Companies spends money/time to collect customer data through surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Yet when customers actually share their thoughts with front line workers, he/she is often ignored or given run around. Trust your front line workers more because they are your direct line of customer data. Train them with QFD's Gemba study skills, let them become an effective advocate of your customers that delivers unfiltered customer voices to the management, marketers, and decision makers.
A Castle Made of Mountains
Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese fuedal lord in the 16th century, demanded architects to build a castle that would be both a military fortification and his residence complete with light filled cathedral ceiling. Eager to please him, all architects, except one, presented a castle design strictly based on Nobunaga’s stated wants, missing a critical unspoken need: fire safety. Use Blitz QFD® tools, and you would be able to address critical hidden and unspoken needs.