Focusing on the needs, wants, expectations and perceptions of key customer groups, ensures our efforts provide value. In order to reap the benefits of a "customer focused" approach, we must incorporate the "Voice of the Customer" in our improvement initiatives.

An elemental aspect of initiating a focus on the customer is the identification of the customer(s). Inquiries regarding customer needs, wants, expectations and perceptions as well as identifying other relevant characteristics that may have an impact on product, process or service experience follow. There are other critical activity areas essential to establish value for customers. The following listing includes many of the necessary activities required to maintain focus on customers:

• Use of customer information and data as a means to drive the establishment and attainment of organizational/unit strategic intent and departmental aims;

• The participation of customer representatives as members of a process improvement team or group;

• The collection of customer input/feedback on the nature of an identified issue and its impact;

• Assuring the operational definitions that are utilized to define data are helpful in understanding the customer’s perspective (experience) with a process, service or product as well as identify root causes of issues;

• Use of customer data and information to clarify the potential benefits and/or issues associated with the adoption of specific problem resolution methodologies;

• Use of customer information and data to develop performance measures/indicators;

• Use of customer information and data as a means to determine satisfaction levels with operational characteristics of a process, service or product;

• Use of customer information and data as an aid during the identification and selection of appropriate benchmark and benchmarking data and information;

• Use of customer information and data to aid the development of operational standards for processes, services and products.

The improvement effort scored in the 50% to 60% range will demonstrate systematic, effective approaches to customer focus with achievements in many of the areas listed above depending upon the nature, scope and complexity of the effort. At a minimum, these approaches will use appropriate customer data to understand current process performance levels from the customer’s perspective, to establish performance goals and

indicators/measures, as an aid to root cause identification, as a criteria to aid the identification of appropriate recommendations for improvement, as an aid in the identification and selection of benchmark and benchmarking data and information. Higher scores will result from increased integration as a result of improved analysis based upon experience and cycles of improvement.