The Process Ninja

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What would you like from The Process Ninja in 2010?

For the last few months I have been banging on about the customer experience and I have just realised that I have failed to execute on my own customer centricity project.

So without further ado I'd like to know what you want from The Process Ninja Blog in 2010.

I'm leaving it pretty open to you guys (just comment) on this post but if, like me, you struggle to think now and again I've put together a few thoughts...

What would you like to see more of this year?

More of the same / More about new process trends / more rantings about companies / more tips & techniques

What sucks about The Process Ninja?

Not enough articles / too many articles / too negative / ? / writing style

Do you like the blog design?

Yes / No / Needs Improvement

Should I have guest bloggers?

Yes / No

Should I have interviews with process guru's?

Yes / No

These are just some suggested discussion points - I am oipen to any and all suggestions...after all I'm an outside-in customer centric kinda guy.

Look forward to hearing your views...

TPN

Why speed and flexibility will be the new process essentials for 2010

We are in the midst of a process revolution. At no time in our history have businesses been so prone to the speed of change. Technology today has changed the game plan and the field is becoming more level. Big businesses no longer have the advantage they previously had. New media has turned things on its head.

But it’s also a consumer revolution – never have we had the ability to express ourselves so rapidly or as effectively as consumers.  What does this mean for organisations? It’s a case of adapt or die. Social media tools such as Twitter are meaning that customers are venting like never before (both good and bad), but mostly bad. They now are able to be heard by the world – and heard instantly.

Those blundering corporations that don’t return calls, don’t respond to e-mails and don’t give the service that they spend so much money advertising are going to have a wake-up call. They have never been at risk of such consumer erosion in their history. They are at risk from upstarts, from small business, from competitors who “get it”.

In the last 30 years or so we’ve become accustomed as customers to being disappointed. We’ve gotten used to “press 1 for blah, press 2 for blah…” and being shunted around in circles, our problems being passed around like hot potatoes until we give up. Not any more. Consumers now have the power and they’re using it. We are entering an age where they will expect a higher standard of service than ever before (and so they should). Remember “good old fashioned service”, well it isn’t old fashioned anymore.

As a result Business processes now need to be flexible enough to change to rapidly respond to customers’ needs and wants. If ever there was a time for BPM to prove its worth, that time has come.

Turn Your Business Outside-in (my latest article for www.flyingsolo.com.au)

My latest article for small business website Flyingsolo - "Turn Your Business Outside-in".

Is BPM a Dirty Word?

 It has become increasingly popular these days to bash BPM and, in particular, to propose that BPM is dead. Whilst not wishing to sit in my glass house and throw stones after my Lean Six Sigma obituary post I don't think that BPM is dead. It does, however have a major image problem.

Part of the problem is that for want of a better reason we've given it a name - BPM. What do you mean? I hear you cry...well BPM isn't really about BPM is it? It's about what BPM achieves that is the important thing. Managing processes for the sake of managing processes isn't what it's about - it's all about making businesses make more money at the end of the day (unless you are public sector or charity of course). But making money requires looking after customers and looking after costs which is where our old friend BPM comes in.

The problem with a three letter acronym comes with the association that every three letter acronym requires an IT solution and a six figure software package. BPM or whatever we decide to call it next doesn't have to be so complicated that we have to spend millions on software solutions. Don't get me wrong I am not knocking IT completely, just saying that there are simpler and more flexible ways to get started without shelling out your hard earned company dollars. Start simple, prove the concepts, get some quick wins on the table THEN sell the six figure software solution to your company!

So whilst BPM may be starting to become a dirty word to some, it's really an irrelevant discussion as BPM to all extents and purposes is just about doing business and doing it well. The names will change but essentially the overall concepts will remain the same.

So what I'd like to suggest is that while the process academics waste their time arguing over what to call BPM next you should be quietly getting those post-it notes, brown paper and highlighters out. It's time to get back to basics and prove what we're doing can be both simple and effective.

A Triage for Hospital Processes

I recently had the pleasure of visiting lovely Ryde Hospital with a rather painful stomach. It was an interesting experience in process. What amazed me most about it was the incredible levels of duplication of effort and the vast inefficiency caused by needless beauraucracy. I have great sympathy for those having to work in such conditions and those that are left waiting in pain whilst healthcare professionals fill in endless forms - a waste of their skills and time.

Before I left for the hospital I was actually intent on seeing a GP. I remembered that Ryde hospital had a late night GP clinic so I googled it to see the opening hours. Great - it was open until 10pm (ideal at 9pm at night!) So off I went, parked the car a short distance away and went to the reception desk.

"Oh there's no GP clinic here anymore" said the lady behind the desk - you'll have to see an emergency doctor. Not a big deal but I couldn't help but think of all the people that must turn up with minor ailments taking up the time of emergency doctors who could be spending their time on more serious things.

So I stand at the desk for 5 minutes filling in details about who I am and being asked "what's wrong with you". I am amazed that I can turn up at hospital with just a medicare card and my DOB and get free medical treatment. I could have given my medicare card to anyone and they could easily use it. I wonder how many people sell healthcare on the black market this way.

Next I am sent to the triage nurse who fills in more details and asks "what's wrong with you" and "what medications are you taking". Triage - a concept invented in WW1 and still with us. (Can you think of anything else from 1914 that might be useful???)

She asks me to wait until I am called. About 15 mins later a nurse calls me in and asks "what's wrong with you" and "what medications are you taking". He takes blood (after butchering both of my hands) and prods my stomach. He then asks me to wait outside.

Another 15 minutes later a doctor appears and asks me to come back in. He asks "what's wrong with you" and "what medications are you taking" and I tell him the story again and he prods my stomach. Eventually he scribbles something down and says that he will inject me with some drug.

15 minutes later another person turns up to inject me. He doesn't tell me what it is until I ask, but he can't actually tell me what it does. Apparently he's just "the injecting guy". Nice job. The doctor then returns. I ask him what the stuff I have been injected with actually does. He's nice enough to actually tell me.

Another 15 minutes of sitting on the bed and I am sent on my way. Guts still sore and thinking that I should have gone to see my GP the next day...

So what could they have done better?

For a start it seems bonkers to me in this day and age that Australia doesn't have a centralised healthcare database. I find it bewildering that I have to go through entering and checking details every time I go to a hospital or doctor. The time spent doing data entry is staggering. What is more staggering is the reliance on bits of paper that travel here, there and everywhere in a hospital. Enter the data once and pass it on electronically - that's the trick. It would eliminate data entry, duplication of effort and improve the quality of healthcare - after all, we are talking about people's lives here. Just one small piece of information could cost a life (and the current system is like russian roulette).

And what about the customer experience?

Well, how wonderful would it be to log onto the internet and be able to see realtime wait times to see doctors, or even to register at the hospital before you leave the house. So much better to be able to enter accurate details of your ailments rather than have someone interpreting them for you. And how much better would it be if there was more than a scratchy TV in the waiting room that no-one can hear. And before anyone says it, it's not free - we all pay taxes so that we receive theses service - we are paying customers!

Unfortunately hospitals (like their triage system) are stuck in Edwardian England. It is a case of we do it this way because we do it this way. Hospitals deserve to have adequate supplies of money to provide services, but we also need to make them work productively, efficiently and improve the customer experience.

The system is sick, let's make it better.

- TPN

Free Steve Towers Podcast - Outside-In Thinking: The Ticket to Achieving a Successful Customer Outcome

You can access it here!

Process Ineptitude Personified

Insurance as a concept is not a difficult thing to grasp - so why do so many companies make a complete mess of it?

Yesterday I called around to get some quotes on a fairly niche insurance product - landlord insurance for a holiday rental property. Most insurance companies couldn't (or rather wouldn't) provide cover. But one who did was one of the major banks. Happily I used their online quote tool. After entering only my address details it instantly spat me back a quote.

Hmm...something not right there. Knowing what I do know about insurance and having completed other online quotes I knew that there was something wrong. Nonetheless I pressed on and was greeted with a screen which said something along the lines of "Oh you want an insurance quote, great, but this is all too difficult for our system to grasp so you're going to have to fill in a crappy form and someone will call you sometime in the future".

Confidence dwindling - but as their product looked good I pressed on and completed the online form. It gave me the option to enter my customer number (I have an account with this bank) which I thought was smart as it would streamline the application process.

A few hours later I had already signed up for another insurance provider (Ray White Insurance) who had provided me with some really good service.Still I was curious to see what our inept banking friends would do next.

At 11:30 am the next day (a mere 24 hours later! - too slow!) I received a call from the bank who proceeded to grill me about my account details: "what is your card number? What is your limit? What is your address? Do you have any regular payments? Where did you collect the card from?"

"Wait, is all of this necessary? - I just want to get an insurance quote" I replied to which I was told that it was necessary as the bank had called me and they needed to verify my ID (which I had no idea why they had trouble doing this since I knew very well what my address, card number and other details were). "What you'll need to do is to call us back."

"What????" I replied "But what if I wasn't a customer? How would I get a quote"

"Oh, you'd have to call us, we wouldn't call you".

So I take down the number I am supposed to call her back on and throw it in the bin. Or should I say, the "too hard basket".

So by all accounts this bank don't call people back to give them quotes. They also don't make it easy for current customers to take out insurance. They also don't have an online quote tool that works. They have created a process that suits themselves and not their customers, and the equation is therefore very simple - the customers will not buy - and that includes me.

- TPN 

From Now On When I Mention Any Companies in this Blog...

From now on whenever I mention a company name in this blog I will be contacting them to let them know what I am saying about them (unless, like fantastic holdings they have no means of being contacted). Whether it be good or bad they'll be told.

I'm doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. I don't think it's fair to criticise without giving them an opportunity to respond.

2. Likewise if I am saying nice things this feedback should also be provided so someone can pat themselves on the back and feel good.

3. Usually the responses from companies are either non-existant or hilarious "cut and paste jobs" straight from the bumper book of customer responses. We all need a laugh.

I'll be pasting any of their responses (unedited) into the corresponding post about them and supplying my own responses to their responses.

Look forward to some hearty laughs folks.

- TPN

Do Your Processes Give Your Customers Away?

Today I was given away. Not expensively, not cheaply, but freely. I was tossed into the garbage like an empty milkshake.

But I wasn't an empty milkshake, I was full. I had plenty of juicy milky goodness. So why was I thrown away? Because they didn't care and they didn't ask so I wasn't given an opportunity to tell them so that they had the opportunity to try to keep me.

Today I called AAMI to let them know that I wanted to cancel my home contents insurance with them. After a few confirmations and a few clicks I was told "that's all done for you, you'll receive a refund of your policy by mail...thank-you for calling AAMI..."

There was no "why are you leaving?" There was no "how can we help you to stay?" There wasn't even the slightest hint of curiosity as to why a customer with three AAMI policies would suddenly cancel one of them. Here was as obvious a moment of truth as you can find, and AAMI failed spectacularly.

The reasons for this are clear - staff are disconnected from the customer experience. They have become robotic and unable to think. They have no incentive to try to keep a customer. They just do their job and think "it's not my problem".

In an age where big business throws millions of dollars around trying to persuade us to join them, I find it a tragedy when they give us away for nothing.

- TPN

Eat Your Own Dog Food

I worked for an  IT Company that had an IT helpdesk that was beyond helpless. I worked for a Telecommunications company where the boss created an atmosphere of fear and hatred. I worked for an insurance company where the staff would burst into tears. I worked for a bank with a stationery cupboard with no stationery in it.

If this is the way we treat our employees, how do you think our customers will feel? But no, we treat our customers like kings, right? But if we look upon our employees, no matter where they sit in an organisation, they all have (or must have) an end impact on the customer experience – we are all part of the chain that leads to the customer. Break that chain or pass the wrong message down the line and we do damage.

So when you come to work for a company that earns billions of dollars profit a year and you don’t have paper to write on, don’t have a cup to drink out of and the printer has been broken for a week, what is the impact? Do you turn up at work full of the joys of spring? Or do you brood and fester your discontent until it spreads like a slow poison?

For too long now businesses have been treating their staff like disposable assets, and in the last year or so employees have been taken advantage of more and more. Whilst many organisations have suffered, many still continue to reap huge harvests – but that doesn’t stop them from cancelling xmas parties and forcing “imposed leave”. So when you talk in fuzzy Marketing speak about how you are going to look after your customers, remember that it all starts within your gilded doors. If you can’t eat your own dog food then how do you expect anyone else to?

The tide is turning, the boats are waiting on the shore.

Are you going to be one of “them” or one of us…?

- TPN