Updated the Lean Marketing House with a short video that shows the utilization of Value Stream Marketing and the Marketing Kanban. A couple of glitches in the transition of slides. This is the first time I used MS Powerpoint 2010 to record within the program.

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The first 4-steps of the DMAIC process answered the questions: What is important, how are we doing, what is wrong and what needs to be done? We also considered the marketing funnel stages of Awareness, consider, prefer and evaluate. The fifth stage of the process in DMAIC is Control and in the Marketing funnel it is the commit or buy stage. This is where in Six Sigma we document the process and standardize meeting critical to quality (CTQ) issues.

This step involves taking the improvements and implementing them. We will document standard operating procedures, create are process control plans, and establish a control process. The one final step is handing off the process or transitioning the process for implementation. It is imperative that we create an operation that is stable, predictable and meets the customer requirements. This is the implementation supported by documentation and project management to put all the work into practice. Another way of saying this is how we are going to guarantee performance.

In the marketing funnel it comes down to the basic decision to commit or buy the product or service. As I said in my last post, clarity is the number one issue that may prevent you from succeeding if you meet root cause. Customers want consistency. At this stage, you will see price and confidence that you can deliver what you say seemingly becoming the greatest issues. If price was the overwhelming issue, just think of how many times you have lost a job to a better known brand. Why? Security and your lack of ability to address the root cause with unquestionable clarity.

The Control process of Six Sigma can certainly teach us a few things. Creating an operation that delivers a stable and predictable outcome is the purpose of not only the Control stage but the entire DMAIC process. If you have identified predictable measures that the customer can visualize and satisfy the root cause of his problem, you are well on your way of obtaining commitment.

Another stage of Control is handing off of the project for implementation. How many marketing projects are not supported by sales or vice versa? Sales efforts can be undermined especially when the process is does not monitor predictable results. The ability to control this stage of the process may prevent you from caving into unreasonable demands that prospects may place upon you. However, most worries are not about the prospect but in the effort to close sales many organizations will take their eye off the target and take jobs that may or not solve the root problem for the customer. Seldom in that circumstance will you deliver the product or service that the customer is hoping for. It may even be over delivering, which not only is wasted but to the prospect unclear and not evaluated appropriately. Sales will look at this as part of these results and either determines that there is a greater degree of flexibility in the product/service than there is and/or that pricing could be adjusted because the next customer may not need all this. This is not a problem of sales, you have built the platform and handed off a poorly designed control phase. Build a process management plan for implementation and establishing ongoing measure and methods to be used for improvement will facilitate your process.

Related Posts:

The Marketing Funnel using Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology
Most Marketing Systems are Out of Control.
If you control it well, it flows well!

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The first 3-steps of the DMAIC process answered the questions: What is important, how are we doing and what is wrong? We also considered the marketing funnel stages of Awareness, Consider and prefer. The fourth stage of the process in DMAIC is Improve and in the Marketing funnel it is Evaluate or Trust. Now, we get to the stage that we have been waiting, create the solution, validate and optimize the process. Or, in simpler terms, what needs to be done?

After all the hard work of the previous stages, it goes without saying but you must improve on the root cause of the problems not something else. It sounds silly to say, but the people that were good at doing all the detective work in the previous two steps are not necessarily the problem solvers in the organization. Roles may shift and different agendas may creep into this stage. This is important if this shift takes place stay on task and work on the root cause.

All solutions are not equal. Typically, without too much analysis you can weed through them and narrow the good ones down to several ones that address the root cause. The remaining ones should be systematically eliminated or ranked in order of feasibility to include perceived effectiveness, ease of implementation, within budget constraints, and the ability to measure. What good is a solution if it cannot be measured on how effective it is? Another criterion that I recommend is the ability to pilot test. A sampling of your solution can be a very effective way of deciding between two seemingly equal solutions. Especially, if one requires a substantial investment. A solution matrix is a very simple and visual tool for comparison. Several other tools that can be used our Tree Diagrams and Design of Experiments (DOE).

This is also the stage that I develop a future state map using the Value Stream Mapping Tool.

Marketers are just at the stage of get someone to evaluate or try the product. They are thinking download for thirty days, use this sample, and attend this webinar and other ways of evaluation. My thinking is that after you have accomplished the other three stages of the funnel; you are ready to demonstrate that you solve ROOOT CAUSE. Can you? Most jobs are lost at this stage because of a lack of clarity. You solution must be crystal clear and be without a question on how you will solve the prospects’ problem and deliver that solution. It is also imperative that you turn your solution into dollars. What is the ROI you are contributing?

Related Posts:

The Marketing Funnel using Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology
Following the Customer’s Need in Your Value Stream Map
Ever hear of the Term Value Stream Marketing?

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