How do you leverage lean principles to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty?

Many customers know what they want. Others don't Make a note of the uncertainty in the environment. To what extent do customers need to be educated about how your product benefits them?

Nailing down a customer painpoint. Identifying value stems from understanding a customer's painpoint and providing an executable practical solution for him/her. The painpoint stems from Maslow Heirachy of Needs and iterating with them to give them in a reasonable time.

One thing I have found very helpful is that after the analysis of your survey or interview data, follow up with customer for validation. Voice of the customer is very important to the success of the business because it helps keep focus on what the customer is willing to pay for (value).

One of the best interpretations of these principles in relation to the customer I have ever seen was presented by Alex Hormozi in one of his books. It is a part of what he calls "The Value Equation". It goes like this: (DREAM OUTCOME * PERCIEVED LIKELYHOOD OF ACHIEVEMENT) / (TIME DELAY * EFFORT & SACRIFICE) = VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER We are trying to maximize the Dream Outcome and Percieved Likelihood of Achievement and we are trying to minimize the Time Delay and Effort & Sacrifice of the customer to get the highest possible Value. Lean principles can help us with all four but the mainly with the Time Delay. It is often overlooked but by getting it as close as possible to zero we are creating a tremendous value for customer.

Why can't I grow my product? Sadly, these are the indicators most organizations overlook. The lean principles tenet involves identifying which efforts produce waste and which produce value. Here are the metrics that can help you: → A good indicator of satisfaction is the NPS score. → A good indication of loyalty is retention. I would track those metrics and identify what efforts produce the most value then double down on those efforts.

Traditionally, value stream mapping focuses on internal processes. But by overlaying the customer journey onto this map, we gain valuable insights. Here's what you can do: Identify customer touchpoints: Pinpoint every interaction a customer has throughout the value stream, from initial awareness to post-purchase experience. Map the emotional journey: Consider how each touchpoint impacts customer emotions (frustration, delight, etc.). Are there any gaps or inconsistencies in the customer experience? Prioritize improvements: Focus on streamlining and optimizing touchpoints that have the biggest impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Value stream mapping is about creating a customer journey that fosters delight and loyalty!

One effective helpfulness of a value stream map I have seen is that it keeps checks and balances throughout the entire process. It maintains focus on takt time and by doing so, waste and non value added activities can easily be identified and eliminated.

One thing I have found very helpful in waste elimination is that during by applying the right tools like; -Pareto analysis helps prioritize the few causing the most waste in the process. Reduces guest work and focus resources where more value will be added. -5 Whys helps in performing root cause analysis which leads to the identification of the root cause of the waste.

My go to tool when working with service based businesses to eliminate waste is the Eisenhower Matrix. It can help to visualize where the waste really happens for each individual in the company. It can be very helpful to get each team member to work on the right things from the Pareto point of view. Talking about 80/20 Pareto rule, your 20% is most likely not the 20% of someone else in your company.

Lean principles, originally developed for manufacturing efficiency, can be remarkably effective when applied to customer-centric businesses. Allow value to flow seamlessly and continuous without distraction is an important principle of Lean. Visualizing the flow in a kanban board helps identify bottlenecks to take necessary actions to balance the flow. Look at the stages where large queues are building up, how is the team spending time in flow state of uninterrupted time or is the team having the switch context frequently by working on too many items, and resulting in delay in the flow and value delivery. Align production closely with demand to ensure customers receive products when they need them. and reduces waste and impede flow

I imagine flow as an engine driving a machine that manufactures customer satisfaction, not just the product. There are many methods to analyse it (e.g. Kanban boards, pull systems etc.) Flow can be powerful as it can- Reduced Lead Times: Flow minimizes delays, ensuring customers receive products or services faster, exceeding their expectations. Improved Quality: Flow eliminates bottlenecks that can lead to defects, delivering a consistently high-quality experience. Enhanced Responsiveness: Flow allows for quicker adaptation to changing customer needs, demonstrating responsiveness and building trust.

Imagine your production floor resembling a well-stocked supermarket. Customers (both internal and external) "pull" what they need, when they need it, triggering a restocking process. Empowered Teams: Teams work in smaller batches, focused on immediate customer needs, fostering a sense of ownership and agility. Improved Visibility: Kanban boards or similar visual tools display inventory levels and customer requests, promoting transparency and collaboration. Rapid Response: "Pull" signals trigger immediate replenishment, minimizing lead times and ensuring products are readily available. By leveraging the this, lean principles go beyond just reacting to customer demand. They empower customers to shape the value creation process.

This can be a trap when not evaluated properly. Everything has its limits. Even Lean. It is really important to make sure the perfection pursuit is not costing us more than it is bringing. There is always a certain point when this happens thus everyone has to be aware of the possibility we might be getting there. Always analyze the ROI of any proposed change. It is really challenging to do so from the long-term effect point of view but has to be done. One great example is workforce reduction. People can get more effective only to the certain point. It can hurt the progress after certain point. But it is really tricky to see upfront.

This looks like a 101 regurgitation of Lean Thinking 5 principles of Lean. Mapping the value stream is only a very small step in organising the value stream. If your organisation is poorly aligned, it needs addressing because you will not have Flow in it and it will be pointless trying to create Flow in an organisation that is designed for batches.