The primary goal of Lean Six Sigma implementation is to maximize customer value. If you achieve this goal, nothing can stop the growth of your business. Essentially, customer value is about product quality, price, and speed. But it is also about delivering exceptional service to your buyers. Thankfully, lean management covers you on all fronts. Its principles can make your business more customer-focused and give it a competitive advantage. Let us highlight the lean principles that take customer services a notch higher.
Focus on the buyer
The lean approach focuses on customers, ensuring that every single interaction delivers respect and satisfaction. It educates employees to provide helpful and sincere service so that every buyer feels special. They should aim at listening carefully and resolving concerns with satisfactory solutions. The mindset can help you build long-term relationships with your buyers. They are crucial for driving retention for the business. Additionally, it sets your brand apart in the competitive landscape.
Prioritize customer experience
Apart from going the extra mile with customer service, Six Sigma also emphasizes their experience. Value stream mapping empowers your team to create a workflow for the processes that impact the buyers directly. It enables them to optimize the process flow to deliver the best possible experience from start to end. For example, the automation of the call center process can reduce the average response time for callers and enhance their experience.
Be proactive, not reactive
With lean management methodology, your employees learn to be proactive rather than reactive. It is one of the key techniques they learn as a part of Six Sigma Certification and training programs. They keep customers at the forefront and foresee their concerns to address them even before something goes wrong. Even if a problem arises, the proactive approach of your team enables them to resolve it right away. It leads to a level of service that ensures top-notch experiences and makes for loyal, repeat customers for your business.
Eliminate waste
Waste elimination is the core principle of Lean methodology, and it goes a long way toward improving customer service. Employees with relevant skills can steer clear of context switching. It is a proven way to reduce waste in internal processes. Your team becomes more productive when they get to focus on one task at a time. Eliminating context switching in customer service leads to a smooth and consistent experience they appreciate. It may mean reducing the number of call transfers during the call transfer process or clicks for closing an online purchase.
Shorten feedback loops
A lean approach can also help you cut short the customer service feedback loops. You can provide feedback to the appropriate teams right away, and they can act on the inputs. The value of feedback is immense, as the respective teams can use it for product improvements and creating a knowledge base for the support team. Consider it a continuous improvement process for the business because it strengthens customer service in the long run.
Lean principles can serve as the foundation of a successful customer service experience. Apart from putting them into practice, be honest and transparent with your interactions and make genuine efforts to help the customers.