UPSIDE DOWN EXCELLENCE

Quality that's simple

Hey Reader

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This process if done correctly will create the most loyal customers.

This method got a client of mine off their customer’s top worst supplier list in <30 days.

You screwed up, now what?

Your customer has bad parts, what are you going to do next?

Here’s the thing:

It’s not the problem that defines us, but how we fix it.

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Did you know Quality is also the customer service department for your company?

Here are the 4 steps to fix customer problems:

1. Listen / Gather info
2. Acknowledge the customer’s pain
3. Offer solutions
4. Implement

Start by putting first things first.

Humans run businesses. Not the other way 'round.

Start by listening. What went wrong? What did that do to the customer? What pain did the issue cause?

Not every customer will want or need this step. But to those that do, this is an important step in building the relationship. Empathize.

Next, you're going to acknowledge and summarize the issue. Your goal is for them to say, “That’s right.” They need to know that you understand them.

Last we’re in the quality professional's wheelhouse. You've gathered the facts and have a well-defined problem, now fix it. The key at this stage is to follow through on your commitments. If you say you will have a plan by Tuesday, you better send the plan on Tuesday.

Pro tip - schedule this stuff on your calendar. If you need an hour to write a report or pull data, make a meeting for just you to block the time off.

How I used this:

I recently worked with a client who was the top worst supplier in 2023. The customer put us on a performance improvement plan (PIP).

Fortunately, this customer gave us a detailed list of all the problems, so there wasn’t any other information to gather from the customer.

I jumped to step 2 and acknowledged the problems and agreed we weren’t meeting expectations. I didn’t have solutions immediately but gave us a clear deadline to come up with a solution.

Here’s my exact email:

“We understand our performance has been below both our expectations, and that has impacted both our operations. Thank you for the data you sent over. We’ll review the data and create a plan to understand where our system has broken down and present our solutions to improve. We’ll have a corrective action plan to you by the end of next week.”

Then it was running a standard 8D problem-solving project. You know the steps:

Analyze the data.

Find the root cause (or in this case causes).

Implement solutions.

Verify the solution.

This customer was so impressed with our response that they closed this PIP in 10 days!

(Internally we kept it open until everything was verified).

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See in business relationships matter. It's what makes things work.

In quality, we can either make or break those relationships.

What are you doing with your customer relationships?

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Still struggling?

This week I'm launching my corrective action reviews, for July they're 50% off.

As part of the email group, you get the discount automatically by booking through Calendly.

Know someone who could use some help? Suppliers, Customers, or friends? Forward them this email.