How to Use RAD Methodology for a Customer Service System

RAD methodology creates quality customer service with user feedback throughout the process.

According to Dr. James Martin, who coined the term in the late 1980s, "Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a development lifecycle designed to give much faster development and higher-quality results than those achieved with the traditional lifecycle. It is designed to take the maximum advantage of powerful development software that has evolved recently."



RAD is a methodology where project management and development techniques are used in conjunction with user input and tools to create effective application systems for a company's project. The users -- whether the customers or the employees working with the system -- help with analyzing and prioritizing a fixed set of requirements by providing feedback to the project team until the final construction of the completed system.

Instructions

1. Assign a project team to address the customer service system. Outline the responsibilities of the team consisting of project organization, management and objectives using RAD methodology. Base this on the elements of customer service, such as initial contact with the customer, handling complaints, product sales, company policies, service satisfaction and customer follow-up.

2. Conduct a customer satisfaction survey. Ask about the process and procedures a customer expects within a quality business system. Organize the data based on the most important elements as you define the system requirements. RAD methodology follows the simple outline of creating an event model, identifying user requirements, prototyping business processes, creating the data model and process model. Customer service procedures incorporated into the outline involve how you will institute initial contact (such as online customer service, telephone service or a combination of both). Combine the rest of the customer service objectives such as employee requirements in fulfilling the customer's needs and requests, diagramming the service process, creating a prototype and developing the actual service model.

3. Construct the customer service application from the developed process model. Use the analyzed customer survey data along with the employee user feedback at every stage of creation, molding RAD methodology into customer service system development. Design the internal program (such as telephone menu service and online support); program-to-program implementation (customer contact, employee interaction with the customer and other departments inside the service procedure); and file generation and maintenance controls of the operating system.

4. Roll out the final product. Verify and retest all systems. Create instruction manuals for the customer and for the employee. Train employees on the appropriate customer service procedure and the application process. Analyze the working service system to identify any remaining problems and change or retest the application process as necessary.

References

• North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources: Section 6 -- Rapid Application Development Method
• Bizmanualz: Business Procedures Contents
• CRM Technology: Project Management Methodologies