RE: Customer satisfaction, 2 questions

["Ilkin Balta" <ilkinbalta@ultratv.net>]

In a message dated 5/9/2001 5:50 PM  June Darling, Ph.D <Drbuggins@aol.com>
writes about three scenarios and then concudes:

>> In all 3 of these scenarios, it seems it is the customer whose needs must
be met, the providers must change their conceptions of quality, but they
aren't proud of their product.  How is this tension between what the
customer perceives as quality and what the provider sees as quality
resolved? ... This matters very much for those of us who want to assist
providers in monitoring and interpreting customer satisfaction as well as
the processes toward achieving customer satisfaction and the creation of
quality.  So, again, who do you think REALLY "holds" the quality
specifications?  <<

For Dr Darling's First Scenario : Apparently not all managers are aligned
fully with respect to the AOL's management policy to satisfy Customers. AOL
executives should beforehand understand what the customer perceives as
quality and make sure that this is exactly turned to be "what the provider
sees as quality". As Dr.Darling stated " .. providers must change their
conceptions of quality" and of course the Executives should get their people
a priori "being proud of their product"... This essential principle of
"maintaining to be driven by the the Customer" may not be not be percieved
fully. So, people are to be trained and motivated and aligned for
improvement by the Management (Deming Point #12 and #14).

2nd Scenario : Presumably this comes out after the Principal's thinking of
improvement opportunities over the results including the parents survey. The
Principal, as provider, thinks a solution which parents would not prefer,
perhaps reject. Then comes Dr Darlings question "Who holds the quality
specifications?" My answer is 'the Customer awareness'. So the Principal, as
responsible provider (and community Leader), should look at his/her solution
as a project, only to be approved and funded out of the budget, to be
developped to some extent and used in the awareness program phase of the
project with expectations of positive turns. What if not so positive turns ?
Well, the Customer is again right this time, untill next time. So, some can
and may not accept the point in the much said "Customer is always right!"
because it dictates something on the product, on the " solution provided for
betterment" which sometimes may not keep balancing the customers'
satisfaction on their wide range of requirements and expectations.

3rd Scenario : Customers buy dental services through insurance companies and
policies may restrict possible level of satisfaction when we consider some
'quality services' offered by some dentists. Are the customers look well
prepared for awareness on these dental services offered? Apparently not, and
perhaps most of them are not at all prepared for anything new except for
cost. So the dentist is not motivated to educate Clients into his ideas
around quality .. and goes oriented towards insurance policies. Then again
comes Dr Darling's question "Who holds the quality specifications?" My
answer is again 'the Customer awareness'. The dentist can and perhaps should
earn his proud, fighting that "uphill battle" of his, for his ideas on
quality, although some would think his interests are solely of his own
rather than theirs. Perhaps this battle may be easily won by Professional
institutions without creating any adverse thought in the minds of the
Customers.

Regards
Dr Ilkin Balta
Istanbul
Turkey