What Lean Manufacturing’s 5S Philosophy Can Teach CRM
October 12, 2007
Lean manufacturing’s simple philosophy of 5S has had a profound impact on the bottom-line of shop floors and these same principles can have a profound impact on your CRM project.
If you’ve spent any time at all looking at the principles of lean manufacturing then you’ve come across the idea of 5S. It’s a Japanese concept that has been translated into English (the Japanese words all start with “S” and magically 5 English words all starting with “S” were found too!)
They stand for:
Sort – get rid of unecessary items and free up valuable floor space.
Set In Order – place things for optimal and obvious usage
Shine - keep the shop, machines and the tools clean.
Standardize – adopt best practices that are followed by all.
Sustain – resist the temptation to go back to old ways and keep pracitcing the first 4 S’s.
Don’t Be Fooled By Its Simple Appearance
I must admit…the first time I came across the 5S philosophy, memories of my mom keeping a neat and tidy house came to mind and I didn’t take it very seriously. However, after hearing and reading about how adopting the 5S philosophy can have dramatic impact on both morale, efficiency and the bottom line, I started realizing that 5S is an example of the power in simplicity.
How CRM Can Benefit From 5S
Inevitably the simple truths have a universal application and this is exactly the case with 5S and its application to CRM.
SORT
One of the keys to getting users to use your CRM system is to give them a simple, easy to use system. Simplifying the user interface by removing all unecessary menu items, buttons, tabs and fields makes the system much more intuitive, allowing your users to focus on their job at hand.
SET IN ORDERThe progression of simplifying the user interface is then to arrange the interface for optimal and obvious usage. This means, doing such things as:
Arrange the fields visually in the order that users will most likely use them, so they can tab naturally from field to field.
Consolidate information onto fewer screens so users have fewer screens they need to navigate between.
Use workflow engines to step users through business processes and where possible have the system fill fields in for them.
Design the fields in the database with their ultimate usage in mind. If users need to be able to filter or report on various fields, make sure you’re designing the system to make the filtering and reporting tools easy to use for that purpose.
SHINE
A lot of data goes into a CRM system and it’s important to “shine” that data or keep it clean. The old expression “garbage in, garbage out” applies to your CRM system. If you expect to quickly and easily generate targeted marketing blasts or get useful and actionable information out of the system then you need to pay attention to keeping the data clean. This includes:
- Removing duplicate records.
- Keep addresses up-to-date.
- Look for incomplete records. This includes records missing key information (e.g. phone number, address, key demographic fields)
- Keeping the data clean will foster a sense of ownership and buy-in with your users.
STANDARDIZE
Once you’ve looked after the first 3 S’s, it’s time to turn your attention to standardizing how the system is being used. Ultimately, everyone’s various inputs into a CRM system comes out as a single output…be it a report, forecast, alert. Therefore, it’s critical that the information going in is standardized.
A great example of standardizing information is with the Sales Funnel. Involve your salespeople in developing standards around:
- What the sales step are.
- How to guage certainty of the sales closing.
- How to estimate sales revenue for a deal.
- What do the terms “lead”, “suspect”, “prospect” really mean in your organization.
- By standardizing your usage of CRM and the definitions for the words you use, you’ll be creating a new corporate culture that will pay dividends for you.
SUSTAIN
Implementing a CRM system represents a big change to a company. Not only do users have a new system to learn, they have new behaviours (habits) to learn. Resistance to this change is natural and its critical that the temptation to revert to old ways be resisted. You must sustain your CRM initiative with:
- continued training
- enforcement of compliance
- system improvements to make the system easy to use and relevant to the business objectives you’re trying to achieve
BENEFITS OF APPLYING 5SWhile the 5 S’s sound simple on the surface, implementing them can take leadership and follow-through. I dare say that most CRM systems in small to medium sized companies could stand with a good treatment of 5S. The benefits are increased morale, efficiency and profitability.
Take a look at your CRM system and for each of the 5 S’s, ask yourself what you can do to improve your CRM system.
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