“I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

…Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes” (Redding, 1967)

Otis Redding wrote this song in 1967, and unfortunately the words still ring true for many of our quotation workflows, pricing policies, and sales and configuration processes.

Information Idle Time (Wasted Time)
Because the customer fulfillment process is usually a manually driven, asynchronous process, there is almost always a queue in front of each process task. These queues can stretch the customer fulfillment process timeline as much as 600%. There are several process tasks where time delays from waiting are typical:

• Waiting for cost and price estimates
• Waiting for engineering approval on specials
• Waiting to generate a correct proposal
• Waiting for commitment from manufacturing or procurement

If you’d like more information on how to stop sabotaging your Sales Channels and Guided Selling Process, download a free copy of Value Stream Mapping for a Lean Front Office .

Sources:

Cincom (2007) Value Stream Mapping for a Lean Front Office

Flikr. Dockside on Forked Lake, in the Adirondacks, fishing with the setting sun. Retrieved on Oct 15, 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/29762217@N00/3829287519/

Redding, Otis (1967). Sitting on the Dock of the Bay. Retrieved on May 8, 2009 from http://www.lyricsdepot.com/otis-redding%25/sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay.html