Author: steve.towers@bpgroup.org

Bridging the Gap (Industrial Age > Customer Age)

During my encounters with global business leaders, I am frequently asked the question of what is the difference between Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Outside-In thinking and practice?

Often the question is prompted as a consequence of the huge investment many large corporations have made into up-skilling their people and processes to LSS. Many times those same executives are querying the return on those investments and hence now looking at more progressive alternative approaches to evolve their business performance.
For those familiar with Outside-In thinking and practice the difference is fundamental however if you haven’t been exposed to such training or working in one of the worlds leading Outside-In companies it would be good to have a short comparison of the key thematic differences.
In the interests of full disclosure, I was an Industrial Engineer qualified as a Lean Master and Six Sigma Master black belt and I see and witness the significant differences every day. Does the implication of the difference mean we should abandon LSS? No, far from it. In fact, integrating the Outside-In perspectives into existing programs is a proven tried and tested way of advancing LSS to the centre stage of winning performance.
Case in point is a North American plastics extrusion company. They had previously been a powerhouse of Six Sigma, grown into and become a Lean ‘Toyota way’ dynamo only to run into the problem of diminishing returns.
Plastic extrusion starts with pallets
Investing just as much in getting better the decreasing returns and eroding margins made it an issue at the top table. In true pragmatic Texan style (their CEO is from Dallas) they embraced Outside-In big time. Over 6-9 months people were upskilled for the Customer Age and then let loose to transform the organization. Not only did they save their bacon they are now a world-leading company. And what do they call their program? OIL – Outside-In Lean. Nice eh?
 So be pragmatic. Look for the bridges from here to there and you can have the best of both worlds.

Table 1: Comparison of some differences between Lean Six Sigma and the CEMMethod™.

Element
Lean Six Sigma
Customer Experience Management/Outside-In
Mindset
Industrial Age
Customer Digital Age
Focus
Improve current work
Align to achieve SCO’s
Intent
Process will exist at the end of a review
Processes may be removed
Results
Focused on improving outputs
Focused on delivering Outcomes
Cost reduction
Triple Crown achievement (Cost/Service/Revenue)
Structure
Accepts the functional hierarchy
Proposes the appropriate structure to deliver SCO’s
Techniques
Effect based activity (value/ non-value added – waste identification – SPC etc.)
Causal based activity (what creates the work in the org. then let’s fix the causes)
Intelligent Processes
No mechanism exists to ensure processes are intelligent
Specifically designed to implement and mature intelligent processes
Customer
End to End working e.g. SIPOC
Centric working – the customer is at the heart of everything that happens
Are at the end and the beginning of processes
Are enlightened, Promiscuous, Rebellious, Prosumer, Multi-channel, high expectations
Enterprise objectives
Operational and tactical. Aims to fix process.
Strategic and Operational. Aims to implement a sustainable architecture.
Scope
Process based improvements
Enterprise-wide transformation
Other Customer Age resources to explore:
Outside-In The Secret: www.outsideinthesecret.com
CEMMethod™: www.cemmethod.com
Certified Process Professional: www.certifiedprocessprofessional.com
Training: www.bpgroup.org/training.html
 Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetowers/

CX Rockstar James Dodkins interviews Joseph Michelli – driven to delight?

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Get in touch with Joseph Michelli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMichelliExperience
Twitter: https://twitter.com/josephmichelli
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmichelli
Get his new book Driven to Delight

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ROCKSTAR WORKSHOPS.

Turn your customer experience up to 11 with one of our engaging, entertaining and inspirational rockstar themed workshops for your team or event attendees.
http://www.rockstar.cx/workshops.html

Three fundamental building blocks for CX Excellence – Employee Experience

Three excellent mini videos from best selling author and Rockstar.cx founder James Dodkins that really frame current thinking around #CX and its key component the Employee Experience #EX.

With insights from Shep Hyken, Disney and Zappos go grab a coffee and enjoy a 10-minute break and look through the lens of Customer Experience Excellence.

Customer Trust = Employee Pride

 

Disney EVP, Lee Cockerell

 We are all Leaders

CX Guru, Shep Hyken

No Call Centres at Zappos

Zappos CX Leader, John Wolske

Further resources:

Turning the advice into action: BPG training page
More videos/podcasts on this theme: Rockstar.cx
CX Excellence Coaches: link to coaches

You can see this and more over at www.cxobsession.com

 

 

 

Stop trying to fix the Customer Experience!!

What significantly differentiates the top dogs in terms of business results? How can Amazon, Zara, Zappos and Emirates consistently outperform their competitors? 

Connecting better

You and I as consumers connect better with those companies who have a focus on delivering Successful Customer Outcomes, however, that doesn’t immediately come about through wishful thinking, re-engineering processes or investing in the latest bright shiny technologies. No, these successful organizations have a different strategy…. And that strategy understands a fundamental truth across every part of the enterprise. Without the employee ‘getting it’ you waste your time banging the drum about improving the Customer Experience and at best you will achieve a Hawthorne effect[1], where results are fleetingly better then reverting back to sometimes even worse than before.

And so, enter stage left the Employee Experience.

Great, got it! We invest in employee’s emotional well-being and we can then deliver great CX. Wrong again. Emotions are an effect created by the circumstances the employee finds themselves in. Imagine a draconian boss, poor lighting and awful colleagues.

Not too much of a surprise that employees will then have low morale, high absence rates, and short tenures before finding something better. Making them feel better by changing the boss, improving work conditions and encouraging teaminess may produce a short-term fleeting benefit however we are soon back to square one. Why is this?

Elegant simplicity

Amazingly the answer to this catch 22 has been there all along. It is so obvious calling it common sense way understates its importance. The elegant simplicity confuses those who believe we should just improve what we already do, or invest heavily in digital, or run team building motivational workshops.

And this isn’t a secret sauce – three simple steps will get you there…

  1. Understand what success looks like for the customer
  2. Create measures of those Needs and Expectations
  3. Align and Reward employees to deliver those Needs and Expectations – without exception

And as if by magic, morale improves, employees become adept at dealing with any situation (without the need to go ‘upstairs’), customers are delighted and results, measured through costs, service and revenue dramatically improve. Sure, you can go measure the emotional employee impact (we are all happier!) but also remember that is a consequence of doing the right things first. And if you have to measure the employee emotions to tell you things aren’t working you are not understanding your customers well enough.

>> Watch Richard Branson, CEO Virgin Group discuss this topic here.

>> Watch Zappos and Disney SVP’s discuss Employee Experience with James Dodkins. Also, access his new book “Put your customers second” – he is offering three free chapters!

>> Join us at an upcoming training to understand and make your own the approaches that work immediately.

 

[1] The Hawthorne Effect: Wikipedia

What does Google know about you?

Here’s a quick how-to guide to finding out exactly what Google knows.

Protect your data

Half the battle in protecting your information is knowing where it is, how much is out there, who can get access to it, and then take the necessary measures to protect sensitive information about you AND your family, friends and work colleagues.

An interesting irony of the Facebook, Google and Amazon success story is the amount of personal data needed to customize their offerings to your unique customer experience #CX. The less you provide, the more generic your experience.

At the end of the day, it is all a choice about how much you wish to disclose, or not.

Acknowledgement to CNBC.
Access the video here also: http://bit.ly/2GUsl9i

 

 

3 reasons why Blockchain will transform every business (need to know!)

I interview the CEO of Blockchain-X and Railz, John Corr on why we need to know about Blockchain and how it is helping to change business forever.

When you talk about disruptive technology THIS is the very definition, and believe me all our lives #business and #customer experience are becoming very different as a consequence.

As the opportunity reveals itself nation states and political groupings are getting in on the act. The UAE government believe 50%+ of all transactions will use blockchain within 2 years. Are gearing up for a similar shift?

You can contact John Corr directly at linkedin.com/in/johncorr and john.corr@closequarter.co.uk

Learn how Blockchain, business and the associated customer experience #CX are changing the world and access the CEMMethod to help you and your organization realise the benefits.

Design Thinking – a new dawn for industry?

Google trends tell the story that Design Thinking (DT) tops many executive’s interests in helping deliver progressive services and products in a volatile 2018.

Consultants, Design studios, and so-called business experts have spawned new revenue streams as other management fads, sorry, approaches have declined in popularity.

Just do the math on google with ‘Design Thinking’ harvesting 15.2 million results in 0.4 seconds and the top ten results including training courses, how-to workshops and top team offsites offered by consulting firms. In fact, Epictions reports typically 10 DT articles a day currently being produced, consumed and naturally circulated around our senior executives.

No doubt you will know of new functions becoming a reality with DT central to their remit, but what exactly does this catchy label represent?

Is Design Thinking a real thing?

Is it different? Can DT be useful in navigating our increasingly volatile world? Are there genuine benefits to adopting DT enterprise-wide?

As an engineer and design thinker (note the lower case) for the best part of the last four decades, this concept is not new. The successful creation of new services and products always relies on the marriage of creative thought processes harnessed to pragmatic objectives to deliver bottom-line success. Sorry if that doesn’t sound as sexy as some of the DT consultants would have you believe.

But wait, there is good news… incorporating DT into industrial age approaches can breathe new life and significant business benefit for not just enterprises and employees, but most importantly customers and shareholders.

So what is this Damn Thing?

A critical element to understanding DT is that, unlike most commonly deployed methods, is not a linear 1-2-3, A-B-C endeavour. It is not a prescription and relies on the ability of organisations and their people to understand, learn, prototype and reinvent simultaneously the processes and customer experiences that deliver success. New services/products must articulate needs of customers (even when potentially the customer doesn’t know them) and move the needle in terms of cost, revenue and service simultaneously (the fabled ‘triple crown’).

So, a significant measure of DT success is winning the triple crown. Anything else that doesn’t convert the creative process into a top and bottom line success is just moving the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It might look better, give us a different view, but it is still doomed and will ultimately fail to deliver.

To be successful you need to create an organization and individual mindset that understands ever-changing customer needs, expectations and

Is Design Thinking winning the Triple Crown?

fosters an approach of learning, rather than the silo-based, industrial age metrics common to many.

 

I am going to delve deeper in an upcoming article so if you would like to get the pro’s and con’s, the potential pitfalls and the how-to to ensure success join me again soon. If you register your interest here I will ping you the ‘how to’ piece as soon as it is ready.

[contact-form to=”stevetowers@gmail.com” subject=”Design Thinking – the next steps”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][/contact-form]

Ciao for now, Steve.

 

 

NEW Customer Experience Coaches

Increasingly enterprises are understanding the need to align everything they do with delivering Successful Customer Outcomes.
Disney refers to this as “True North” alignment.

As the science of delivering True North develops organizations are upskilling their leaders to mentor all employees, from the lunchroom to the boardroom.

In the vanguard of these new professionals are the trainers, coaches and mentors using proven tried and tested approaches from the world leading CX companies such as Zappos, Amazon, Emirates and Zara.

When you are tasked with delivering business change, whether that is through the Customer Experience or Process Transformation using the latest techniques (rather than outdated industrial age) will guide you to immediate success.
All BPG Coaches and mentors are qualified to implement the CEMMethod customised to the industry and challenges you face and with the objective of aligning everything to delivering Successful Customer Outcomes.

You can review some of the latest folks to become licensed to lead these CX and Process Transformations – link with them below and dig deeper.

http://www.bpgroup.org/licensed-coaches.html

Meet the Coaches & Mentors

Coaches licensed to consult, accredit and mentor.
There are 400+ additional coaches (under NDA) operating globally.
Steve Towers | Lizetter Akker | James Dodkins | Kerry Jackson | Morgan Jones | Chris Wix | Samir Asaf | Lyall Shapiro | Laxman Murugappan | Karen Feld | Fahad Altwijry | Kath Milne | Lucy Paddy | Chris Reeve | Meshan Morar | Cristian Matei | Molly Redenbaugh | Randy DeSpain | Susan Parker | Max Kochar | Wille Kraus | Alexandre Nevski | Veronique Roy |

http://www.bpgroup.org/licensed-coaches.html

Upcoming sessions in Johannesburg, Dubai, Washington DC, Denver, Sydney, London, Lake Como (Italy), Montreal, Brussels – see the latest dates and venues

Developing the CX Leaders of tomorrow

We have got to get more scientific about the Customer Experience.

 

The ACXP™ program is designed to introduce, develop and deploy the leading techniques and approaches that connect Customer Experience with immediate and sustained business impact.

Join us in a city near you and transform your approach to Customer Experience with immediate and tangible results.

Using pragmatic hands-on skills-based approach professionals get access to over 60 discrete techniques developed in the world’s leading CX companies.

CEMMethod™

Wrapped within the progressive and structured CEMMethod™ all levels of the organization are engaged to deliver the promise of CX success through delivering the Triple Crown –lowering costs, growing revenues and enhancing service simultaneously.

If your enterprise is demanding results from CX the four-day ACXM™ will get you in the right place double quick.

A city near you…

Dubai, UAE Dubai Masters ACXM 8-11 April 2018
Sydney, Australia Sydney ACXM 28-31 May 2018
Joburg, South Africa Johannesburg ACXM 18-21 June 2018
Dubai, UAE Dubai ACX Champs 1-4 July 2018
Denver, Colorado Denver ACXM 17-20 Sep 2018
Washington DC Washington DC ACXM 9-12 Oct 2-18
Washington DC Washington DC ACX Champs 15-17 Oct 2018
London, England London ACXM 10-13 Dec 2018
Orlando, Florida Orlando ACXM 28-31 Jan 2019

Learn why…

  • Existing CX measurement systems are fundamentally flawed, subjective and misleading
  • Connecting the dots from the customer experience to business impact is not just necessary, but essential for credibility and ongoing CX investment
  • Upskilling to proven tried and tested techniques and the CEMMethod will guide you to immediate results
  • Building an Outside-In dashboard that links everyone to Successful Customer Outcomes encourages the top team and enterprise-wide support

Recent validations…

Thanks very much for an amazing course! You are a fantastic facilitator and I’m truly blessed to have you share your wisdom with us.
Jenny Simpson, Senior Consultant, Business Improvement, National Australia Bank

I’m writing to endorse BP Groups program. It completely changed the way I think about the customer experience and process. The program provided me with the ability to apply all the learnings immediately after the training. Very effective training with a wealth of knowledge to share. This is a must training for everyone who’s interested in making a process better!
Maria T Ferreira AVP – Client Experience & Process Improvement at Citi

Thanks for your time and the fantastic course, delivered in Auckland recently. Looking forward to attending the Masters in June – will see if I can bring some colleagues!!
Neal Ross, Chief Information Officer at Konica Minolta Business

Brilliant Workshop. The speaker was awesome and gave great guidance on matters I am finding in the workplace.
Cindy-Lee Muller, Planning & Roadmap Manager, MTN (Pty) Ltd

The workshop is highly recommended for anyone who wishes to simplify and expedite processes thereby enhancing customer satisfaction. The speaker is immensely knowledgeable and demonstrates vast experience in the subject.
David Mulovhedzi, DPSA (South Africa)

Strategic Changes

I did the Masters two weeks ago and it completely changed my world.
Since then things are going really fast within our organization. The rest of the guys in our executive team are completely sold on the concept.
I am now taking the rest of the staff through some sessions. We plan to work on and optimize 6-10 key processes in the near future.
We are also: 
• Revamping our organization structure to go to the “customer inclusive” model.
• We are going away this weekend to re-think our business plan (which was based on old thinking)
• We are actively considering getting rid of all our titles and silos in the organization and only having “the business we really are in” on the business cards.
• We are completely changing the KPI model to only focus only on and rewarding for an increase in revenue, cost savings, good service and most of all successful customer outcomes.
• We have appointed a staff member to begin talking to clients and to start understanding and managing their expectations.

To be honest I did not think it would happen that quick.
Nachiket Gole, Chief Information Officer – PowerNET Computer Consultants

…you’ve fundamentally changed the way I think about every process.
And inspired me to try Outside-In (OI) in all walks of life.
The first two levels should be included in educational curriculums (yes, even at the junior levels).
If everyone started applying OI, the world would be… where it should be.
Mahesh Mirchandani, CEO at BhumiTech

 

Going behind the ‘green line’ at Disney

Rockstar.cx (James Dodkins) takes us behind the green line at Disney with Disney EVP Lee Cockerell

Join us to find out more of the Outside-In and Customer Centric approaches and techniques at http://www.bpgroup.org/training.html at a session in New York, Washington DC, Denver, London, Dubai, Johannesburg, Sydney in the next 90 days.
See you all there!