Voice of the Customer
As a rule, the Voice of the Customer (VoC) is typically rendered as the process that involves identifying and retrieving the information regarding the target audience’s preferences and dislikes so that the product designed by the company could meet the clients’ expectations. Though rather basic, the concept of Voc plays an instrumental role in the success of a company. Helping the firm determine the standards acceptable in the identified market, VoC serves as the tool for improving the quality of the product and designing the required marketing and pricing strategies.
For example, a survey carried out online to locate the trends in the modern customer community can be viewed as an attempt to hear the VoC. Similarly, a questionnaire sent to the clients of a service provider after addressing a particular problem can be interpreted as a means of locating the VoC. Finally, by creating a site where people may leave their complaints, requests, and other types of feedback, one is likely to collect the information that will help determine the necessary VoC and, therefore, identify the quality standards that will have to be followed (Kubiak & Benbow, 2014a).
Kano Model
The framework known as the Kano Model is aimed at improving quality and enhancing customer satisfaction by offering entrepreneurs to consider a five-category approach to classifying clients’ needs. The model includes the following elements:
Must-Be Quality
The must-be quality elements include the quality standards that can be considered as basic and, therefore, must be met at all costs of the product to pass the test and be introduced to the target market. In terms of customer satisfaction, must-be quality elements are the ones the absence of which causes customer dissatisfaction, even though the elements themselves are taken for granted.
One-Dimensional Quality
The identified type of attributes includes the ones the absence of which causes customer dissatisfaction, and the presence of which causes customer satisfaction. In other words, the attributes are recognized by the customer as essential.
Attractive Quality
The elements cause customer satisfaction; however, when not provided, they do not trigger an immediate dissatisfaction. For instance, the customers appreciate Christmas discounts at the end of December and at the beginning of January, but they realize that it would be unreasonable to ask for Christmas discounts in June as well.
Indifferent Quality
The type of elements mentioned above is viewed as neutral from the perspective of customer satisfaction since they do not cause any tangible change in the client’s emotions. For instance, the shift from using plastic packaging to paper or carton one is likely to pass unnoticed by the customers.
Reverse Quality
The Reverse Quality items include improvements that cause customer dissatisfaction. For example, the inclusion of flavors into the cereals that were marketed initially as containing only oats may result in the dissatisfaction of the customers that prefer to add other ingredients to the meal (Kubiak & Benbow, 2014b).
Project Charter
A project charter includes a list of the essential objectives that must be completed by the end of the project to achieve quality improvement. For example, when starting a project aimed at increasing the number of target customers, one may view the processes of marketing research, product rebranding, new marketing strategies development, etc. the elements of a project charter. ( Kubiak & Benbow, 2014c)
Earned Value Method
The earned value method is the approach that helps measure the results of a particular project in a manner as accurate and efficient as possible. For instance, when considering the goal of locating a new marketing strategy, one may apply the EVM framework. The primary steps of the EVM in this scenario will include budgeting the essential costs, as well as detecting the cost variance, scheduled variance, and variance of completion (Pyzdek & Keller, 2014).
Reference List
Kubiak, T. M., & Benbow, D. W. (2014a). Chapter 15: Voice of the customer. In The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt handbook. (2nd ed.) (pp. 62-70). Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Press.
Kubiak, T. M., & Benbow, D. W. (2014b). Chapter 16: Project charter. In The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt handbook. (2nd ed.) (pp. 71-74). Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Press.
Kubiak, T. M., & Benbow, D. W. (2014c). Chapter 17: Project tracking. In The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt handbook. (2nd ed.) (pp. 75-78). Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Press.
Pyzdek, T., & Keller, P. (2014). The Six Sigma handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.