Customer satisfaction is a key component of TQM philosophy

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Total Quality Management is defined as a strategy for improving business performance through the commitment and involvement of all employees to fully satisfying agreed customer requirements, at the optimum overall costs, through the continuous improvement of the products and services, business processes and people involved.

The concept of Total Quality Management can be expressed as Achieving success through delighting the customers. Customers here may include the internal user, the external customer or end-user, together with the other stakeholders, i.e.

• shareholders
• employees
• suppliers

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

Total Quality Management Philosophy is a wide management approach aimed at achieving long-term success with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management depends on the participation of all members of an organization to improve processes, products, services, and their work culture.

It is also the management of total quality. It is called total because it tries to achieve the Quality in satisfying the needs of the shareholders, the Quality of products and services to satisfy or exceed the consumer's needs and the Quality of not only the professional but also the personal life of the members of the organization.

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DEFINITION OF CUSTOMER

There are two distinct types of customers i.e. external and internal. Internal customers are within the company-the colleagues working together for delivering a service or product for the external customer.

 An external customer may be an individual or an enterprise that hires or purchases the product(s) or service(s) from another person or business  in exchange of money.

One of the most important factors for the success of an enterprise is its customers. Without them, a business cannot exist. But to capture customers, a business must try to find out what people want, how much and how often they will buy and how their post-purchase satisfaction will be ensured.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

It refers to the  measure of how products and  defined as  the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals.

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.

Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective.

Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying.

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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION METHODS

1. Encouraging Face-to-Face Dealings with customers.

This is the most daunting and downright scary part of interacting with a customer. If you are not used to this sort of thing it can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience. Rest assured, though, it does get easier over time. Its important to meet the customers face to face at least once or even twice during the course of a project.

In doing so, the client finds it easier to relate to and work with someone they have actually met in person, rather than a voice on the phone or someone typing into an email or messenger program. When you do meet them, be calm, confident and above all, take time to ask them what they need.

2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep The Clients Informed

This goes without saying really. We all know how annoying it is to wait days for a response to an email or phone call. It might not always be practical to deal with all customers queries within the space of a few hours, but at least email or call them back and let them know you have received their message and you will contact them about it as soon as possible. Even if you are not able to solve a problem right away, let the customer know you are working on it.

3. Being friendly and approachable by customers.

Its very important to be friendly, courteous and to make your clients feel like you are their friend and you are there to help them out. There will be times when you want to beat your clients over the head repeatedly with a blunt object  it happens to all of us. Its vital that you keep a clear head, respond to your clients wishes as best you can, and at all times remain polite and courteous.

4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service Policy

This may not be too important when you are just starting out, but a clearly defined customer service policy is going to save a lot of time and effort in the long run. If a customer has a problem, what should they do? If the first option doesn't work, then what? Should they contact different people for billing and technical enquiries? If they are not satisfied with any aspect of your customer service, who should they tell?

APPROACHES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

Regular customer feedback system.

This involves allowing communication from your customers through emails, suggestion boxes. One should keep all documents and send copies to the person who made the complain.

Market research.

This is done to understand your customers better. This can be done through sampling a few customers using appropriate sampling techniques and a detailed study is conducted on their likes and dislikes.

New or last customer survey.

These are useful ways of finding out what attracts customers to the organization and indeed why they left.

Focus groups.

This is intended to know what customers are thinking. A group of customers is assembled in a meeting to answer a series of questions.

Customer visits.

This involves making visits to the customers premises to collect information. These are meant to know how the product or service is performing.

Front line personnel.

This is the use of employees who are in direct contact with customers to understand the customers expectations. These employees should be trained on how to carry out this task.

Critical incidents technique.

This attempts to identify issues that delight the customer and those that satisfy them.

Customer satisfaction performance measures.

�  Product reliability. Customers surveys can collect competitive data on percent defectives on arrival and also percentage annual failure rate.

�  Ease of use. Data on confusion rating and competitive data can be collected by customers surveys.

�  Availability of dealers and retailers. Products and accessory availability percentage, percentage of an initial delivery and speed of delivery after order.

�  Documentation. Customer surveys competitive data, customer helpline etc.

�  Price and cost of ownership repair cost.

�  Customer complaints and feedback. Type, number, comparison.

�  Environment friendly products. Recyclable parts and consumer agency approval data can be collected and performance measured.

WAYS OF ENHANCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

�         Measure and monitor customer satisfaction continuously (trends, problems).

�         Establish and maintain contact with customers

�         Focus on and analyze process for successful customer orientation.

�         Promote a cultural empowerment, leadership and customer care.

�         Develop a commitment of trust, confidence and commitment to customers. Develop the product or service delivery system to meet customers needs.

�         Provide education and training to the employees.

�         Honour the promises made to the customers.

DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Key Indicators for Physical Products

• Reliability
• Aesthetics
• Adaptability
• Usability
• Functionality
• Appropriateness

Key Indicators for Services

• Friendliness/courteousness of employees
• Safety/risk of service
• Billing/invoicing procedure
• Responsiveness to requests
• Appearance of physical facilities
• Approachability of the service provider
• Willingness to listen to customer
• Honesty and an ability to communicate in clear language

EXTERNAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

An external customer is one who isn't a part of an organization, rather is one who receives service or product from the organization. They are the ones who pay for a service or product and can make or break an organization. They have a choice. If a particular product or service does not please them, they can easily find another company that offers a better product or services. Quality must be incorporated into all activities with a clear customer focus. Customers usually compare perceptions of what they actually received from the organization with their expectations (what they were expecting to get from the organization).

Customer delight arises when perceptions exceed expectations. External customer satisfaction shows the extent to which the organization;

�         Uses methods for determining and monitoring external customer's perceived quality and value.

�         Uses customer feedback to improve product/service quality.

�         Handles complaints, resolves them, and uses complaint information for quality improvement and prevention of recurrence of problems.

�         Measures performance against customer targets.

�         Compares its customer satisfaction results with that of main competitors.

INTERNAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

An internal customer can be anyone within an organization. It could be another department, another branch or even a co-worker. Getting the internal relationships working is essential if external customers are to be satisfied. Every single person in the organization has an effect on the external customers. Internal co-operation needs to be stimulated to enhance organizational performance. The most effective leadership style tends to give high importance to teams and employee participation.

A summary of steps to improve Internal Customer Satisfaction is given below

• Treat employees as you would treat your customers. They are valuable members of your organization and they must feel important for the organization.
• Share your vision  Communicating the company's vision with the employees will make them feel a part of the company. It can help them align their goals with those of the company.
• Surpass their expectations. To make your employees happy, offer unexpected gifts or bonuses, arrange team parties, take them out for a team lunch or dinner, etc.
• Take feedback and suggestions. To better understand your employees; you must know what they feel about their jobs, or their work environment.
• Show appreciation for good work  Appreciate a good work done.

CONCLUSION

Customer satisfaction is not an objective statistics but more of a feeling or attitude. It enhances customer loyalty, which is the feeling of attachment to or affection for a company's people, product or services. If a customer is happy with a product or a service it has hired or purchase they will pay their bills promptly, which greatly improves cash flow-the lifeblood of any organization. Customers that are satisfied will increase in number, buy more, and buy more frequently. By delighting the customer you can turn satisfied customers into loyal customers. Loyalty generates repeated purchases and increased revenues, thus leading to organizational excellence. Employee satisfaction is needed to support continuous improvement and external customer satisfaction. Delighted employees who feel proud of their work have an outstanding performance, thus having a positive impact on business excellence.