Step 9: Establish Quality Control
The Concept:
The quality of your product and your customer service must be consistently good to stay in business. Quality control systems detect productivity hiccups in every facet of production, marketing and retailing and help a business owner maintain excellence.
What you need to know:
No business can afford to deliver empty promises. As a start-up enterprise, your commitment to the principles of quality control and customer service is critical to future growth. The processes that allow you to deliver on your commitment will help keep your business vibrant. You must install quality control systems to protect and enhance your company’s reputation.
Important components of your quality control plan are implementing steps to empower your employees to excel in customer service and obtaining customer feedback. Consider developing a system for handling complaints and suggestions or conduct annual surveys and customer appreciation events.
Quality processes, discussed in detail in many books on the subject, include:
Quality Teams: Groups of "empowered" employees who are given the responsibility of improving productivity and quality within their areas of expertise. Managers and associates work together in coming up with new ideas and making decisions.
Benchmarking: Referred to as "adopting outstanding and proven practices from any organization, anywhere in the world," which means learning how other firms do the same thing efficiently and borrowing the idea.
Knowledge Management: A strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time, helping them share and put information into action in ways that improve organizational performance. Essentially, creating processes that puts everyone "on the same page" and keeps them there.
Measurement: Objective gauging of quality and performance within a certain area, such as production or customer service. When you phone a product support 800 number and are told "This call may be monitored," you're right in the middle of a quality measurement.
Customer Feedback: A process of obtaining information from your customers to learn their opinion and perspective on what it is like to do business with your company. Examples include customer comment cards, surveys, phone interviews and references.
Points to consider:
What systems are in place to ensure consistent quality products and services?
What preventative maintenance is needed?
Are there relevant quality certifications you could pursue, such as ISO 9000 certification?
Is your staff sufficiently educated and empowered? Is training needed?
Do your production procedures include a quality standard?
Are you incorporating employee and customer feedback in the quality management system?
How does your business know what its customers want and value?
Will your product be of sufficient quality to be viable in the marketplace?
Should you consider other technologies in producing your product or service?
Should you change your product so that quality can be better maintained?
What processes will help your customers and employees provide feedback? |
