Six Sigma has a set of tools for Voice of the Customer, or VOC. These different tools collect different parts of the puzzle, but ultimately have the same goal, which is to make sure you deliver the product or service that your customer requires to be a your satisfied customer.
Why We Need These Tools
There are a few important reasons why the practice of Six Sigma incorporates these tools:
- To determine what is truly important to your customers
- To arrange the end result that is consistent to a customer’s needs
- To estimate how much of the customer’s needs you can fulfill and still make a profit
There are several ways to collect data for the Voice of the Customer:
Interviews: These are used when teams want to really get an understanding of their customer’s needs and how they use the product or service that your business provides. These are professional one-on-one interviews.
Point-of-Use Observation: A way to see the product or service being used by your customer in their natural environment. Through observation, one could gain knowledge to improve the product or service.
Focus Groups: These cover a large group rather than one-on-one interviews, so for that reason alone they seem much more efficient. However, not all participants are truly qualified.
Surveys: These should be used only after other points of contact have been exercised. These are great to confirm findings that have already been established through other means. Surveys are also good at gathering measurable data.
Kano Analysis: This gets down to specifics if your product or service has different features that your customers place value on. This tool helps you understand different levels of values on specific features your customers deem important or unimportant.
This is just an abbreviated example of the Six Sigma VOC. If you would like to dive further into the VOC, take one of our Six Sigma training classes today!
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