When successful companies like GE, Dupont, and Bombardier shared their Six Sigma best practices, many other companies saw the value of Six Sigma more.
For example, GE, with an already 9-year Six Sigma journey, began using Six Sigma to improve sales effectiveness in year five. Jack Welch said, “We found that Six Sigma isn’t only for engineers. . . . Regional sales managers can use it to improve forecast reliability, pricing strategies, or pricing variation.”
DuPont, which has integrated Six Sigma in their processes for four years, began using Six Sigma for top line growth in year two. According to VP and Corporate Champion-Six Sigma, Don Linsemann, “Six Sigma brought a new focus on the voice of the customer. Customer input is valuable in driving research development, product development, and applications.”
Bombardier’s 7-year Six Sigma initiative initially focused its business improvement efforts on cash flow, cost reduction, cost improvement, cost avoidance and efficiency improvement. Today, many of their Six Sigma projects are focused on growth projects to increase sales volume and sales margins.
Because of these companies, others saw the need of Six Sigma not only in manufacturing processes but also in other processes of the organization. The identified processes where Six Sigma can be used are the following:
- Client relationship management
- Sales effectiveness
- New market development
- Pricing process improvement
- Advertising/communication improvement
- Branding effectiveness
- Channel effectiveness
- Lead management
- Service improvement
- Product development
Six Sigma has practically invaded other processes. This goes to show that companies are now realizing that a holistic approach to Six Sigma is a much better option.
Source:
Six Sigma for Sales: Truth About the Customers’ Needs
