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R. F. KUHL, Consultant, 2081N Lake Park Dr., Smyrna, GA 30080

One of the most important components of any Quality or Food Safety Program is the trust between you and your customer. By approaching the customer and inviting them onto your team you have reduced the potential for friction in this relationship and formed a team. How many companies design their Quality and Food Safety Programs without consulting with the customers. Usually this initiates an extended series of customer reviews and rewriting of the program. One of the simpliest and most effective ways to advoid this is to pick up the telephone and call your customer. Experience has shown that when developing Quality and Food Safety Programs, calling the customer and asking for their help steamlines the process and saves valuable time. Most customers welcome the opportunity for discussion. Instead of the fear many people have that the customer will doubt their ability, they are complimented by the call and it provides them with the secure feeling that you understand exactly what is expected. In many cases the customer is willing to provide a copy of a sample plan that they consider outstanding. Working with this guideline, they are more confident that you can not only meet their needs, but provide a program that meets or exceeds their expectations. Consistently meeting your customers' expectations will meet the company's objective of "Delighting the Customer" that is what Quality is all about.