Customer Satisfaction - Key Investment

Published in: American Printer, April 1992

For reasons that are as varied as individuals are different, too many business people "just don't get it." Most still do not accept the fact that there has been a radical change in how the business world works. Not only do they refuse to acknowledge the essence of the issues, but with competitive market pressures mounting, they instead frantically search for "more facts" to support the old paradigms. The best way to illustrate this point is to start with a recognizable icon and then work back to the graphic arts industry specifically. It may be a controversial statement, but the "Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award," in its current format, probably will do more damage than good by misleading management, customers and employees. Not since the Russians shot up Sputnik has our country, in peace time, rallied around such a common purpose — in this case, winning the same award.

If this is a worthy goal, then how can Cadillac receive the Baldridge Award, develop a major ad campaign touting the honor and still not rank higher than No. 8 in the J.D. Powers Customers Satisfaction survey? After cutting through a lot of smoke and mirrors, one finds that only about 250 of the 1,000 points in the Baldridge evaluation focus on customer satisfaction issues. True to American business culture, the bulk of the award focuses on management and systems.

The next example all too often is repeated in management consulting sessions. In a recent instance, a CEO was stirred up when one of his key players complained that selling and customer service (operating and training) costs were running higher than historically acceptable ratios, and higher than in any company in which he'd previously worked.

Given his state, the best way to get the CEO to develop an understanding of the real issue was to fire a series of questions back at him.

Why do your top customers do business with you instead of your competitors? (Can't all of your top customers buy cheaper elsewhere?)

What do your top customers receive that your other clients want more of?

Why focus on sales and customer service department operating and training costs when profit performance of some jobs for your top customers are 200 percent to 300 percent higher than last year at this time?

If we examined the level of individualized attention and care given to your top customers, would that help us understand more correctly how "to grow" business volumes from other customers?

Another example comes from the recently completed Graphic Arts Sales Foundation Sales (GASF) Institute week at Drexel University in Philadelphia. The grueling class intentionally is limited in size, and quality of personalized marketing and customer-driven training is a guiding theme. Attendees ranged in industry experience from one month to 25 years. Some were owners, others were just beginning their sales careers and still others were experienced professionals carrying up to $12 million per year in sales.

It's normal for attendees to ask questions such as, "Where should clients be during a press check?" "How do I build understanding of my customers' expectations?" and "Why don't the old rules still work?"

The answers never are automatic. What works in one situation may be inappropriate in another. One guiding principle, however, is "learning how to build perceived value according to your customers' business needs and expectations." This includes working organizationally, across departments, and constantly training as a team to meet your clients' expectations.

The problem in the U.S. business community isn't insufficient focus on costs. It also isn't that the Japanese know how to build better cars and electronic equipment. Obviously, they have the same technology we have, and a lot fewer resources.

The critical issue is Japan's key resource — its people. They have been trained in the importance of constantly understanding, serving and delighting customers. Organizationally, they understand sales and profit growth result form constantly building perceived customer value.

When will we recognize that training and developing all human resources toward constantly improving customer satisfaction is the key (if not critical) investment our companies can make in themselves?

As a closing footnote, if you're wondering why a $12-million-a-year sales rep was at the GASF Sales Institute, here's the answer: "In all sincerity," he revealed, "I don't want to be another run-of-the-mill $10- to $15-million-a-year sales rep. I want to improve myself and my performance."

For some reason, we never have focused on statistical process controls in the sales institute's marketing training. It doesn't seem appropriate. In the graphic arts marketplace, customers have individualized, changing development needs.