What it Takes to Obtain Complete Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction is key for a long lasting business relationship.
Completing the last 5% of any supply chain initiative is what separates a “one-time vendor” with a “career-long solution provider/partner”. From the vendors perspective, you would think customer satisfaction is common sense since a successful completion of a project is imperative to securing any future business with a client, but so many companies overlook the small details at the end of a project.
Free Guide: Top Order Fulfillment KPI Indicators
For most, the first 95% of any installation can be daunting, but when it comes to the final 5% at the end of the Design Build proverbial “punch list”, companies simply overlook finishing tasks in light of preserving time and money. For example, taxing the stress of a system during acceptance testing to expose problems that may arise during peak performance and resolving those problems in a proactive way to reassure the client of 100% project completion.
Smaller things such as providing maintenance training, operational training, and safety training are vital to aligning all of the system’s stakeholders and transitioning ownership of the project to the client. Compiling a list of vendor contact information and including it in a Maintenance Manual to reference in the future when maintenance or troubleshooting assistance is required. These types of items may seem like minor details to most, but when overlooked, they can impact customer satisfaction and possibly system ROI.
This is hard to believe for most material handling companies because in their mind they have put together a great system that works well for the customer. Their downfall is that they never quite complete the last 5% of those minor things; for example: like misaligned conveyor transfers or diverts that can cause cartons to get stuck or disoriented. Usually items like this are missed because they have already moved onto the next job and that will end up haunting the customer and system provider for years.
This last 5% is one of the most important parts of the system installation. The first 95% doesn’t matter unless the system is running flawlessly when you leave the job site. The goal of any material handling company is to do a complete job on all phases of the system. Through our 35+ years of experience, if you clean up the last 5% of the job properly, the customer’s satisfaction and a lifelong customer relationship will be ensured.
