The Kano Model

The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed in the
1970s by Professor Noriaki Kano, which classifies customer preferences into five categories.

Three Levels of Quality

Satisfying basic needs: Allows a company to get into the market.

Satisfying performance needs: Allows a company to remain in the market.
Satisfying excitement needs: Allows a company to excel, to be world class.
Dissatisfiers or Basic Needs Expected features or characteristics of a product or
service (legible forms, correctly spelled name, basic functionality). These needs are
typically unspoken. If these needs are not fulfilled, the customer will be extremely
dissatisfied. An example of an unspoken need when staying at a hotel is cleanliness.
This includes a clean bathroom, clean linens and a pleasant, fresh aroma in the air. When
a person books a reservation at a hotel, they do not request a clean room. They expect it.
If this basic need is not met, they will be extremely dissatisfied.
Satisfiers or Performance Needs Standard characteristics that increase or decrease
satisfaction by their degree (cost/price, ease of use, speed). These needs are typically
spoken. Using the hotel example again, spoken needs could be Internet access, a
room away from the elevators, a non-smoking room, the corporate rate, etc.
Delighters or Excitement Needs Unexpected features or characteristics that impress
customers and earn the company extra credit. These needs also are typically
unspoken. Think of the Doubletree Hotels. Those who stay there are delighted by a
freshly baked, chocolate chip cookie delivered to their room during turn-down service.
Agreed Customer Requirements
Invest Time for Understanding Customers Requirements

Every service offering is different which dictates that determining customer

requirements is not a onetime affair. Even in manufacturing, requirements of customers may
change suddenly. Organization, instead of trying to save resource should provide adequate
resources for understanding the correct requirements.

Find out the Right Requirements First

In Service Industry it is difficult to describe the end product in clear terms.
Service offering is more easily described through subjective parameters rather than
objective parameters. Because of this, service industry must always ensure customer
satisfaction. In a service industry, the customers meet the service provider and express
their requirements orally.
Checklist for Eliminating Communication Gap

This is use to clarify or understand the requirements/preference of the customers.

Checklist will be given to customers and filled up before they discuss about the service to be
provided.

Review the Contract/Requirements

Before the final acceptance of the contract, the both parties, the customer and
Service provider should get a contract review done. Clearly define the customers preference; it
might be based on the contract or verbal communication.

Foresee and Provide for Amendments

Before even agreeing to provide the service, the customer and the service provider
should agree upon how to amend the service agreement later on. Always project for a change.
Service provider cannot afford to say No.

Documented Policy
` As Deming said, IT is not meeting our own requirements, but the customers for
success of the business. Documenting Customers requirement by policy for
employees/organization and customers guide. The organization should document its
policy and procedure for methodology for requirement elicitation from customers
including communication, review of contracts and handling conflicts between customer
and organization.
 Code of Good Customer Handling Practices

Two Checkpoints in a service requirement Finalization:

1. Initial Discussion the customer contact person has with the customer.

2. Contract Review in the organization.

Whatever mistakes and pitfalls are found should be identified and documented. The
senior management person will be the one to formulate the Code base from the observations.
Manual/guide of Employees in handling Customers. Revision can be done as necessary.

Customer Perceived Quality

Importance of Measuring Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction plays an important role within your business. Not only is it
the leading indicator to measure customer loyalty, identify unhappy customers, reduce churn and
increase revenue; it is also a key point of differentiation that helps you to attract
new customers in competitive business environments.

No Hard and Fast Rule for Identifying Measures

The customer is satisfied when the value o product or service is worth the cost other
item. It is always value or the money spent on the product which satisfies the customers.

Identify Vital Few Measures

Selection of a few vital measures is essential since any effort to measure customer
satisfaction is going to cost time, effort" and thereby money. At the initial discussion, all possible
measures could be noted down. The group can start eliminating the trivial measures and arrive at
the vital few measures which will truly represent the customer satisfaction index.

Arrive at Quantitative Indices

The organization should make efforts to convert the evaluations into objective
indices. All the indices need not have a common unit it can have different units depending upon
the parameters.
Some Measures for Customer Satisfaction
Customer Perceived Quality

Some of the parameters which would help in determining customer perceived quality are:

a. Defects in the product on delivery

b. Number of requirements fulfilled

c. Number of misunderstood requirement

d. Frequency of defects (Time between failures)

e. Time taken for repair (Time to repair)

Response Time
It is the interest o the organization to reply to the queries as early as possible.

a. Delay in delivery

b. Delay in installation

c. Promptness in service