When dealing with customers, all interactions cannot be standardized. Similarly, the requirements of customers can differ significantly based on the type of product and the extent of usage of the product by the customer. Short- and long-term training courses are often used to increase worker knowledge of the product or the services being sold to the customer. As product life cycles become shorter, the training needs of the individuals dealing with the customer are also higher. It is observed often, especially with call center-based customer service, that the "interaction between the agent and the customer is divided into "talk, wrap and idle time" is suggestive of task individualization and specialization." (Mulholland, 2002) in this environment, it is difficult to explicitly state if all the needs of the customer have been satisfied based on the format on which the worker is trained.
As with any other quality improvement process in an organization all effort must be made to motivate and nurture the individuals dealing with the change and improvement process. (Harry, 1998)
Conclusion
Six-sigma focused not on purely maintaining standards to that of a competitor but rather on improving the process constantly and effectively to obtain the highest level of perfection. (Douglas and Erwin, 2000) the article reviewed is valuable in the fact that it offers valuable insight to an individual new in the area of six-sigma implementation and customer service. Achieving zero defects in any operation is hard. The task of achieving this level in customer service can challenge even the most effective process.
Bibliography
Aguayo, R. (1990) Dr. Deming: the American who taught the Japanese about quality,...
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