Case Study: Innovation helps delight clients and lower costs
Situation
A national distributor wanted to decrease operating costs — their second largest cost — to improve profits. The operations supervisor was overwhelmed, constantly fighting fires and receiving tough feedback from internal partners.
The operations team was frustrated and apprehensive to pick up the phones. It seemed most callers were complaining loudly. The team was understaffed and not able to find employees willing to take the jobs. They were receiving thousands of calls annually, all resulting in costs, not sales. How was the operations supervisor going to quickly change morale and results?
Solution
Innovation partnered with the operations team to develop an Operations Road Map: identifying goals, gaps and priorities. Innovation led the team by making 85 systems, people and material recommendations.
One key focus was delivering correctly to the customer the first time. The operations supervisor looked at the Operations Road Map — the result of our partnership — and said, “We now have an agenda for improvement for the next few years.”
Result
The entire culture of the operations team changed. The team progressed from being reactive to proactive, which led the entire nationwide corporation to change its process and results. “Right the first time” is now their motto. Errors and calls decreased dramatically. The company's operation costs decreased by $200,000 and feedback improved significantly.
