Cost calculation for solution that should delight the customer

[AgnieszkaSz]

Hallo everybody,
I have just encountered the old stumbling point - customer satisfaction vs costs. Grrr.
To make the long story short - does anyone here have an idea where to find cost estimation for cases when we (supplier) neglect to fulfill some customer requirement? My upper management maintains that this particular requirement can be skipped. The case is that the customer rebels against illegible marking (although they tolerateted it previously). Upper management thinks that they should tolerate it as they used to. I have to sell them the idea that the investment will pay off in the long run.

Thank you all in advance.

[Sam4Quality]

Hi AgnieszkaSz:

First of all, hats off to you for taking the proactive initiative towards helping improve customer satisfaction.

Non-fulfilment of customer requirements aka 'customer dissatisfaction' can have many repercussions, especially for a supplier, one of the most devastating would be losing an important customer.

However, doing a cost analysis largely depends on the kind of industry, business you have. Cost estimation/analysis is far more tangible and presentable in a manufacturing, production environment than in a service industry.

My point is - irrespective of the cost analysis, isn't it enough for you or your management to take immediate proactive corrective, preventive measures, after knowing that the customer is NOT happy with your product/service? It is for me and for my management.

Hence, if you could elaborate on your business/industry, it would probably be better for us to provide a better solution.

Ciao.

[AgnieszkaSz]

Thank you for support - I need it very much at the moment.
Precisely - this is manufacturing, pure and simple. Short series, a lot of manual work. We are entirely assembly plant, without any design activities. Customer - from automotive industry, and, what is more important - recently regained; I reckon they will be very sensitive for any signs of compromising their requirements.
However, as I wrote, I have to sell the idea that customer satisfaction is tied with profits. And, what's worse, to a person who is obsessed with costs; he will understand the numbers and not accept anything that you may call philosophy or paradigm.