Over 130 experts discussed customer orientation at the PQM Dialog at the FH Kufstein Tirol
Members of the ERP Systems and Business Process Management Master's program organized another edition of the Process and Quality Management Dialog, which took place on November 11th, 2016 at the FH Kufstein.
Dipl.-Kfm. Stefan F. Gross, management consultant and bestselling author, opened the day with a presentation on service. He asserted that it is service quality in the sales process, rather than the actual product quality, that makes businesses stand out. He emphasized that appreciating the customer is the first step in the right direction. Furthermore, senior management should lead by example in order to encourage their employees to show respect and appreciation towards their customers. His conclusion was that the success of a service depends on successful leadership.
The next speaker, Prof. Dr. Andreas von Schubert, Head of the Department of Internal Customer Orientation at Wismar University, stressed that the quality of collaboration is more important than the quality of an individual's work. Most companies have a functional organization, which promotes competition among staff members rather than collaboration for the benefit of the customer. Therefore, von Schubert argued in favor of replacing vertical leadership with horizontal cooperation.
Florian Piskora, CEO of the consulting business Customer Voice, showed how customer requirements (voice of the customer) and company requirements (voice of the company) can be translated into process requirements using methods such as House of Quality.
After the break, Ralf Schweighöfer, CEO of DHL Express Austria, explained how his company once again achieved an outstanding result at the Top Service Awards. In his expert opinion, striving for excellence is key. In this process, senior managers should lead by example and employees are responsible for implementation. Trainings and internal communication support employees, and performance can be monitored using KPIs such as NPS.
The founder and owner of Gastspiel, Mario Sepp, presented another practical example. He showed how Design Thinking methods were deployed in the development of services within the Media Saturn group. This included studying customer contact points along the customer journey as well as prototyping.
During the break and the get-together after the event, participants had the opportunity to talk to the speakers and share their views.
The PQM Dialog at the FH Kufstein Tirol takes places once every semester and provides a platform for experts from the business and research communities to discuss relevant topics. The organizer, Prof. (FH) Dr. Martin Adam, is looking forward to the next event on May 19th, 2017, which will put the spotlight on "a culture of enhancement with Toyota KATA".
Information material on the individual presentations can be downloaded:
„Service-Intelligenz®: Kernkompetenz in Zeiten von Smart Services und IoT“, Dipl.-Kfm. Stefan F. Gross
„Interne Kundenorientierung: Verlässliche Prozesse — motivierende Effizienz“, Prof. Dr. Andreas von Schubert
„Die Stimme des Kunden – Mit einfachen Tools zur Prozessverbesserung“, Florian Piskora
„Servicekultur als Managementaufgabe“, Ralf Schweighöfer
„Service Design“, Mario Sepp
