World power is shifting - but where to?

We are all aware of the seismic shifts underway. The decline of the west and the (re)emergence of India and China. People in the west are fond of the idea that the Chindia is emerging, however before the industrial revolution the East was the major economic force on the planet. It is a re-emergence then, and where is it going?



What do you think?

The customer can't be king at the expense of your business

Goutam Das       Last Updated: February 15, 2013  | 15:37 IST

Tags: BPOs | Nokia | Nasscom india leadership forum

Steve Towers

Steve Towers is a business process and customer satisfaction expert and the author of "Outside In - The Secret of the 21st Century Leading Companies". In India, he advises the Tata group, Wipro and other BPOs on ways to organise their processes and people better to deliver customer outcomes successfully. Towers, a keynote speaker at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum , took time off for a conversation with Goutam Das.
Edited excerpts:

Q. Have organisations started to worry more about customer centricity these days?
A. It is top of the pile in terms of themes. Customer centricity, however, is not always understood. We tend to talk about it from a technology-centric point of view - we tend to think of information technology and front-end systems. We talk about CRM (customer relationship management) systems and things like that. Organisations need to move beyond what we refer to as 'inside out' thinking. One of the reasons to move forward is that customers themselves has changed. They have become promiscuous - they are not as loyal as they used to be. They have also become very rebellious - highly choosy in terms of who they want a product from. This causes them to move very quickly versus the longer-term relationships of the past. All our organisations are collections of customers and their expectations have risen with the availability of technology, which gives them access to a lot more information. Those organisations that understand that have been able to look at customer centricity in a different way. We refer to that way as "outside in".

Q. Explain your philosophy of 'outside in' and how companies have benefited from this.
A. It means identifying what customer needs are and then working backwards to organise the company accordingly. Those organisations that are struggling - the Kodaks, the Nokias, RIM - they are still looking at the world inside out. Those who have been successful have seen the world outside in. They are aligning their business to deliver against customer needs, which can be created. Emirates Airlines creates that need by talking about the experience that they are going to give you once you arrive at the destination. Disney tells a very good story on the difference between wants and needs. They often say the customer does not know what they want. When you arrive at a Disney park, the first question a customer may ask is: "Where's the toilet?"

The second most asked question is "What time is the Three O'clock Parade?" Customers are articulating a need within that question and the answer is in the context of that question. A woman with two small kids is not asking what time the parade is - she already knows the time - what she really needs to know is a place where she can go and stand with the kids, where there is a water fountain, an ice-cream vendor. She wants to be away from the hot sun. She hasn't articulated that but the organization understands that need. Disney works on the basis of needs, not wants. Similarly, Nokia was very successful 10 years back and went on building devices that customers wanted. Other organizations thought differently. Apple made an observation on how many interactions one needs to pull up a telephone number. In an inside out phone, that will be seven-eight key presses. Everyone of those key presses is a moment of truth. And you have to build functionality to support that moment of truth. More functionality means a more complex system. Apple redesigned the interface and there are three moments of truth instead of seven-eight. It is less expensive to do that and offers a better customer experience. That is a principle Nokia has missed.

Q. Do Indian companies have an outside in perspective?
A. There are two kinds of organisations. One: those who are carrying on building efficiencies and effectiveness and use things like Lean (a methodology of eliminating waste in a company) and Six Sigma to remove waste. Eventually, you get to a point where you optimise processes and can't go any further. Other organisations say Lean and Six Sigma are fine but we want to challenge if a process actually deserves to exist. In India, there is a clear distinction between those organisations that are getting it and those that don't.

Q. How do you measure who is getting it right?
A. It is winning the triple crown, which is simultaneously growing revenues, reducing costs and enhancing service. The triple crown can be directly linked to customer success. Instead of starting with resources a company has, then going to market strategy and then finding customers, you start with customers and their needs and then align everything in the organisation to deliver that. In India, IndiGo (Airlines) is a prime example of looking at the world in a different way. Contrast IndiGo with Kingfisher - they talk about the customer being the king but the customer can't be king at the expense of your business. The reason customer is king is that we can grow shareholder value, can create profits and deliver service. Other examples of companies looking outside in are Tata Motors and the transformation of Jaguar.

My Part in LinkedIn's 200 Million Member Milestone linkedin.com

Hurray! I have one of the top 1% most viewed @LinkedIn profiles for 2012. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/profile/0/408/547?trk=200li

Process Outside In - vidblog

The BP Group compiles a bi monthly update of all things process which gets listed on the blog and syndicated all over. The latest can be Process Performance Update. However one of my close colleagues suggested I should produce the update as a travelog, where ever I am, whatever I am doing - just say it! - so here it is. Depending on your point of view it is either an informative light hearted look at process, or eight minutes of relevant pertinent stuff for business professionals. You choose ;-)

Videos/new BPM apps/presentation downloads/conference updates

In the Process/Performance basket this time we have Videos/new BPM apps/presentation downloads/conference updates

Greetings from Mumbai 
My travels this last few weeks have included USA, UK, UAE and now India. The team are also hot footing around South Africa, Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Europe and the US through this month.

Not only has it been the significant contrast in weather (snow/cold > sunny/hot) it is the somewhat different approaches being adopted towards Outside In. This week sees me at the India Leadership event hosted by NASSCOM. I will be meeting with the press and continuing to learn about what is making India so successful. My talk will be accessible later, if you want a copy let me know, http://bit.ly/IndiaLeadershipForum

On the subject of talks and videos have you reviewed the latest videos of the key tools and techniques? Here they are (and they are available to download and distribute!)

Business Process Management - what is it? http://youtu.be/NO54KXxTp9I

Moments of Truth - what are they? http://youtu.be/OT_2cqMtrUw

Breakpoints and Business Rules? http://youtu.be/_8KSN_McWIg

Successful Customer Outcomes (SCO's) http://youtu.be/u4keI_kmdxM

Voice of Customer? http://youtu.be/bTbHrxi1Vq4

And now drum roll > have you downloaded the BPM Certifcation app (IOS and Android)?

There are links to resources, videos. events, reviews and much more. It is only version 1 so let us know your thoughts and how we can make it better for the community.

Apple version: http://bit.ly/12EFNCC

Android version: http://bit.ly/X0X4iw


Recent presentations..
Access my recent keynote for some pertinent insights (or Outside In depending on your view point)

http://bit.ly/OutsideInSteveTowers

The associated slide show is embedded however you can download that from here.

http://www.slideshare.net/stowers/steve-towers-nasscom-bpo-summit-2012-opening-keynote


Topical articles -

Brad Power - Working successfully with physical fragmented teams http://lnkd.in/nAwERk

Chris Taylor - Business process failure goes viral http://lnkd.in/iuG4UG

Dr. Mohan K. - Rethinking the function of Business functions http://lnkd.in/fU3UmB

Reint Jan Holterman - 5 steps on the Path to Success with BPM http://lnkd.in/pp4ZWV
* And lastly for now have you reviewed the all new classes? new case studies and coaching from been there and done it experienced mentors*.

Review the coaches and their in depth practical hands on wisdom.

http://www.bpgroup.org/certification-by-city.html



Considering training in Enterprise BPM/Outside In?If someone in your organization is considering certification do ask these questions of anyone offering the training:

1. Where have you done this?

2. What credentials can you claim in the community?

3. Who trained you originally in Outside In?

4. When did you start and who have you helped?

5. What references can you provide, at a CEO level for the successes you have achieved?

6. Are any of your people published, and if so what and when?

7. What is the size of your network?

8. Are your trainings and courses accredited, and if so by whom?

9. Are you helping to develop the community? If so how?

PS. Tell your colleagues they owe themselves the best to go with the most experienced, up to date, pragmatic, relevant and immediate training from the BP Group http://www.bpgroup.org

Ciao Steve

An Idiots guide to Outside In?

Back in 2010 when I was writing the book, Outside In (click here) we determined a couple of fundamentals as leaders of the Customer Process One Council:

1. Outside-In is a philosophy and method of managing an organization by understanding and delivering Successful Customer Outcomes.
   
2. Outside-In Process optimizes value-delivery to customers. By fusing customer-driven process with customer-centric strategies, O-I creates successful customer outcomes (SCOs) – the foundation for achieving sustainable growth and profitability in an increasingly buyer-driven marketplace.

Of course everything evolves :)

We have the annual updater webinar soon (click here) and this year there are more than 50 specific advances to the techniques and tools, derived from organizations across all sectors. The webinar is interactive and limited in attendance so if you wish to join move swiftly.

You may wish to remind yourself of some of the fundamentals that underpin Outside In thinking and practice. If so review these 2-5 minute vids:

• Business Process Management - what is it? http://youtu.be/NO54KXxTp9I
• Moments of Truth - what are they? http://youtu.be/OT_2cqMtrU
• Breakpoints and Business Rules? http://youtu.be/_8KSN_McWIg
• Successful Customer Outcomes (SCO's) http://youtu.be/u4keI_kmdxM
• Voice of Customer? http://youtu.be/bTbHrxi1Vq4 

Ciao,
Steve

PS. Prefer in class attendance either open or inhouse? Review http://www.bpmrus.com
There are eight levels including Certified Process Practitioner, Professional, Master, Advanced Master & Champion.

PEX Network European Awards

PEX 2013 in Florida. Participants enjoying the keynote.

Entry Deadline has been extended until 22nd February!


Review the Entry conditions for this
top rated BP Group supported event - then download the winners entries from last months US PEX Awards!


This is your opportunity for global
industry-wide recognition

You now have until Friday 22nd February 2013 to enter your project, program or deployment leader into the PEX Network European Awards.

If you are one of the innovators who are transforming and innovating process excellence this is the ideal opportunity to showcase your achievements to the judges and if you win, the wider community.

Winning an award will put you and your organisation on the process excellence map!

This year's judges include Process Excellence experts from Bank of New York Mellon, DB, RSA, BP, Ministry of Justice, Honeywell, ABB, Fornari, Alstom, BP Group, Lloyd's Register and BNP Paribas Cardif.

Enter as many of the 7 categories as you like. Just make sure you submit your Project or Programme by 22nd February 2013.

> View the categories

Feeling inspired? Put pen to paper to share your vision, strategy, project selection, metrics, communication, innovation and results to tell your process excellence story to our hand selected judges.
______________________________________________

How to enter

Review the 7 categories and follow the simple 3 step process to enter.

Start by downloading your Application Kit


If you have any questions ahead of entering please contact us on awards@iqpc.co.uk.

All shortlisted finalists will be announced mid-March.
Mark your diary for the Awards Ceremony on 30th April 2013, London.

Enter before Friday 22nd February - recognise your, your teams and your companies process excellence efforts!

All the best,
The PEX Network Awards Team

P.S. Start preparing your entry by downloading the Application Kit.


Looking for inspiration?
The winners of the PEX Network North American Awards have made their entries available for you.

Meet the 2013 North American Process Excellence award winners

Project Award Winner Best Project
Over 90 Days:
Braskem UNIB 2 RS - Reduction in fuel consumption at petrochemical processing plant


Project Award Winner Best Project
Under 90 Days:
Braskem UNIB 3 ABC- Increasing production capacity atchemical processing plant


Project Award Runner Up: Scottsdale Healthcare - Pressure UlcerReduction Project

Congratulations to the Winners
and Runner Ups!

Apple service and sales really sucks.

Now don't get me wrong I have bought and enjoyed every apple device money can buy. Yes I have one of everything and have always loved the customer experience, whether online, in-store or over the phone - until this evening at millennial mall in Orlando.

A busy store as you can see however that's not unusual, what is though is the effort to convert 600 greenbacks for a new mike and headphones

Issue 1 - asking for help. Is it a new policy to now avoid eye contact with customers?

Issue 2 - when you do track someone down they can't help, and want to pass you to someone else, already 4 deep with customers. "He will help you in a minute" said the obvious supervisor who 's member of staff complained openly that he hadn't had his break

Issue 3 - "stay here, I will get someone else to help" says Ms. Boss. I wait, and wait but a then obviously harrassed guy to tell me "I will be with you soon" 4 minutes go by and still no help.

Issue 4 - no one cares clearly as I put down the Bowers snd Wilkins P5 headset and the snazzy USB Mike and walk out of the store.

That is it. The end of my relationship with Apple? Guess at least I will not be shopping there again. More so I will move my business to Samsung and give them a chance with my hard earned money.

Has the rot set in?

Who do you want your customers to become?

According to MIT innovation expert and thought leader Michael Schrage, if you aren’t asking this question, your strategic marketing and innovation efforts will fail.

In this latest HBR Single, Schrage provides a powerful new lens for getting more value out of innovation investment. He argues that asking customers to do something different doesn’t go far enough—serious marketers and innovators must ask them to become something different instead. Even more, you must invest in their capabilities and competencies to help them become better customers.

Schrage’s primary insight is that innovation is an investment in your client, not just a transaction with them. To truly innovate today, designing new products or features or services won’t get you there. Only by designing new customers—thinking of their future state, being the conduit to their evolution—will you transform your business.

Schrage explains how the above question (what he calls “The Ask”) will incite you and your team to imagine and design ideal customer outcomes as the way to drive your business’s future. The Single is organized around six key insights and includes practical exercises to help you apply the question to your current situation. Schrage also includes examples from well-known companies—Google, Facebook, Disney, Starbucks, Apple, IKEA, Dyson, Ryanair, and others—to illustrate just what is possible when you apply “The Ask.”

Marketing executives, brand managers, strategic innovators, and entrepreneurs alike should understand how successful innovation rebrands the client and not the product. A requisite question for its time, Who Do You Want Your Customers To Become will liberate you and your team from ‘innovation myopia’—and turn your innovation efforts on their head.

He argues that asking customers to do something different doesn’t go far enough—serious marketers and innovators must ask them to become something different instead. Even more, you must invest in their capabilities and competencies to help them become better customers.

As we say here at BPM Towers - If you can figure what the right thing to do is you will innovate to do it!

A good read for gaining even more Customer Insight.

http://www.amazon.com/Want-Your-Customers-Become-ebook/dp/B008UCBB1C/httpwwwstevet-20

Earth shattering trends

The latest trends about to impact your world

Time for an app? from Rudy De Waele

PEX Award winners 2013

We have just wrapped up here in Orlando for another year. A major highlight of this years event was the Awards program, run as ever in incredible style by the PEX team and especially Amanda aka the Nanny. The BP Groups team wishes to thanks everyone who attended and Amandas colleagues at IQPC who make this work so well including Vanessa, Julie and Lucy.

 

It is an honor to work on the judges panel and witness the growth and impact of process transformation across so many business sectors.
Next stop for PEX is the European event in London in April - see http://www.processexcellencelondon.co.uk/Event.aspx?id=844002 

Great Outside In activity and quote from PEX Orlando

PEX Orlando 2013 is rolling forward in great style.

Neat sessions this morning about leadership in process transformation.

The panel included:

• Dellroy Birch, CIO, Fortegra Financial,
• Michelle Boutwell, SVP, IT Strategy and Planning, Citi,
• Sam Garfield, Vice President - Enterprise PMO, Discovery Communications,
• Laura Truax, Sr. Manager, Enterprise Excellence Lockheed Martin Systems and Training.

What stood out for me was Michelle Boutwell from Citi who encouraged delegates to take the Outside In perspective for business performance success.

There was then a furious visit by all attendees (400+) around the vendors stands for the Demo Drive, a great way to expose everyone to the latest automated solutions.

My highlight so far today was however Erika Westbays Outside In perspective of keynotes Jim Carrolls observation "three things that we must always be thinking about in our line of work as growing the business, improving the business and transforming the business."

Erika puts this into a day to day pragmatic reality with her observation: "three things that we must always be thinking about in our line of work as growing the customer's success, improving the customer's success and transforming the customer's success."

I fully agree after all it is about getting the customer piece right BEFORE the business can succeed!

This afternoon there are track sessions on the themes Strategy, Change and Leadership / Value Creation / Sustainability / Training.

I particularly like the title "Continuous Process Improvement and Intelligent BPM" with Connie Moore of Forrester. That suggests to me there is an alternative BPM out there which isn't smart ;-)

Later are the Rewards session and cocktail party. More on that later!

Ciao for now, Steve

It is the Annual Conference at PEX Orlando :)

I will be joining this week several hundred other process professionals here in Orlando at the Hilton Bonnett Creek for the very latest networking and sharing of the best in Process transformation and Outside In. Three years ago I keynoted with this presentation which is still as relevant for all aspirant individuals and organizations seeking to step up their business performance.

If you want anymore like this let me know. If you are in Orlando this week let's meet :)

Outside In The Secret Of The Leading 21st Century Companies Show from Steve Towers

Lord Nelson and Successful Customer Outcomes (SCO)

Horatio Nelson is one of the greatest heros in British history, an honor he earned by defeating Napoleon’s fleet in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. His victory at sea over the French fleet ultimately proved to be the start of the end of the Napoleon era, which finished with another famous battle at Waterloo in 1815.

So what has Lord Nelson got to do with SCO’s? To answer that question we need to understand how an  out gunned, out manned and apparently demoralized British fleet could turn the tide of war.


Battles at sea had until Nelsons leadership been conducted by Admirals and Commanders often ashore dispensing orders as if playing a game of chess. Move from here to there and engage that ship. The signals from the command were conveyed by flag wavers, strategically placed across the battle front to provide a visual instruction to ships captains.
Sea battles tended to be well planned and predictable affairs with naturally the fleet with greater resources usually victorious. And so it seemed would be the case as the two largest sea going battle fleets in the world approached a pivotal conflict.

Nelson who was more than familiar with hardship both physical from earlier war wounds  (blind in one eye with a crippled arm) and the burdensome politics of the Admiralty brought his captains together to review the battle plans…. Clearly understanding the dilemma he articulated an approach “sink the French fleet at all costs” which in retrospect seems a statement of the blindingly obvious, however tactics and strategy was the domain of the Admirals, not the captains who simply acted out orders provided by flag wavers. Asking the captains what would that involve brought forward the idea of individual ships acting ‘in the moment’ to take advantage of the slower moving, albeit more powerful French ships. If the British ships could ‘get alongside’, rather than waiting for extended orders there was a chance for victory.

And so it was that the flag wavers remained ashore and the captains, seeking to align everything they did to achieve the successful outcome “sink the French fleet” acted in unison and yet with discretion to strike boldly. The rules of the game where changed forever when the British fleet attacked the French in the dead of night. The incredulous French were taken unawares as sea battles traditionally stopped for the night because no one could see the flags….

We can encapsulate Nelsons commitment as just before the battle of Trafalgar Nelson sent a famous signal to his fleet: "England expects every man will do his duty and sink the French fleet"... Nelson's own last words were "Thank God I have done my duty"... Because of the distance from Trafalgar to England, Nelson's body was placed in a cask of brandy to preserve it for the trip.
So there we have it. A clear articulation of the successful outcome (think outside of the box). An understanding and actioned desire to make that happen through the technology, people and processes.

It literally changes the rules of the game – forever.

So how much flag waving goes on in your organization? Have you truly articulated the SCO and is everyone and everything aligned to achieving it?

About the Author

Steve Towers, Co-founder and Chair of BP Group (www.bpgroup.org), is an expert on process and performance transformation. Steve founded the first community focused on business process management in 1992.

Steve has bases in Europe (UK), and Colorado.

On banks, customer onboarding and Outside In

Companies of different shapes and sizes face similar seismic challenges to their existing operations. Banks are a prime example of this need to shift towards Outside In thinking and practice.

In the current demanding environment, banks need to win new customers and seek – and realize – recurring revenues from new and existing customers.

Winning new business and retaining existing customers in a volatile market can be a massive challenge; however, providing an efficient, cost effective and differentiated customer service has become the key to any banks ability to not only survive, but to thrive.

A successful bank needs to tailor its service propositions to deliver sustainable margin-earning business across legacy functional and product silos.

The old industrialised approach based on selling a specific product to a segmented customer via a dedicated and discrete silo no longer meets 21st century customer needs. Fundamentally, banks now need to optimize the share of business that they win (and retain) from each customer. This in turn requires adopting a customer centric and service oriented mindset, and developing an unprecedented depth of customer insight to enhance the quality and consistency of the service provided.

However, the embedded structure, operational culture and processes of many banks mitigate against this objective. Experience shows that customers are increasingly disappointed by banks' inability to operate effectively across silos and fail to understand specific customer needs. New capabilities are required to enable banks to take an increasingly ‘customer oriented’ view on how to serve their clients. The customer  service strategy of banks should progressively make customers lives easier, simpler and more successful.

Banks must become Outside In and see all their business operations in the context of achieving Successful Customer Outcomes. Those organizations who make customers lives easier and more successful are winning, and more importantly retaining customers trust and future business. Customers should therefore enjoy the total banking experience so they will stay with you and spend more. 

When was the last time you enjoyed a banking experience?