Keynote address delivered in Bangalore at the 6th Annual Enterprise & IT Architecture conference hosted by iCMG. Updated and revised for the 5th edition of the book “Outside-In – The Secret”
Category: Sales Outside-In
If Outside-In aka Customer Centricity is so Obvious…
Outside-In is clearly the way for the worlds top companies
(see David Mottersheads blog at http://www.outsideinconsulting.com.au/outside-in-blog.html) and reflecting on the commentary by Hank Barnes in “Customer Experience Challenges: Why Maintaining an Outside-in Approach is Tougher than it Seems”
the answer as to why the masses don’t get it is probably very simply the herd instinct.
For instance in 1969 astronomer J. Donal Fernie made an observation many of us will understand. In writing about the decades it took his fellow professionals to spot a fundamental error.. “the definitive study of the herd instincts of astronomers has yet to be written, but there are times when we resemble nothing so much as a herd of antelope, heads down in tight formation, thundering with firm determination in a particular direction across the plain. At a given signal from the leader we whirl about, and, with equally firm determination, thunder off in quite a different direction, still in tight parallel formation”
We of course have our own immediate examples. What about the world leading Insurance Company waiting eight days for ink to dry on parchment paper before sending out a new policy? Or the removal business that stuck with a 35 mile rule limit just in case the horse died? What about suggesting people visiting the UK from ‘abroad’ should practice driving on the left before they came if they weren’t used to it (to reduce the accidents on UK roads).
Yup there are lots of antelopes out there.
Will you meet any tomorrow? And will you be running with the herd?
Ciao, Steve
(see David Mottersheads blog at http://www.outsideinconsulting.com.au/outside-in-blog.html) and reflecting on the commentary by Hank Barnes in “Customer Experience Challenges: Why Maintaining an Outside-in Approach is Tougher than it Seems”
the answer as to why the masses don’t get it is probably very simply the herd instinct.
For instance in 1969 astronomer J. Donal Fernie made an observation many of us will understand. In writing about the decades it took his fellow professionals to spot a fundamental error.. “the definitive study of the herd instincts of astronomers has yet to be written, but there are times when we resemble nothing so much as a herd of antelope, heads down in tight formation, thundering with firm determination in a particular direction across the plain. At a given signal from the leader we whirl about, and, with equally firm determination, thunder off in quite a different direction, still in tight parallel formation”We of course have our own immediate examples. What about the world leading Insurance Company waiting eight days for ink to dry on parchment paper before sending out a new policy? Or the removal business that stuck with a 35 mile rule limit just in case the horse died? What about suggesting people visiting the UK from ‘abroad’ should practice driving on the left before they came if they weren’t used to it (to reduce the accidents on UK roads).
Yup there are lots of antelopes out there.
Will you meet any tomorrow? And will you be running with the herd?
Ciao, Steve
Back to the Future… 1996 are you listening?
Online Newsletter (http://www.itstime.com/oct96.htm)
October, 1996 –
Re-engineering – Middle Managers are the Key Asset
By Steve Towers, used with permission (Thanks, Steve!)
Tips for Success as a Middle Manager
There are a number of individual and organizational actions that lead to proven success:
- Move away from day-to-day operations – these belong in the front-line.
- Think like senior managers
- Understand the business strategy
- Participate at all levels by exploiting their technical and organizational expertise
- Manage change and people together.
- Utilize their role as ‘Ace mediator’.
- Become a practical visionary.
- Become the master of change
(Full text of the article follows)
Steve Towers, Chairman of the Business Process Management Group (BPMG) and UtiliSense, offers some sage advice for survival.
Preamble: Middle Managers are under immense pressure from above and below to do more with less.
Everyone is doing it – Southern Electric International acquiring SWEB, Hanson and Eastern Group getting together, North West Water and Norweb forming United Utilities. London city is rife with more rumors – who’s next? One thing is certain and that is that everything is changing. Many utilities are anticipating, and indeed pre-empting change, by taking greater control over their own destiny through Business Process Re-engineering. Amidst all this radical change what is happening to the Middle Manager? Is the role still a viable one? What does the Middle Manager have to do to survive?
Pressure to change almost irresistible
The current Merger/Acquisition mania-sweeping the sector, coupled with nervous Regulators, Customer dissatisfaction, Director pay publicity, and the looming election are rocking the boat and causing utilities to rethink themselves. This self-appraisal is resulting in ‘new-look’ organizations which have been become Down-sized, Customer focused, Team managed with Flatter, de-layered organization structures.
Middle Manager has become an endangered species
In response to the need to cut costs some organizations have effectively scrapped the role of Middle Manager! They are viewed by many writers on change as excess ‘organizational baggage’. Mike Hammer, co-author of ‘Re-engineering the Corporation’ says in his latest eulogy ‘. . . we refer to this managerial hierarchy . . . as the Death Zone of re-engineering. Middle managers have the most invested in the status quo and stand to lose the most in re-engineering’ So that’s it? The end of Middle Management as we know it? Yes and no, the organizations that have achieved re-engineering success (ant there’s a lot who haven’t) have done so with the middle manager playing the key role. However it does involve transforming the role.
Evidence is now emerging that organizations who view the middle manager as ‘dead wood’ are doomed; companies that ‘hack out’ the middle manager are destroying the greatest potential asset. Unfortunately many still believe that by scrapping this vital resource they will succeed. This is one of the reasons why so many re-engineering programs falter and subsequently fail.
Middle Manager survival
The key to success is changing the role. Middle managers are no longer up-and-down information conduits, or simple plan-control-evaluate-functionaries. They embody the core competence of the successful organization.
Re-engineering success is achieved by the middle managers identifying the business breakthroughs; becoming good role models and overcoming the organizational barriers that prevent success. Senior management are beginning to appreciate that in true Pareto style, if they are to achieve the customer improved, reduced cost, flexible and dynamic business they must use and enhance this organizational role. The really successful business managers know that the pivotal position of the middle managers can convert a cynical ‘change-blitzed’ organization.
So what does the Middle manager need to do to ensure success?
There are a number of individual and organizational actions that lead to proven success:
1. Move away from day-to-day operations – these belong in the front-line.
Avoid being distracted by the minutia of life. Becoming buried in the detail is a sure-fire way of missing the point. There’s a need to focus on the important more strategic issues, let the front-line worker gain the necessary knowledge and competence to develop the skills to fulfill a more rounded role, and indeed deal with the detail.
2. Think like senior managers
Looking up and out provides scope for dealing with more substantive issues. Contributing to the internal ‘way forward’ debates will ensure that the Middle Managers extensive knowledge is utilized for organizational benefit.
3. Understand the business strategy
What are the things which cause the organization to want to change? How can the organization direct its own future, anticipating threats and exploiting opportunity?
4. Participate at all levels by exploiting their technical and organizational expertise
Many Middle Managers have internalized a great deal of technical and organizational knowledge – how their business works best, the mechanics of the way things get done, what will work and why some things fail. Spread the knowledge. It will ensure that decision making is informed and well thought out.
5. Manage change and people together.
Set an example and coach the less experienced through difficulties.
6. Utilize their role as ‘Ace mediator’.
Someone who is able to understand internal and external pressures on the organization and satisfy competing interests.
7. Become a practical visionary.
Converting the strategic ‘top-think’ into meaningful actions, and counseling the front-liners through often difficult transformation.
8. Become the master of change
Set the agenda by recognizing what is possible and harnessing the organization to achieve it. Understand the practical ways of implementing change, initiate activities that lead to ‘shifts in thinking’ about the way work is done.
Comments from the field
Asking the question ‘How can you become a more effective middle manager?’ elicited the following thought-provoking responses.
Rory Chase, Managing Director of IFS International in Bedford, has first-hand experience of the challenges:
- He says “the new role of the middle manager embraces three key areas – Team leadership, Change Maker and Facilitator.”
- Rory explains that Team leadership is about setting an example, establishing a good role model and actively leading from the front.
- Being a Change Maker means being innovative, looking for continual improvement and interpreting the needs of senior management, staff and customers alike.
- The Facilitator is about getting the right things to happen.
- Rory finally adds “Getting total buy-in to change.
- Gaining the commitment of the organization to successful improvement.”
- That’s no small agenda to accomplish, especially since ‘business as usual’ doesn’t stop as the new role develops.
In the more fragmented United States utility sector they have been experiencing this type of change for some time now. Leonard Sayles, author of ‘The Working Leader’ and a senior manager at the Center for Creative Leadership says:
- “Everything has changed.
- You have much more demanding customers, who are increasingly demanding customization.
- These customers are not only demanding, their needs are in flux . . .
- The market is itself more turbulent.”
- Leonard sees the new role as completely rethinking the past, “You need to keep redesigning and adapting the (business) processes, with the power and autonomy people can have.
- This type of integration can only take place through a variety of middle manager negotiations and interventions.
- Mainly you have to remember that all the things you’ve been told (about managing) are totally wrong.”
Grasp the Change
Realizing this transformation will free not just yourself but the people around you. Seizing the initiative, and going for growth will truly empower you and the organization. Chocks away!
Acknowledgement:
After an early career in the Utility and then the Financial Services sector Steve Towers co-founded Utilisense Consulting, now established as a leading BPR consultancy. He is Chairman of the Business Process Management Group (BPMG) and has recently been appointed Chairman of IntraNet Solutions, a systems consultancy currently undertaking Internet/IntraNet assignments with leading blue chip companies.
Well that was back in the 20th century. Is it really any different now?
Part 4 of 4: There are four distinctly Outside-In ways that you can rethink process and in doing so achieve Triple Crown benefits – Rethinking the Business you are In
The previous three articles in this four part theme we reviewed Part 3: ‘Reframing process for an Outside-In world‘, Part 1: ‘Understand and applying Process diagnostics‘ and the Part 2: ‘Successful Customer Outcome‘ map.
We now move our attention to the fourth way we can rethink process forever
Rethinking the Business you are in.
In the Southwest airlines example reviewed earlier we referred to the different viewpoints of the ‘business’ you are in. The two views – one the organisations, regarded as inside-out reflect the activities and functions undertaken. So British Airways see themselves in the business of flying airplanes and approach the customer with that product/service in mind. They set about marketing and selling the flights and hope to pull the customers to the product through pricing, availability and placement. In a slowly changing world where customers have little choice this strategy can provide a route to success.
As we have already seen the tables have turned and the enlightened customer demands so much more.
Southwest and other Outside-In companies understand this challenge and take a customer viewpoint.
What business would you say these six companies are in: Hallmark Cards, BMW, Disney, Zara, AOL, OTIS elevators, China Mobile? Try it from the customers perspective and you’ll arrive at a very different answer – try these, expression, joy, magic, style and comfort, community, moving people, connectivity. Yes they are very different and will reframe the way you think of the service and products you provide. Go further and look inside your existing company.
Are you still separated into functional specialist areas providing specific outputs to other departments in the so called ‘value chain’? Do you have internal ‘service level agreements’ that specify what you’ll deliver and when? How much of our internal interaction adds ultimate value for the customer? This way of organising work imposes limitations on our ability to truly deliver successful customer outcomes. The Inside-out viewpoint is inefficient, prone to red tape, is extremely risk adverse (checkers checking checkers) and slow in delivering product and service.
Many inside-out organisations actually regard customers as an inconvenience rather than the reason why they exist.
What business are you in? Past, present, future?
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Outside-In Sales – by James Dodkins
Moving Outside-In effects every aspect of how an organisation manages itself. This is especially true at the ‘point of sale’ where we as customers interact with companies selling us product or service.
This article explores the shift in perspective and how organisations and sales teams can rethink their role.
This article explores the shift in perspective and how organisations and sales teams can rethink their role.
The Game is changing, are you?
There has been a perspective shift in sales over the last five years, the 21st Century selling environment has changed drastically. Many businesses are finding it hard to adapt, while others are thriving and achieve record profits. How is this possible?
Let’s go back five years and examine the sales profession. The customer’s desire for knowledge was such that sales tactics such as emails or cold calls were reaping benefits hand over fist and were considered key in the sales process. Many a time the customer would not know what they wanted until it was suggested and if they did know and wanted to find out information for themselves, they had to get in front of a sales agent; this allowed for the ‘hard sell’ to begin.
The main goal of many sales agents was to get the sale at any cost. Sales agents were able to say what they wanted in order to close the sale and the customer, none the wiser, would invariably believe what they were being fed and hand over their money.
Companies could be accused of putting many other aspects above a customer’s needs, however five years ago, while not the most effective way, it didn’t drastically effect a businesses success. Customers had money to spend and time to spend it; and sales agents rubbed their hands together, happy to take it from them. Result? Company wins, Customer loses.
Today there is a new breed of customer, a customer who knows what they want, an enlightened customer if you will. The immense growth of the internet has allowed customers to get the information they need at the drop of a hat. The customer’s desire for knowledge is still there, however they now know where to discover this. On average, according to ‘The Bupa Health Pulse’ survey, 58% of patients now go to the doctor after ‘self-diagnosing’. This is largely down to how readily available the information is online. This is the same with customers, they search and gain extensive knowledge around the product and ‘self-diagnose’ what they need and no longer can be told what they want.
In a complete shift from five years ago; customers now have more information yet less disposable income and as a result are now thought on as harder to sell to. What’s the solution? Don’t sell to them; let them sell to themselves!
Let’s look at Apple for example; their sales agents are there to facilitate and support the sales process, taking a more consultative approach. The customer walks into an Apple shop knowing exactly what they want; the sales agent’s responsibility is to make sure the customer gets exactly want they want and that they leave after having a positive experience with Apple. The customer wants to buy, not to be sold to.
If you are a sales agent reading this you may well ask; what can I do to change?
Taking all into account there are many ways to become more effective. To name a few, firstly you need to make sure your product knowledge is faultless; if a customer knows more about the product than the staff, how much confidence will they have in you or the company for that matter? Use their knowledge of the product to support them as they buy.
Never be annoyed that they know as much about your product as you, show that you are impressed and complement them on this, be happy that they have practically done your job for you and given you something in common straight away. Use this to build rapport, get them involved with the product, don’t sell to them; ask them the questions that will make them sell to them self. Focus on making the customer experience a great one and you will outperform any agent stuck in the ‘hard sell’ mentality.If you are otherwise involved in a company you may well ask; how can we rise above the rest? The best advice I can give is to move quickly, capitalise on other company’s shortfalls during this harsh economic climate, overtake them while they stagnate and become truly customer focused. Remember it’s no longer what you tell the customer about your product that matters to them; it’s what Google tells them, it’s what Facebook tells them, it’s what their friends and co-workers tell them. So leave all customers with a brilliant image of your company and you will grow exponentially more than with a website bragging about your greatness. People’s attention spans are decreasing in the digital age and according to the BBC, most internet users will spend less than one minute on an average website, so make your information quick, informative and user friendly.
You can monitor how far along the customer has taken themselves in the sales process by how specific their search is. Common sense would dictate that the more specific the search, the further along the sales process they are. Make sure everything you do is customer-centric. Result? Company wins, Customer wins.
The planned introduction of internet sales tax, more likely than not, will bring some sales back out into the field, this allows a company’s representatives to interact face to face and deliver a truly fantastic customer experience that will perpetuate growth on all levels, however the amount of information available on the internet is still constantly increasing and is unlikely to stop, so this 21st century sales perspective shift, in my opinion, is here to stay.
To thrive in this environment companies need to take an Outside-in sales approach. Compared to five years ago many people may regard this as an ‘uneven playing field’ however the playing field is just as even as before, the game is changing, are you?
James Dodkins, Head Coach, The Alexander John Group
Review James LinkedIn profile at: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jamesdodkins
Visit Company website: http://www.alexanderjohngroup.com/
About James:
Sales and Business Performance Transformation Coach specialising in the development of individuals and organizations.
James has a proven track record of success working with over 700 business professionals across the UK within award winning FTSE 100 companies.
He has been largely involved with high priority contracts with approximate contributions of £10.4 million a year, while continually demonstrating a high level of performance motivation.
James is currently looking to work with individuals interested in goal realisation and implementation to bring about immediate changes and long-term results towards business and life success.
As a field innovator, James has contributed regular development of coaching methodology aids to enhance
effectiveness for positive client results.
James is in the process of creating ‘Begin to Win: The Flip-it Guide to Sales and Success©’
Specialties:
- Sales Performance
- One to one and Group Coaching
- Motivational Coaching
- Goal realisation
- Goal implementation