Using Lean to improve customer experience

The Lean methodology can help companies increase client satisfaction, cut costs and improve profitability, writes Willie Cleary

The most important stakeholders for all companies are their clients. Without satisfied clients, there is no business, so understanding and accurately mapping your customers’ experiences is crucial.

Doing so can help to ensure that your clients are getting the best possible product or service while also identifying and helping to manage aspects of your product or service that could be improved.

Lean is a well-proven methodology that could help your business achieve these goals.

What is Lean?

Lean is a process improvement methodology that originated in manufacturing (e.g. car-maker Toyota) and has since been adopted by many other industries and professions. 

At its core, Lean focuses on identifying and eliminating waste in a process, which can add value for clients and result in higher residual returns for business owners. Lean is a four-phase process involving the following steps:

1. Identifying the client journey;
2. Identifying value-added and non-value-added activities in a process;
3. Removing non-value activities from the process; and
4. Engaging in continuous improvement of the process.

Step 1: Identifying the client journey

The first step in mapping a client’s experience is to identify their journey from start to finish. This may include their initial consultation or onboarding and regular interactions thereafter, including the supply of goods or services. 

The starting point here usually involves visually mapping out the entire process – on a whiteboard, for example. 

All relevant team members must be included in this mapping phase to ensure that the necessary process improvement steps are captured, documented and fully understood by all.

In a professional service setting, for example, the client’s journey after the initial consultation might include a formal letter of engagement. 

If accepted by the client, this letter would lead to an onboarding process whereby the client would provide relevant information and documentation to the service provider.

The service provider would then work with the client, providing regular updates in the lead-up to the final output, including a business plan, financial statements or tax returns.

Step 2: Identifying value-added and non-value added activities 

Once the client’s journey has been accurately mapped, the next step is to identify value-adding and non-value-adding activities. 

Value-adding activities are those that contribute directly to the client experience. They may include meeting with clients to discuss their needs, preparing financial statements or business plans and providing regular updates or feedback.

Non-value-adding activities do not contribute directly to the client’s experience – waiting for a response, for example, or unnecessary paperwork. All non-value activities must be clearly identified to improve the efficiency of the client’s journey.

To identify value-added and non-value-added activities, you can use the “five whys” technique. This involves asking “why” five times to get to the root cause of an issue. 

If you identify that waiting for a response from a client is a non-value-added activity, for example, you can ask why the response is needed. If the response is needed to complete the work, you can ask why it is needed to complete the work, and so on, until you get to the root cause of the issue.

Step 3: Removing non-value activities from the process

The third step in the Lean process involves removing non-value-added activities from the customer journey – streamlining processes, reducing bureaucracy and simplifying procedures, for example. 

Removing these particular activities can create a more efficient process that adds value for your clients, mainly by reducing related costs. 

You may be able to automate some of your client communication, for example, by using online document management systems to reduce paperwork.

Step 4. Engaging in continuous process improvement

The fourth step in the Lean process involves continuously improving the client’s experience of your business. 

The output of this exercise may involve implementing new process changes based on client feedback or inefficiencies identified by your staff in their day-to-day work. Step four has two phases:

1. Applying metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of business processes (e.g. client satisfaction or query response times). By monitoring these metrics or KPIs, the business can more easily identify areas for further improvement.
2. Involving core team members in continuous improvement by encouraging them to suggest improvements, solicited or unsolicited, and empowering them to make positive changes. This process can be supported by providing training and development opportunities for your team.

The power of continuous improvement

Lean is all about continuous improvement, so it is crucial to seek regular stakeholder feedback while reviewing business processes and identifying areas for improvement on an ongoing basis. 

Mapping your clients’ experiences of your business has many potential benefits. It can help you to identify and eliminate costly inefficiencies, improve the client experience and increase profitability. 

Willie Cleary, FCA is a Lean Consultant with LeanTeams