The seven habits are a highly integrated approach that moves from dependency (you take care of me) to independence (I take care of myself) and to interdependence (we can do something better together). The first three habits deal with independence-the essence of character growth. The habits 4, 5 and 6 are dealing with interdependenceteamwork, cooperation, and communication. Habit 7 is the habit of renewal. The seven habits are in harmony with a natural law that Covey calls the P/PC Balance, where P stands for Production of desired result and PC stand for Production Capacity, the ability or asset.

Focus on customer - Customer Satisfaction:

The key to effective TQM Programme is to focus on Internal/ external customer needs and satisfaction. The organization should listen to the voice of the customer and give greater importance to the customer perception and satisfaction.

Manufacturing and service organization are using customer satisfaction as the measure of quality. The Total quality management implies an organizational obsession with meeting or exceeding customer expectations, so that customer is delighted. Understanding the customers needs and expectations is essential to win new business and retain the existing one. An organization must give its customers a quality product or service that meets their needs at a reasonable price, which include on-time delivery and out standing service. To attain these levels, the organization needs to continually examine their quality system to see if it is responsive to ever-changing customer requirements and expectations.

Customer perception of Quality

The most successful TQM programs begin by defining quality from the customers perspective. An American Society for Quality survey on end user perceptions of important factors that influence purchases showed the following ranking

1. Performance
2. Features
3. Service
4. Warranty
5. Price
6. Reputations

The factors such as Performance, Features, Service and Warranty are part of the product or service quality; therefore it is evident that product quality and service is more important than price.

Using Customer Feedback

Customer feedback must be continually solicited and monitored. It is not a one time effort; it is an ongoing and active probing of the customer mind. Feed back enable the organization to

• Discover customer dissatisfaction
• Discover relative priorities of quality
• Compare performance with the competition
• Identify Customers need.
• Determine opportunity for improvement

Using Customer Complaint

Feedback is proactive and the complaints are reactive in nature. Even then they are very vital in gathering data on customer perceptions. A dissatisfied customer can easily become a lost customer. Many organization uses customer dissatisfaction as the primary measures to assess their process improvement effort. A positive approach towards complaint creates opportunity to obtain information and a better service level can be assured.