To help the bank’s IT organization align more strategically with its businesses, Desoer has challenged her IT staff to learn more about the bank’s external customers and their needs. “The voice of the customer is what you start with when you embark on a Six Sigma piece of work,” she says.

In all, Six Sigma and the other quality tools that have become part of Bank of America’s culture have created benefits of more than $2 billion. Our key customer facing processes have been greatly improved, with several at or near 6 sigma levels.

Best of all, customer delight has increased by 25% across the company, with some operational areas of the company showing even greater gains, thanks to those operational process improvements and the success of projects designed to enhance the customer experience at every point of contact.

Speaking to financial analysts and our associates, Lewis said he was “more proud of our improvement in customer metrics” than he was of our record breaking financial results. These tremendous financial and customer satisfaction results have convinced leaders throughout the company that Six Sigma works and our quality efforts are critical to achieving our desire to become the world’s most admired company.