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These days, the customer-centric label is being applied to more and more IT organizations. It seems that just about every CIO I talk to believes that he sits atop a customer-centric organization. But in reality, few IT organizations are truly customer-centric. Most are what I call customer-aware. That is, they have a pretty good idea of what their customers want, but they aren't prepared to deliver on those wishes. Before you brand your IT organization as customer-centric, take a look at some attributes of customer-centric IT groups and make sure you and your shop are really prepared to live up to the high expectations you'll be setting.

· A customer-centric IT organization defines, markets and sells its services from the customers' point of view. To be truly customer-centric, the IT group has to be known and valued by the rest of the organization. This means that IT can't be the modern-day equivalent of the "guys in the basement." IT services must be recognizable to clients, and IT must offer something that clients are willing to pay for. If your company were about to outsource an IT service, such as desktop support, the prospective IT services provider would come in with a very clear description of what it does, the value it would bring to your organization and the costs. An internal IT group must do the same if it wishes to be seen as customer-centric.

· A customer-centric IT organization never says no. I still meet many CIOs who believe it's their job to be the gatekeeper, hall monitor or equivalent person in their organizations. These well-meaning people actually tell their customers no all the time. No, you can't have that software. No, we can't meet that deadline. No, we can't provide that service. In the customer-centric IT organization, "no" is not in the vocabulary. Anything can be done -- at a cost. Customer-centric IT organizations control demand by using a financial model that helps customers balance the costs and benefits of their requests. In other words, instead of saying no, they let the customer decide whether a particular product or service passes the cost-benefit test.

HDI Insider Are you customer centric »

Customer Satisfaction Myths by Aale Roos

Myth #2: Satisfaction is not enough; you need to WOW your customers. You need to keep your customers reasonably happy but there is no need to go out on a limb every time. Customers are, in fact, pretty unfaithful. There is very little evidence that customer satisfaction is related to profitability. Let's say you need a new set of tires for your car. You were very pleased with your last visit to a friendly dealer. They were nice to you and gave you a free soda and a little gadget. But, you notice that another dealer is selling the same stuff at a significantly lower price. So, off you go. If your help desk customers are satisfied with the answers they get, they'll probably be back. It's great if you get a few "wows" in now and then, but there is no way you can do it every time or for every customer.

Myth #3: There is a true value of customer satisfaction, which you can measure if you do it correctly. Customer satisfaction is a moving target. You can measure it very precisely, but it will change soon after you have measured it. It's like measuring temperature. If you are going out, it is important to know if the temperature is in the upper 70's or lower 30's, but in most situations it is quite irrelevant to know whether it is 76.5 or 76.7. I'm not saying that it is not important to correctly measure customer satisfaction. But if you want an exact measurement, it takes time and it will be necessary to define exactly what you are measuring. If not done correctly, it can be a waste of time and energy. Customer satisfaction measurement takes money, time and effort. If you use your entire budget on one huge survey, twelve months later you will know where you were 12 months earlier. If you spread the budget to make a series of smaller surveys each month, at the end of the year you know where you are and where you are going.

What's Happening at HDI SPIN WITH HDI on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 1:00 pm Eastern

Ron Muns, CEO and Founder of HDI, will introduce Malcolm Fry and will participate in part of the discussion during this live SPIN web seminar. Don't miss this exciting opportunity to join these two IT service and support industry luminaries during SPIN! Space is limited, but cost is FREE to HDI Silver Members and above. Reserve Your Seats Today Online or call HDI at 800-248-5667.

Learn More About SPIN »

Measuring and Improving Service Processes with Six Sigma By Nari Kannan

Careful Characterization of Defects Another practical issue in Six Sigma measurement of service processes is the careful characterization of what a defect is - qualitative or quantitative. The measurement data can be discrete or continuous depending upon the context. Customer satisfaction when measured qualitatively needs to be converted into an equivalent quantitative measure such as "overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 7." Any score below 6 could be considered a defect in the case of a strong customer service-critical process, while in a less customer service-oriented process a lower score could be acceptable. When considering quantitative measures, the definition of a defect is even more context-sensitive. Newspaper delivery in the morning is expected before a certain cutoff time. Beyond that time, it may not be useful to have morning newspapers delivered. On the other hand, mail that shows up in the mailbox may only need to be timely as in the context of today versus tomorrow. For most Postal Service customers, delivery may not need to be tied to a specific time during the day.

Four Ways to Sensible Measurements Sensible Six Sigma measurement in service processes will be useful and meaningful. Four ways to help ensure sensible measurements are: 1. Use Appropriate Level of Measurement - The measurement needs to be at the right level for it to be meaningful. There are usually many end-to-end processes across organizations. The right level of abstraction is usually necessary for measurement to be meaningful. There could be many intermediate steps and manual steps. Measurement of these process steps at very low levels of detail may not add much value to what is being measured. As in other areas in life, the 80/20 rule applies to service processes - 20 percent of the steps may contribute 80 percent of the time taken to execute service processes, 20 percent of the customers may account for 80 percent of the customer dissatisfaction when qualitative measures are used. Focusing only on some key elements may get you a large percentage of the payoff. Getting into more detail than that usually does not add significant incremental value.

2. Account for Variability - Service processes may have significant variations in how they are executed, depending upon the complexity of the tasks they handle. For example, in the case of automobile insurance underwriting, the underwriter could be considering a run-of-the-mill case such as a regular passenger car for a driver with no accidents on his record. Or it could be a motor home or a customized vehicle that needs to be handled as a special case. Six Sigma assessments of these cases could be significantly different, and the usual measures may not be applicable across both cases. Adjustments may have to be made as to what is being measured and how. 3. Put Strategic Emphasis on Quantitative Versus Qualitative Measures - The right mix of quantitative and qualitative Six Sigma measures is important to get meaningful results. Nordstrom, the apparel store chain, prides itself on the service it provides customers. Qualitative measures may be more important in customer-facing service processes there. Quantitative measures are more important in a company that specializes in quick service, such as a speedy oil change business. 4. Emphasize Management Communication and Support for Change - Service processes, especially on a large scale like insurance claims processing, involve so many different groups of people inside and outside the company that any Six Sigma process improvement could face significant resistance. People involved in executing the same process step for a long time may not know how they fit in the bigger picture. If Six Sigma practitioners suggest process changes, the status quo may be threatened and therefore may need significant management support for implementing changes. This is where information sessions that provide the bigger picture to all those who may be affected by the process changes will help.

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