episode B3.003 Alignment of Processes with Customers

Introduction
Here we are in the last week of July and the first month of the 3rd Quarter is ending - how much closer are you to success?

If you have been with us all month, you know we have been railing against the politicians and bureaucrats for acting arbitrarily in response to the pandemic; and any illusion they are making data-based decisions should have been dispelled by now. This is not about a specific political party or group, it is about the arbitrary use of power at the expense of the most important global community - you.

People like us, Living the Life, employ 57% of the planet's population and yet are treated as the source of its problems. Not here, we celebrate the contribution you make to a better society and our focus is to improve your chances of success. 

This week we continue the new programming structure. We use a Balanced Scorecard to format our weekday shows: Finance (Monday) = Operations (Tuesday) + Sales (Customers) + People (Employees) with Fridays dedicated to Owners. Look at the week this way - Monday through Thursday is working IN the Present, Friday is working ON the Future.

Also, we just built a new community, our version of a Chamber of Commerce. Join Up and gain access to our Hosts and access our library of best practices.

Have a great business week.
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Show Objectives
This is the core of having a Lean perspective of your business. The 2 key objectives are (1) build on demand only, (2) build to customer specifications, not yours.

Key Issues - ​Owner Perspective:

1. Understand what the customer expects from your product/service.
2. Understand how the customer experiences your company.
3. map your process forwards (internal perspective) and then backwards (customer perspective).
4. Add the customers experience map and incorporate with existing maps.
5. Create/update SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) and Position Descriptions to reflect the combined map.

What You Need to Know

• Customer Objectives for your Product/Service - how does it give them a competitive advantage or positive lifestyle image?
• Do you understand the Moments of Truth when the customer is evaluating your business?
• What are your Coffee Stains, those opportunities when the customer can form an opinion about your business?

What You Need to Do​

1. Review your process maps (if completed) by working backwards from the customer.
2. Document how the customer uses your product/service in terms of actual behavior.
3. From the customers receipt of your product/service, whom is the last person in your organization to touch it and what do they do.
4. Continue this process until you reach the sales person whom puts in the order - sold.
5. Keep going, document the steps from the sale to the first touch with this customer understanding what information was shared.
6. Different map, different approach. Starting with the this first marketing collateral, map each touch point the customer had with your organization.
7. Compare the two map and combine into 1 value map.
8. For each of your internal steps create a SOP and Position Description.
9. For each external touchpoint ensure it is incorporated in the corresponding SOP and and included in Position Descriptions.

Shows

• Previous: EPISODE B3.002: PROCESSES UNDER CONTROL, FINALLY!
• Next: EPISODE B3.004 Creating Process Metrics to Manage