Everyone tracks metrics. If a metric is important enough to measure, it is important to find ways to improve. What happens you don’t get the NPS you are aiming for? Next time, consider Root Cause Analysis (RCA), a methodology that helps you understand the reasons and drivers of our key metrics and how to improve them. It is about finding, understanding, and fixing the recurring issues that make your customers unhappy. When you can proactively address the situation before it becomes troublesome, that is a game changer.
Elements of Root Cause Analysis Software
Conducting a RCA involves different methods and tools, but generally follows a similar process. To start, you need to define the problem and its impact on customer service. Then, you should collect data and evidence related to the problem, such as customer feedback, metrics, logs, records, etc. With the data in place, you can use data analysis to dig into the possible causes and their relationships. To ensure accuracy, verify the root causes by testing hypotheses and eliminating alternatives.
The Need to Continuously Improve
There is always room to improve – even at the most successful companies. Today’s savvy customers can tell if you are committed to their satisfaction – or not. Here is a general outline of how to begin the root cause analysis process.
- Define the problem
- Ask why. Why are customers dissatisfied? Why is the NPS lower than we expected? These questions usually result in more questions- hence the 5 Whys tool mentioned below.
- Collect data to identify the key issues for why a metric is not where you want it to be
- Gather the project team and appropriate stakeholders for a brainstorming session.
- Depending on the nature of the issue you’ve uncovered, implement solutions to address the root causes – and ideally prevent them in the future
- Monitor to keep an eye on the effectiveness of the steps taken, adjust as needed (bonus tool- control charts are effective to monitor key metrics over time)
3 Root Cause Analysis Tools to Consider
- Pareto Chart:
Use Pareto Chart to identify the most frequent defects, the most common causes of defects, or the most frequent causes of customer complaints. Pareto charts can help to focus improvement efforts on areas where the largest gains can be made. A Pareto Chart Worksheet answers the following questions.
- Which defects occur most often?
- Which defects have the highest cost or incur the highest cost of poor quality (COPQ)?
- Which inputs cause the most defects or the least defects?
- Fishbone diagram:
Use a Fishbone Diagram (also known as Case-and-Effect Diagram) to organize brainstorming information about the potential causes of a problem. Developing a fishbone with your team can help you compare the relative importance of different causes.
- Gather the project team and appropriate stakeholders for a brainstorming session.
- For each category, list all possible causes or process inputs. You can create secondary categories for the primary categories, then list the causes or process inputs under the secondary categories. If the standard categories of the causes are not appropriate for the problem, create new ones. Fishbone diagrams can include any type of cause that you want to investigate.
- Identify the most important causes
- Five Whys:
Use the Five Whys form to determine the root cause of a problem by repeating the question "Why?".
The Five Whys answers the following questions.
- What is the root cause of the problem?
- What are the relationships between different root causes?
- How do we prevent the problem from happening again?
How-to:
- Identify the specific problem.
- Ask why the problem occurs.
- Answer the first why question. If the answer is not the root cause, then ask why this cause occurs.
- Repeat this process for every cause until you have identified the real root cause. The real root cause should always point to a process that does not work well or does not exist.
- Take action on the answer to the final why, or the real root cause.
Five Whys are not required, but generally sufficient. Each problem is different, so some problems may require more “whys”, while others may require less.
The Result
Once you have identified the areas in which you can better serve your customers, it’s time to act and correct those instances. As you make improvements, it’s a good idea to continuously collect customer feedback so you are armed with the data you will need to continue to improve and understand your customers’ needs.
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