I finished a new book over the weekend and wanted to share my thoughts with you. No, it’s not your typical Lean leadership-focused manual. But it does address what in my mind is one of the most critical aspects of sustainable Lean: actually doing something about the information we obtain when listening to the “voice of the customer.”
The people we do business with constantly tell us that our ability to deliver customer service is critical to their experience of satisfaction with our companies, our products and our services. BAM! Bust A Myth – Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World, by Barry J. Moltz and Mary Jane Grinstead, clearly and effectively communicates how each organization competing in today’s market place can develop its individual definition of “good customer service” and then put into practice those systems and processes which help make it a reality.
Barry and Mary Jane demonstrate that no matter what our business, be it manufacturing energy saving solar panels, flying passenger airplanes, or conducting executive searches for Lean CEOs, delivering customer service which is appropriately tailored to the needs of each of our unique customers is at the core of our long-term viability and success.
In this quick and easy-to-read text (just over 200 pages), the authors dispel many of the common customer service myths that many early entrepreneurs, and even Fortune 1000 companies, often cling to - many times because the fog of anecdotal “evidence” overwhelms the truth. Some examples I like are: Myth #2: The customer is always right; Myth #10: Unhappy customers tell their stories to more people than happy customers do; Myth #12: Customers don’t care about great service - they just want the lowest price possible; and perhaps my personal favorite, Myth #17: Customer service systems should focus on trouble shooting – if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
This last Myth personally hit home because of my own strong belief in the Lean & Six Sigma principles which are at the core of continuous improvement philosophy and culture so necessary today if our companies are to thrive in this competitive market place. In fact, Barry and Mary Jane strongly advocate at every turn that you go see for yourself what’s really happening on the front lines of your business (in Lean terminology, “go to the Gemba, or workplace”), a concept so familiar to Lean practitioners all over the world.
In summary, BAM! is: well-written with a light touch of humor, offers good insights into situations to which we can all relate, and presents practical suggestions for solving a broad range of customer service issues.
And that’s the way I see it. Adam Zak
Adam, just read the book as well based on your suggestion. We’re going to build in some of these ideas into our service/admin standard work. Thanks for posting about it and tying in to Lean.