How to improve your Customer Service by applying Lean Management

In today’s competitive markets, many organizations are fully aware that exceptional customer service is more than just a value-add. Customers expect that customer service is well organized, efficiently set up and fully supportive to each and any customer request. Lean management principles can help in optimizing existing processes. Whereas in the manufacturing industry, lean management focuses on maximizing value while minimizing waste, it is not often implemented in service organizations to improve customer service processes.

Here are some ideas and a number of steps on how you can implement lean management to elevate your customer service. And SAP C4C Service Cloud is a good way of capturing the required data as a base for this analysis within lean management.

Lean management is mainly applied in production and manufacturing processes. However is also possible to apply it within service processes. I am sure that many of us can bring up some inefficient processes within your organization. But the question is how to find these? Via a step by step approach you can come to the core of the improvement. Let me explain the approach via the following flow:

1. Understand the needs and map your value stream of the customer service processThe first steps when applying lean management is to determine what the value is of your customer service process for YOUR CUSTOMERS! Often written down in VOC’s (Voice of the Customer) and CTQ’s (Critical to Quality). The VOC is what the customer really says and the CTQ is a translation of the wish into measurable entities.

Now we need to understand what steps are executed in the customer service operations. This is the value stream of your customer service operations. A value stream is the entire flow of activities required to deliver a service to a customer, from the initial contact to the resolution of the issue.

In order to get an idea about the key players in the customer service  operation you can make use of a SIPOC (Supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer). A good way of working in order to define this SIPOC is swimming back in the process and asking yourself what is needed for this particular step. So for example what output from a process is needed for a customer? For example a correct answer to a question within 2 minutes after calling (a measurable CTQ 😊).

The process in this SIPOC can be visualized and optimized via a VSM (Value Stream Map). To map your value stream, you need to identify all the steps that are actually done (so not theoretically needed) in your customer service process and evaluate how each step contributes to customer satisfaction. By doing this, you can visualize the process, identify bottlenecks or wastes and pinpoint non-value-adding activities—such as redundant paperwork, unnecessary approvals, or long waiting times.

For example, if customers frequently experience delays while waiting for a response, it could indicate an inefficiency in the process or the assignment of inquiries to agents. Mapping these steps allows you to see where improvements can be made.

2. Eliminate waste

Once you’ve mapped your value stream, the next step is to eliminate waste. In lean management, waste is anything that does not add value to the customer. There are eight types of waste typically identified in lean, easy to remember via the acronym TIM WOODS. It contains the unnecessary type of wastes that are taken in the process. You really need to check whether an activity adds value.

In a customer service context, common wastes include long hold times, repetitive work, and unnecessary approvals or checks. To eliminate these, focus on streamlining processes, automating routine tasks, and empowering frontline employees to resolve issues without excessive escalation.

For instance, if customers are consistently placed on hold for long periods, it may be necessary to reallocate resources or improve training to ensure that agents can handle inquiries more efficiently. By removing such wastes, you not only speed up service but also improve the overall customer experience.

Especially when analyzing data from throughput times of calls, you can look for anomality’s in these times. Many of our customers capture these data in the systems. It would be good to analyze these figures, check the steps carried out and ask yourself whether these steps are required and are adding value.

3. Empower Your Employees

Lean management emphasizes the importance of involving employees in the improvement process. Your customer facing employees are the ones interacting with customers daily, making them invaluable sources of insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Encourage a culture of continuous improvement where employees feel empowered to suggest changes and take ownership of their work. Regularly ask for feedback from your customer service team on the challenges they face and the tools they need to perform better.

For example, you might implement regular team meetings to discuss issues and brainstorm solutions, or create a system for employees to submit suggestions anonymously. When employees are empowered, they are more likely to take the initiative, leading to quicker problem resolution and a more proactive approach to customer service.

4. Implement Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)

Kaizen, or continuous improvement, is a core principle of lean management. It involves making small, incremental changes to improve processes over time. In customer service, this could mean regularly reviewing performance metrics, customer feedback, and service outcomes to identify areas for improvement.

To implement Kaizen, start by setting up these process steering metrics for monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) such as first call resolution, customer satisfaction scores, and response times in Service Cloud. Regularly review these metrics to spot trends and opportunities for improvement.

Encourage your team to be part of this process by holding regular improvement meetings where everyone can contribute ideas. Over time, these small changes can lead to significant enhancements in your customer service quality.

5. Measure, adapt and remove variability in your customer service process

Finally, lean management is an iterative process. After implementing changes, it’s crucial to measure their impact and adapt as needed. Use customer feedback, employee input, and performance data to evaluate the effectiveness of your improvements.

For example, after reducing hold times, you should monitor whether customer satisfaction has improved. If not, further adjustments may be necessary. The goal is to create a cycle of continuous improvement where you consistently refine your processes based on real-world outcomes.

During measurement, one of the aspects is to keep track of the variability in your process. Are these call handling times stable per type of call or is there too much variability that leads to unpredictable processes and therefore for example longer waiting times? In Service Cloud the data is present. It is a matter of improving your data and analyzing this….

Conclusion

Applying lean management principles to your customer service operations can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction. By understanding your value stream, eliminating waste, empowering employees, and embracing continuous improvement, you can create a more responsive, effective, and customer-focused service environment. Service Cloud in C4C can deliver you the raw figures, but only when setting it up correctly (define your VOC supporting metrics (CPQ) upfront) and when you are able to analyze this in a way that it will help your customer. And a happy customer leads to a happy delivering organization.

Triggered by above thoughts on how you can use the data in Service Cloud, please drop me a message!

Mischa Tissen
mischa.tissen@acorel.nl