You can’t change the way your customer is going to communicate with you. What you can change, however, is your behaviour and the way you communicate information back to the customer, writes Ivan Cooper.
The majority of issues that arise in a job shop can be linked to miscommunication during the very first interaction with the customers and their request for quote (RFQ). Common errors are made due to a lack of or missing information in the source drawing, correct interpretation of the process layers in the source drawing and duplicate data in part names or part IDs, to name a few. These can occur in any one item of the quote request. Of course, with errors come unhappy customers who can’t rely on you to deliver exactly what they expected, and we all know what happens next.
The good news is that these issues can be addressed, and your customers’ experience enhanced if you have a system in place that addresses the “Three Rs”:
- Records: Maintaining a record of each and every communication with the customer about their RFQ and their requirements ensures compliance to quality systems and reduces the cost of quality.
- References: Digital thumbnail references in a quote line item with X-&-Y reference measurements ensures that visually the part and scaling is correct.
- Rules: Implementing system rules to calculate part prices ensures accurate and consistent quotes regardless of who prepares the RFQ.
Records – “Who said what?”
An effective system should allow you to keep a record of each and every customer and their RFQs and orders. Being able to access the critical customer service information in an interactive record system enables your staff to clarify any uncertainty and eliminate any inconvenience for the customer promptly.
Rob Newton, Managing Director at Laser Central, has been using the system behind Tempus Tools for over seven years. Tempus Tools was developed to increase efficiency for job shops and fabricators by providing a set of tools to clean drawings, calculate time to cut and parts per sheet, and prepare quotations for laser- and plasma-cut parts.
According to Newton, his business and level of customer service would not be where it is today without such systems in place: “If a customer queries a quote, we have the ability to readily retrieve that quote, understand the circumstances whilst talking to the customer on the phone, looking at each line item and the visual parts, and then if needed, being able to tweak the quote and re-calculate the quote in seconds. This ensures we are resolving any issues immediately. The time saving component here is huge.”
References – “That doesn’t look right?”
Believe it or not, simply adding a visual reference in the form of digital thumbnail of each part in a customer’s quotation could end up saving you thousands of dollars. Providing a visual of each quoted part gives your customer an additional opportunity to confirm that the part is in fact what they wanted. “I can’t tell you how valuable it is having a visual which both the customer and our team can refer to.” says Newton. “It allows the customer to pick up any issues with the appearance of each part before the order is confirmed.” he says.
A typical example here could be the transposition of a part ID number in an RFQ. Having the visual ensures that that customer can more easily identify a shape error of that part. Including X-&-Y dimensions with the visual can also assist in ensuring scaling issues are addressed.
Rules – “I got a different price from you last time?”
System rules established and controlled by the business provide many benefits. Because of these pre-defined rules, error rates are dramatically reduced, and time spent manually looking for data such as customer reference records, material price and feed rates is eliminated.
This also means that no matter who does the quoting in the business, the price should never vary. System rules ensures consistency of communication with customers despite who attends to their needs. A balanced and controlled set of sales rules, where the key data required to calculate a RFQ is management controlled, ensures consistency in pricing is maintained.
“If I have eight estimators on the floor, all eight will quote the exact same price for a specific order,” Newton comments. “Our customers love us for this reason, and they know they can rely on our services being top notch.”
Ideally, an effective recording system combined with visual references and a rules-based sales system allows all your sales staff to understand your customers and their needs and to deliver a consistent experience.
Ivan Cooper is the President of Tempus Tools Inc.