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The Customer Service Graph
Each of Granite Rock's 12 operations generates about six of these graphs a year, one for each competitor. The idea is to show employees how the operation stacks up against the competitor on the matters of greatest importance to the customers. Triangles [will] indicate Granite Rock's performance rating -- that is, its total of A's and B's on the issue in question -- plotted against the degree of importance customers have assigned that particular issue. Circles [will] designate the performance of the competitor on the issues.
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HIGH
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VULNERABILITIES * STRENGTHS
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F ******* ******* A+
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NO ONE CARES * NICE TO HAVE
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LOW
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The Importance Axis
The graph's vertical axis is derived from the extensive customer survey conducted by the divisions. One section of the survey asks customers to rank the most important factors in choosing a supplier. Granite Rock concluded that those factors were, in descending order of importance: on-time delivery, product quality, scheduling (ability to deliver products on short notice), problem resolution, price, credit terms, and personnel's selling skills.
It came as little surprise that customers put on-time delivery at the top of the list. Granite Rock's typical customer is a general contractor engaged in coordinating complex construction projects involving many suppliers. A delay in one step of the project can throw the whole schedule off. What was a surprise -- and a pleasant one -- was the relative unimportance of price. It affirmed the company's strategy of emphasizing quality and customer service.
This April Wes Clark's division of Granite Rock is again sending out the long customer survey to probe for shifts in the market. "We do this every three or four years, or if there's a significant market change," says Clark. "We're in a recession now. Does that mean customers are suddenly going to be more price sensitive?"
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The Performance Axis
The results of the opinion survey -- the annual report card -- are plotted along the graph's horizontal axis. The grades on the axis are determined by adding up the number of A's and B's that the Granite Rock operation or its competitor has received from customers in any given category. An A+ indicates all A's and B's; an F means none. In addition, Granite Rock calculates the group norm, that is, the average number of A's and B's received by companies mentioned in a particular product survey. The goal of each Granite Rock operation is to outperform the group average (that is, garner more A's and B's) by at least 33%. Last year, for instance, customers rated Granite Rock's San Jose concrete operation 59% above the norm for on-time delivery, 69% better for quality, and 76% better for scheduling.
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The Quadrants
The intersecting axes create four quadrants, which provide a rough guide to the results. A marker in the upper-right quadrant, for example, indicates that the company (whether Granite Rock or the competitor) performs well in an area of importance to the customers. A marker in the upper-left quadrant means the company has a vulnerability: it has scored relatively poorly on one of the customers' priority issues. A Granite Rock vulnerability is clearly of greater concern than a "No One Cares" (poor performance on a relatively unimportant issue) or a "Nice to Have" (good performance on same).
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The Lessons of the Graph
Granite Rock places greatest emphasis on the distance between its markers and those of the competitor. A Granite Rock triangle in the upper-right corner of the graph is something to celebrate only if it is safely removed from the competitor's circle. "No matter how well we're doing," notes Wes Clark, "if they're close to us, it's a cause for concern. What it says is, Here's a service that customers really want, and they can't differentiate us from a competitor."
The graphs thus serve to remind everyone -- managers as well as employees -- of the areas in which the company can improve. Notes Granite Rock president Bruce W. Woolpert: "Our customer surveys reveal a 100% correlation between quality service and the employees' ability to understand our products and services. That tells us the only thing stopping us from providing excellence is lack of knowledge."
But the surveys and the graphs do more than show the company how it's doing and where it should focus its energies. They also point to issues that ought to be explored in customer focus groups, and they serve as tools for the sales staff as well. "We never use the surveys to go in and make a hard sell. We don't believe in downgrading the competition," says sales manager Russ Crider. "Rather, we utilize them to distill in our minds, and in our own words, the difference we think we can make to a contractor."
