The Six Sigma Approach to Network Marketing - Measure Phase
63The Six Sigma Approach to Network Marketing – Measure Phase
By Reginald Delaney
Previous Post Recap
In our previous post for this series of articles, we spoke about the significance of the Define Phase of Six Sigma and its application to network marketing. We spoke about the need to understand the process on which we will focus and the need to understand what resources we might need to successfully make the improvements necessary. In addition, we emphasized that the primary focus of all Six Sigma efforts is customer satisfaction.
Now we will discuss the second phase of the 5 phase six sigma process.
The Six Sigma Approach – The Measure Phase
The second phase of the Six Sigma process is called the Measure Phase. In the Measure Phase we take a long hard look at the data that is being generated as our systems function day in and day out. Our desire is to find data that is both valid and reliable. By valid, we mean that the data is meaningful and a good indicator of how the process is truly operating. By reliable, we mean that the data is generated on a consistent basis and provides enough information to aid in the improvement efforts.
In many cases we may find that there is no data that is being tracked by individuals operating within the process. The problem with this is if you don’t know what’s broke it makes it very hard to fix the process. When we come across a process for which no data has been generated or is tracked, we must develop a system for generating and capturing that data. We should make the data collection process as painless as possible, but it (the data collection process) must produce relevant and useful data.
For a process that has no tracked data, or metrics, the first step to creating meaningful and relevant data is to determine what is most important to the customer. We call these items “Critical to Quality” items. Once we know what metrics to track we can determine which areas of the process has the biggest impact on these metrics. This will help ensure that we are focusing our improvement efforts appropriately.
Let’s take a look at the Measure Phase of Six Sigma as it applies to our network marketing example that we discussed in the previous post.
Six Sigma Approach to Network Marketing – The Measure Phase
If you will recall, in our previous post we decided that the portion of our network marketing process that we were planning to focus on was the need to increase the number of recruits into our opportunity. Also, we identified why it is important to accomplish this task. We know that if we increase sponsorship (or the number of recruits) we will improve the financial status of ourselves and our teams. In addition, we will be able to share the great services and products offered by our company with more people. In the previous post we spoke about the various steps that define our existing or “as is” recruiting process. We spoke about the need to identify the step that is in most need of improvement as is it pertains to helping us to accomplish our goals. Now let’s move forward and surmise that based on all the efforts that we underwent in the Define Phase discussion, we have decided to focus on the third step of the recruiting process which is the step that focuses on approaching the prospect. This means that now, the team that has been assembled to improve this process will begin to dissect this step in more detail to find out where improvements should be made. However, in order to determine whether or not their efforts are successful, they must have a means of assessing their progress. This is where the Measure Phase becomes extremely important. The effectiveness of all improvement efforts from this point forward will be assessed basis the data chosen in the Measure Phase. Now let’s consider potential metrics for the aforementioned third step of our recruiting process. If we want to assess whether or not improvements in our method for approaching recruits are successful, some metrics we could use include 1) How long does the person listen before cutting us off or brushing us off, 2) How often are we given contact info to allow follow-up, 3) How many follow-up attempts does it take before the prospect responds, 4) What percentage of prospects come on board with the opportunity?
Each of the metrics mentioned above can be expressed objectively in numerical terms. For instance number 1 can be expressed in minutes or seconds; number 2 can be expressed as a percentage (number that do provide follow-up info divided by number of individuals asked to provide the info); number 3 can be expressed as a number; and number 4 can be expressed in terms of the number of individuals that join divided the number of individuals that are approached. Having objective data to assess our process helps us determine whether we have made the improvements needed to get the results we desire. If this data is not being captured or generated, we will have to devise a way to do so. Once we have the data, we can form statistical analyses to determine if the process changes have us headed in the right direction or if we need to make further adjustments to the process.
In the next post, we will discuss the Analyze Phase of Six Sigma and find out how we can apply it to our network marketing efforts.
