CASES - The State University Experience Revisited

Refer back to the State University Experience case. As a consultant to this institution, outline a plan to improve the design of the student experience. Draw upon ideas presented in this chapter, such as Motorola's approach to process design and the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology. Present your findings in a neatly organized report.

Welz Business Machines-

Welz Business Machines sells and services a variety of copiers, computers, and other office equipment. The company receives many calls daily for service, sales, accounting, and other departments. All calls are handled centrally by customer service representatives and routed to other individuals as appropriate.

A number of customers had complained about long waits when calling for service. A market research study found that customers became irritated if the call was not answered within five rings. Scott Welz, the company president, authorized the customer service department manager, Tim, to study this problem and find a method to shorten the call-waiting time. Tim met with the service representatives who answered the calls to attempt to determine the reasons for long waiting times. The following conversation ensued:

TIM: This is a serious problem. How a customer phone inquiry is answered is the first impression the customer receives from us. As you know, this company was founded on efficient and friendly service to all our customers. It's obvious why customers have to wait: You're on the phone with another customer. Can you think of any reasons that might keep you on the phone for an unnecessarily long time?

ROBIN: I've noticed quite often that the person to whom I need to route the call is not present. It takes time to transfer the call and to see whether it is answered. If the person is not there, I end up apologizing and transferring the call to another extension.

TIM: You're right, Robin. Sales personnel often are out of the office on sales calls, away on trips to preview new products, or away from their desks for a variety of reasons. What else might cause this problem?

RAVI: I get irritated at customers who spend a great deal of time complaining about a problem that I cannot do anything about except refer to someone else.

Of course, I listen and sympathize with them, but this eats up a lot of time.

LAMARR: Some customers call so often, they think we're long-lost friends and strike up a personal conversation.

TIM: That's not always a bad thing, you realize.

LAMARR: Sure, but it delays my answering other calls.

NANCY: It's not always the customer's fault. During lunch, we're not all available to answer the phone.

RAVI: Right after we open at 9 A.M., We get a rush of calls. I think that many of the delays are caused b. these peak periods.

ROBIN: I've noticed the same thing between 4 and 5 P.M.

TIM: I've had a few comments from department managers who received calls that didn't fall in their areas of responsibility and had to be transferred again.

MARK: But that doesn't cause delays at our end.

NANCY: That's right, Mark, but I just realized that sometimes I simply don't understand what the customer's problem really is. I spend a lot of time trying to get him or her to explain it better. Often, I have to route it to someone because other calls are waiting.

RAW: Perhaps we need to have more knowledge of our products.

TIM: Well, I think we've covered most of the major reasons why many customers have to wait. It seems to me that we have four major reasons: the phones are short-staffed, the receiving party is not present, the customer dominates the conversation, and you may not understand the customer's problem. Next we need to collect some information about these possible causes. I will set up a data collection sheet that you can use to track some of these things. Mark, would you help me on this?

Over the next two weeks, the staff collected data on the frequency of reasons why some callers had to wait. The results are summarized as follows:

Reason                                                Total number

Operators short-staffed                              172
Receiving party not present                         73
Customer dominates conversation               19
Lack of operator understanding                   61
Other reasons                                           10

Discussion Questions-

1. From the conversation Between Tim and his staff, draw a cause-and-effect diagram.

2. Perform a Pareto analysis of the data collected.

3. What actions might the company take to improve the situation?