Dr. W. Edwards Deming is recognized as one of the foremost experts on quality in US history. His position is that quality is all encompassing and all aspects of business activity affect quality and therefore customer service. He teaches us that in developing strategic business objectives innovation and creativity should be employed in developing new and better methods of service delivery. Further he teaches that advances in customer service are necessary for businesses to achieve success. To truly provide superior customer service we must be creative and introduce improvements that further and further enhance quality in the eyes of the customer. Following are points Dr. Deming espouses on business strategy:
- It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory – In a bit of a sarcastic twist – Dr. Deming espouses the teaching that in business there is no such thing as standing still. You’re either growing or declining. Finding ways to move the business forward should be at the forefront of strategic business objectives.
- We are here to make another world – Advances in quality and customer service excellence are realized through innovation. Continuous improvement in procedures and process flow lead to superior quality in product and service delivery.
- Innovation comes from the producer – not from the customer – Dr. Deming teaches us that advances in quality are the responsibility of the company – not the customer. Customers may tell us what they dislike and provide us with opportunities to improve. They may also provide constructive suggestions on how to provide better service. But how to achieve improvements is incumbent on the service provider.
- Customer expectations? Nonsense. No customer ever asked for the electric light, the pneumatic tire, the VCR, or the CD. All customer expectations are only what you and your competitor have led him to expect. He knows nothing else – In seeking new and better ways to deliver service to our customers we need to be cognizant of the expectations we set and ensure that higher levels of quality are sustainable. If we set high expectations the delivery of that level of quality should be inherent in our processes and procedures.
