to leverage existing knowledge to improve the customer’s experience,” she said.
Many companies already have put Lean Six Sigma to work in the area of customer satisfaction. One of the most famous examples is Amazon, where the company’s “working backwards” philosophy mirrors the tenets of Lean Six Sigma.
The Importance of Customer Experience
The term customer experience refers to the impression a consumer has of a company’s brand, products and services at every step of the buyer’s journey. It covers everything from the point of first contact, often through an advertisement, until the final purchase of a product, its performance and the after-purchase service provided.
Customer experience has a direct impact on the bottom line. A satisfied customer has a higher chance to come back later to make another purchase. That kind of loyalty forms the foundation of every successful business. It’s also far less costly to keep a loyal customer than it is to attract a new one.
Loyal customers also provide something of priceless value to a business – promoting a company’s products and services to another person. This word-of-mouth marketing is highly effective and much sought-after by marketing professionals.
Lean Six Sigma Focuses on Customers
Through every step of the customer journey, application of Lean Six Sigma can help CX efforts. These include the most important “touch points” in the customer journey, those involving product performance and customer service.
Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variation and eliminating efforts that lead to product defects. Lean focuses on eliminating waste and creating a process that is focused on the experience of end users. In both, the goal is to create more efficient, effective processes that improve the value to customers while reducing the costs to businesses.
Much of what happens in Lean Six Sigma is customer focused. For example, the Toyota Production System, considered the originator of many Lean practices, strives to make every aspect of the operation focus on the customer. That includes vehicle design, components, options, marketing, customer service, and advertisements. Actions that don’t provide value to customers are eliminated.
Lean Six Sigma Tools For Improved Customer Experience
CMSWire suggests two tools for companies to use to improve customer experience, although many more might come into play, such as fishbone diagrams to solve operational challenges.
Regression Analysis
Businesses use regression analysis to identify the root causes of defects, errors and waste. It measures the impact that variables in an operation have on each other, as well as how this impact affects the final product. It’s most associated with the analysis phase of DMAIC, the most often-used of all Six Sigma tools.
Regression analysis seeks to find all the variables that contribute to a final outcome. In the area of CX, regression analysis might consider all the variables involved with making customer service meet expectations. This could include methods of contact, speed of resolution, the interaction experience with a customer service representative, and satisfaction with the solution to the issue. The analysis will discover ways these factors impact each other – for example, the speed of resolution might have a direct correlation to the method of contact. It also will determine the impact of these variables on delivery of the product or service.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
A Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) evaluates a system to determine potential failure points in a system. FMEA ranks these potential failures by likelihood of occurrence as well as severity of outcomes. The idea with FMEA is for organizations to become proactive rather than reactive.
The risk assessment tool can apply to all aspects of CX. For example, FMEA analysis on one single interaction with a customer service representative can identify the areas with the highest risk of leading to the biggest failure. For a phone interaction, they might include efficiency of the automated answering system, length of time on hold, the friendliness of the rep and how well the call either solved the customer’s problem or put them one step closer to a real solution.
As with all types of operations, statistical analysis and Lean Six Sigma strategies can provide answers to companies searching for ways to create better CX operations. The return on investment can be considerable, given the power and impact of a loyal customer base.
