Customer Needs, Satisfaction, and Loyalty

Name: Customer Needs, Satisfaction, and Loyalty
Author: Aileen Smith

Explore the Quality Function Deployment process

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Course: On-Demand

Let's imagine that you supplied building materials and you have a few pieces of feedback from your customers to consider. One roofing contractor customer might want you to keep a particular style of roofing shingle in stock because they have a builder who sometimes orders those for his houses. However, if he only orders them once a year, you will have those shingles in inventory and your investment is earning no return. Perhaps you provide some special industrial materials that are popular with certain customers, but they are expensive to make and return little profit. You may decide you want to drop these special materials and your customers will not be happy about that. A few customers mentioned they would like you to offer curbside pickup service. Will this benefit the company in the long run? It's not a case of doing everything the customer wants, but rather choosing product attributes and services that will create value for the customer, profit for the company, and build loyalty and satisfaction in your customer base. So how can you do that? Quality Function Deployment, or QFD, is a process used by marketers to make decisions about how best to meet their customers needs. The Q stands for quality monitoring. The F relates to the function where a quality plan is executed and the D refers to the deployment of that plan using the appropriate resources. In practice, QFD helps businesses use the customer information they have gathered from their Voice of the Customer program. As input in the product design process, you will collect, evaluate and deploy customer data into the quality program. Let's look at the phases in the QFD process. The process starts with the Product Definition stage. All the information that has been collected from the Voice of the Customer network, supplemental research and other sources is used as input to complete each section of the House of Quality or Quality matrix. In this stage, you will evaluate and prioritize customer needs and preferences so that you can identify critical characteristics and generate product specifications. The next stage deals with product development. In this phase, you will use the results of the House of Quality Analysis to define the necessary product part and assembly characteristics and specify the functional requirements needed to develop up the product. In the process development phase, you will design the manufacturing and assembly processes and protocols to meet the new product specifications. Finally, in the process quality control phase, you will develop and put in place controls, tests and inspections that ensure that you will meet the quality criteria.

Intermediate Provider : Aileen Smith 7 Lessons · 25m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In this course, you will learn about the Quality Function Deployment process, which will help you prioritize the needs of your customers. This course will also cover other less-structured qualitative feedback systems. You will also learn about a quantitative method of assessing customer satisfaction called Customer Value Analysis. These tools can be used alongside customer relationship management software; you will learn about taking corrective and proactive actions with this software.

Using tools like the Quality Function Deployment process will enable you to choose product attributes and services that will create value for the customer, profit for the company, and build loyalty and satisfaction in your customer base. You will also learn how to analyze the results of this process to determine which shortcomings your company needs to address first, and which do not need to be addressed, to match the products from your competition. Less-structured qualitative feedback systems like social media channels or online review and referral sites can also provide important customer feedback, and you will learn how to manage these unique systems. The Customer Value Analysis provides a qualitative look at customer feedback, and it can make a significant contribution to strategy development regarding the competitive environment. Because business organizations have recognized the importance of gathering, analyzing, and utilizing customer feedback in its many forms, many will choose customer relationship management software to provide a centralized repository for all the information a company collects about potential customers and the current customer base. You will learn about the different types of software and how they can help you manage data about your customers.

What You'll Learn

Apply the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) process to prioritize customer needs
Analyze QFD results to determine which shortcomings to address first and which to leave unaddressed relative to competitors
Perform Customer Value Analysis to quantitatively assess customer satisfaction
Develop and manage less-structured qualitative feedback systems such as social media channels and online review and referral sites
Differentiate between the types of customer relationship management (CRM) software
Take corrective and proactive actions using customer relationship management software

Key Takeaways

The Quality Function Deployment process helps prioritize customer needs and choose product attributes and services that create customer value, company profit, and customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Analyzing QFD results lets a company decide which shortcomings to address first and which do not need addressing to match competitors' products.
Customer Value Analysis is a quantitative method of assessing customer satisfaction that contributes to strategy development regarding the competitive environment.
Less-structured qualitative feedback systems like social media channels and online review and referral sites provide important customer feedback that must be managed.
Customer relationship management software provides a centralized repository for information a company collects about potential and current customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and methods does this course cover?

It covers the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) process, less-structured qualitative feedback systems such as social media channels and online review and referral sites, the quantitative Customer Value Analysis method, and customer relationship management software.

What will I be able to do with the Quality Function Deployment process?

You will be able to prioritize customer needs and choose product attributes and services that create value for the customer, profit for the company, and loyalty and satisfaction in your customer base, then analyze the results to decide which shortcomings to address first.

How does this course address customer relationship management software?

It explains the different types of CRM software, how they provide a centralized repository for customer information, and how to take corrective and proactive actions with this software.

What lessons are included in the course?

Lessons include Using Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Analyzing QFD Results (Parts 1 and 2), Developing Feedback Systems, Using Customer Value Analysis, Developing Corrective Actions and Proactive Methods, and a Test Your Knowledge section.

Professional Certifications and Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM®)

Professional Development Credits (PDCs): 0.5

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Leadership & NavigationBusiness AcumenConsultationGlobal MindsetEthical PracticeRelationship ManagementAnalytical AptitudeCommunicationDiversity, Equity & Inclusion

KnowledgeCity is approved by SHRM as a Recertification General Provider to offer SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP professional development credits (PDCs). By taking the courses approved by SHRM, KnowledgeCity can award SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for HR knowledge and competency programs related to the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge™ (the SHRM BASK™).