Although manufacturing comes to mind when "process" is mentioned, every business has a process or a system of processes at its core even if it does not churn out "widgets." Process is at the heart of service and product delivery in every business and industry, yet its true power and potential in growing a business and commanding a market is often overlooked outside of manufacturing.
Real estate, construction, interior design, mortgage lending, and >
What problem do you solve for clients with your signature problem-solving process?
The more that professionals understand about the process at the core of their business, the more useful they are to buyers and sellers who >
If you are a mortgage broker, developer, interior designer, real estate professional, or work in a >
When a professional is selling services or products by following a standardized, frequently-repeated process, the prospect or client may be placed at a great disadvantage.
Hold onisnt an experienced professional more valuable to prospects and clients?
After years of experience, many service delivery processes become second nature to those who can effortlessly go through the paces. When professionals have memorized all the steps, the process does not seem to require their full attention. Have you have reached this "auto-pilot" stage because the process offers few challenges? How can you deliver excellent client service with a less than excellent approach to the process?
In reality, conscious effort is required to continually search out opportunity for improvement, and to identify weaknesses or redundancies in the process:
When did you last take a long look at the process that is at the core of your professional service or business? "If it aint broke, dont fix it" is a common business strategy when it comes to well-established "weve always done it that way" procedures and processes. In assessing the core procedures you take clients through, do your responses to the following 4 Essential Sales-Process Questions represent your valuable expertise, or proof that this depth of understanding eludes you in spite of your experience?
If you or your organization lack a deliberate process for continuous improvement of the core process, LEAN may be the answer or, at least, a great place to start.
Originally directed to continuous improvement in manufacturing, LEAN thinking and systems offer a flexible perspective on process analysis and continuous improvement that allows those at any level within an organization to adopt a LEAN outlook and start thinking differently.
The Association for Manufacturing Excellence AME brings together leading LEAN authorities and practitioners within a not-for-profit organization "dedicated to the journey of continuous improvement and enterprise excellence." AME Conferences call on an impressive network of member volunteers intent on creating practitioner-to-practitioner and company-to-company shared-learning experiences that focus on LEAN principles and instruction.
The following excerpt from a podcast interview with AME CEO Paul Kuchuris AME/PK delves into the LEAN concept to share transferrable insight:
PJW: What is LEAN Manufacturing?
AME/PK: LEAN Manufacturing is basically processes that address waste in the process. This is waste from the stand point of material waste, as well as the stand point of time, money and effort. So, LEAN will go through a process of saying, "How do you do this?" and walking through step by step by step, and "Why do you do it this way?""If we take this out of it, it cleans this up, and its a lesser probability of mistakes, plus it saves us time, trouble, and money."
By the way, LEAN applies to manufacturing, it applies to accountingit applies to virtually any particular industry you want to look at. In fact, healthcare is very involved in LEAN process improvement.
PJW: What would you say is the most important thing to know about customer-centric thinking when we come to LEAN manufacturing techniques?
AME/PK: Asking. And listening. I mean actually thinking about what the customer wants and needs, and asking them to validate that. Not thinking that you know it allis probably the most important thing about being customer focused. The other thing to keep in mind when you look at LEAN process improvement, is, "Who is the customer?" Number One, you have internal customers. Anybody who receives what you are doing is the customer....The thing is that the mentality is continually being focused on what the customer expectation is, and how you can meet that, but it takes a continual asking and listening to the customer.
PJW: I notice you are saying "mentality." In my experience, articulating value is not always easy for business leaders.
AME/PK: I think for those business leaders...it is a matter of patience and structure. People will begin to >
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For more on LEAN, visit www.ame.org LEAN Conferences promise "Strategic Success through People-Powered Excellence" and participants believe they deliver:
And listen to the full podcast with AME CEO Paul Kuchuris.
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