Search results matching tag 'customers'

EODB Assessments and Anniversary

christina.sullivan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:45:00 GMT

I can't believe that I have been blogging a year! I'm not a super-blogger by any means and certainly don't have the volume of posts that most bloggers do, but I'm pretty proud that I've stuck with it a year. It has been challenging, interesting, and a very positive experience overall. So, here is to 1 year. The goal for the next year is to post more and collaborate more with other bloggers in my subject area.

I've been toying with the idea for quite a while to develop an assessment that companies can use to evaluate how easy they are to do business with at a more detailed level and from a customer's perspective. I have tons of survey data that includes “How easy is it to do business with (X company)”?; however, very few actually break "easy" down into components

I've reviewed the Forester's Customer Service Innovation Framework and Self-Assessment http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/0,7211,47688,00.html and think Natalie L. Petouhoff has done an excellent job of defining 150 best pratice capabilities. Although I like her framework, I'd like one that could be applied to any business process.

A former boss of mine, Jerry Wittig, developed a draft assessment that I think could provide an excellent starting point. It had the following categories which could be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest score and 5 being the best. The idea is that the customer of company X would rate their company interactions based upon the following categories and sub attributes:

Effortless - less time, fewer steps, fewer decisions

Comfortable - friendly relationships/dialogs, free of embarassment

Informal - fewer worries, less rules/constraints

Unforced - per my timeline, few demands

Rewarding - high benefit for effort, unexpected pleasures

Jerry passed away some years ago and I'd like to think his legacy and work continues. What assessments have you seen/used for assessing ease of doing business? What other characteristics do you think should be included in such an assessment? Send me your ideas/comments.

Positive Earnings Announcements and Focus on Customer Experience

christina.sullivan — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:09:00 GMT

As I receive blog alerts about “Ease of Doing Business” and “Customer Experience”, I’ve been watching the comments regarding the latest Forrester customer experience index (CxPi) Survey which indicates Apple came up with a “good” rating at 80% while Compaq/HP came up with a 63% to 66%, and Dell came in at the bottom of a “poor” rating with 58%. Read Bruce Temkin’s blog on this subject at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/apple-beats-windows-in-customer-experience/ . Of course, I’m not happy with the Compaq/ HP rating as my job focuses on making interactions with the customer easier, but I also have insight into customer improvements HP is working on and know sometimes there is a lag between improvements and the results seen in surveys. Other than being distracted by all the comments posted to Temkin’s blog, the other thing I noticed was the large number of Q1 earnings announcements this week and the mention of customer experience. Take a look at Amazon, JetBlue, Stamps.com, Yahoo, and even the newcomer, Chipotle, comments:

“We remain heads down focused on driving a better customer experience through price, selection and convenience. We believe putting customers first is the only reliable way to create lasting value for shareholders”. (Amazon Q1 Earnings)
“During the quarter we continued to enhance our customer experience. We introduced free premium movies for our customers traveling to the Caribbean and we continued to test the sale of food onboard our aircraft. Our goal is to provide our customers with products and services they value, especially at a time when customers are carefully managing their budgets”.(JetBlue Q1 Earnings)
“Second in our 2009 plan, we are going to continue optimizing our business model and our overall customer experience in several ways.”(Stamps.com Q1 Earnings)
“Yahoo is focusing on having a Wow! experience for all of its users around the world.” (Yahoo Q1 Earnings)
“These benefits are apparent throughout our business model, and in nearly every facet of the customer experience. For example, we're providing better customer service and better food while improving the cost of labor and food and reducing our G&A expenditures.” (Chipotle Q1 Earnings)

Is it a coincidence that these companies had strong performance and positive earnings? I think not. I’m pleased to see that those focusing on improving the customer experience are reaping the rewards.

Customer’s Clock Rules

christina.sullivan — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:20:00 GMT

In a previous blog, http://www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/ease-of-doing-business/archive/2008/11/20/disneyworld-does-it.aspx, I cite 5 rules for ease of doing business and improving customer experience. The 2^nd rule I cited was that you must “Evaluate your processes and procedures with #1(put the customer first) in mind”. If you are working to transform a critical customer process, you need to know: 1) what you are trying to accomplish? and 2) how do you know when you get there? The latter gets to developing the right measures. Let me give you an example of this. If I was looking at customer turnaround time for a specific process, would I measure time in business hours (the time that the establishment is open) or would I measure it in customer real-time? If you’ve read the title of this blog you should know the answer, but you would be surprised how many companies don’t do this. Customers don’t care if the office was closed between 6pm and 8am. They want a response and they want it now. If they made a request yesterday and don’t get an answer until today, that’s a 24 hour response in their mind. Systems may have limitations that get in the way of measuring your performance in “customer time” but in order to follow the first 2 rules (#1: putting the customer first; and 2: Evaluate your processes and procedures with #1 in mind), you have to ensure your measurements are consistent with the customer view.

Go forth and measure! But, make sure you do it with the customer mindset – not the internal view or just the way the system allows you to.

Putting Customers First

christina.sullivan — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:59:00 GMT

In a previous blog, http://www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/ease-of-doing-business/archive/2008/11/20/disneyworld-does-it.aspx, I referenced 5 steps for ease of doing business and improving customer experience. Although very simple steps, the challenges of the enterprise business doesn’t always allow for these steps to be followed as the rule and are sometimes the exception. Although HP follows this, I’m sure not every company adheres the most important rule:

Rule #1: Put the customer first

A recent study performed by the CMO Council and sponsored by Satmetrix entitled, “Giving Customer Voice More Volume,” reveals only 29% of the 480 senior marketers surveyed say their companies rate highly in their ability to handle and resolve customer problems or complaints.

Additionally, the study citied that “Customer listening, learning and leveling are critical qualities that need to be part of an institutionalized corporate culture, the CMO Council said. Yet, survey data demonstrates that most companies treat customer interactions around service situations and incidents only as problems that need quick resolution:

Just more than one-third (38%) of companies gather customer insight from customer engagement situations.
Less than one-third (32%) look for ways to turn problems into new sales opportunities, and only 15% introduce new products or services to further monetize the relationship.
Less than two in 10 (17%) use customer interaction opportunities to identify and cultivate potential champions and advocates.

Putting the customer first starts with actively engaging the customer. It includes not only listening but taking action on customer feedback. But, more than merely a reactive process to customer feedback, “putting the customer first” means that anytime a new procedure, policy or process is considered, the first critical question is “how will this impact the customer”? It requires the discipline of taking the customer perspective in every improvement effort or strategic initiative. It has to be a mindset and a way of life for the company to be successful and authentic with their customers.

During this economic climate, when the focus is on cost-cutting, putting the customer first can be a challenging concept to get buy-in and to implement. Companies that understand “customer first” or the “outside-in view” will be the ones prospering in the aftermath. Who will step up to the plate? Time will tell.

Let me hear your comments. What companies do you think put the customer first? I’d love to hear your examples of companies that are living by this rule. Send them my way.

Beyond the Super Bowl Spectacle

Tac Anderson — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:21:00 GMT

Mike Feldman
Vice President and General Manager
Enterprise Sales and Services
IPG-Americas

Hey everyone - I'm back from the Super Bowl this week. What a game! This year's spectacle was one of the best ever -- and proved to be a welcome, yet sharp contrast to the difficulties that plague our economy. However, to me, the Super Bowl isn't simply about football, or even the halftime extravaganza (however great Springsteen was!)

I had the opportunity to meet with more than thirty CIOs and executives - some who are already executing with HP on the three tenets of our strategy: optimize infrastructure, manage environment, and improve workflow, and some who are eager to get started with our Print 2.0 workshops and assessments. With their continued focus on costs, productivity, security and environmental impact, it is becoming more and more clear that HP has lined up the solutions they need to combat the brutal realities of today's business climate.

So, while the Steelers delivered on their promise to capture their sixth championship title, and 'The Boss' delivered on his promise of a '12-minute' halftime party, our enterprise printing team is also ready to deliver. We're committed to delivering the solutions our customers need to do more with less, boost productivity, protect their infrastructure and reign in the costs and environmental impact of their paper-intensive processes.

Business challenges on your mind too? Interested in learning more about our workshops and assessments? Check out our Printing and Imaging Solutions page.

Technorati Tags: Cost Savings,Security,Environment,Enterprise Printing Industry

HP Kicks Off National Retail Federation Event with New Retail Printing Solution

Tac Anderson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Mike Feldman
Vice President and General Manager
Enterprise Sales and Services
IPG-Americas

I just heard from Rock Wight, HP IPG WW Market Development Consultant for the Retail and Hospitality Industries, who is onsite at this year's National Retail Federation (NRF) trade show in the "Big Apple" -- one of the nation's largest retail conferences. Even with the troubles facing the retail industry, Rock reports that the show is one of the best he's attended in years and says the buzz around HP's presence at the show has attendees fired up about the retail industry in 2009.

I wanted to share with you the latest news that HP announced this week to conference attendees around its HP Retail Printing Solution for retailers. Geared specifically towards grocery and convenience stores, this solution has the capacity, endurance and flexibility to print high quality promotional items on vinyl stock - material poised to tackle the challenges of a busy retail environment.

Think about all the signage you see in your local grocery store. From sales and promotional signage down to the price tags and shelf labels, HP is offering retail signage solutions that look sharp, have lasting appeal, help attract additional customers and, ultimately, drive sales. And, that should get all retailers excited these days! Based on feedback from our customers, HP identified a major pain point for retailers and created a solution that addresses the core values and goals of the grocer. Sometimes recognition alone and one innovative concept can solve a simple and long-standing problem for a customer. Now that is what I call a SMART solution.

Close Kins: Customer Experience and Ease of Doing Business (EODB)

christina.sullivan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:33:00 GMT

I often get asked “how is ease of doing business and customer experience alike or different”? In Bruce Temkin’s Customer Experience Matters Blog, http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/what-the-heck-is-customer-experience/, He defines the customer experience as “the perception that customers have of their interactions with an organization”. I think Bruce Temkin’s definition works nicely for EODB as well, but if I replaced the word “interaction” with “transaction” I think I’d get closer to the EODB definition. I think the customer experience encompasses much more than “ease” and therefore, ease is a sub-set of but an important component of customer experience.

Why do I think the word “transaction” applies better to ease of doing business? In my mind, a transaction (making a purchase, paying an invoice, making a support request) is the focus for ease and it has heavy emphasis on the process. The process needs to be designed with the customer in mind to make every transaction or customer touch point as easy as possible. However, what is considered an “easy” transaction for one customer may well be different for another customer. So, the key is that every transaction or touchpoint must be customized/tailored and easy per the customer’s specification across the lifecycle. E.g., “making a purchase may be easy for one customer on the web, for another through direct buying, for another through a channel.

Ease of Doing Business covers the entire value chain including every process that touches the customer which can either enhance or degrade their experience, but customer experience is something more. Customer experience includes the functional, emotional and social needs of the customer. As mentioned in the wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_experience, “Customer Experience is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the duration of their relationship with that supplier”. How GOOD or BAD the experience is depends on how well we address the functional, emotional and social. Creating a great customer experience requires we address these aspects; however, ease of doing business focuses on how easily the functional need is fulfilled. A functional process can be completed efficiently and accurately and thus be perceived as “easy”, but we still may not be touching the emotion of the customer. Easy may be achieved through a paperless process or elimination of a process altogether. If a customer completes an interaction and is saying “wow, that was easy!” then you’re hitting the emotional sweet spot and getting the functional process completed. So, ease of doing business is a close cousin or kin to customer experience. You can have one without the other but the most powerful relationship is built when we focus on making it easy for our customers to do business with AND a great customer experience.

Thanks to my colleague, Susan Sherman, our resident expert in customer experience, for her valuable contribution to this blog.

As this is my last blog for the year (due to holiday and vacation time much needed), I wish all of you some “easiness” in your life and work in 2009. Bye!

Achieving Business Success for our Enterprise Customers

Tac Anderson — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:29:00 GMT

Mike Feldman
Vice President and General Manager
Enterprise Sales and Services
IPG-Americas

ImagePrint 2008

I’m happy to report that ImagePrint 2008 was a tremendous success. This year, we had a record number of enterprise customers and channel and solution partners in attendance. Not only was it a great turnout, but everything from the breakout sessions to the keynotes to the solutions showcase were first-rate and we received extremely positive feedback from our customers and partners alike. I have the privilege to work with many smart and talented people at HP and really saw my team engaging at all levels.

At every turn I was hearing from customers that this event made a difference and that they are going to take immediate action on building their Print 2.0 plans, which allow them to save money and improve their business processes just by assessing their imaging and printing environment. For those already down the path of optimizing their infrastructure and/or managing their environments, they wanted to extend their plans by improving their workflows and streamlining their imaging and printing operations.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s event.

Technorati Tags: enterprise,partners,HP,event,Print 2.0,imageprint

HP Unveils New Document Management Solutions and Green IT Action Plan for Enterprise Customers

Tac Anderson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:38:00 GMT

Live from ImagePrint 2008 pt 2

Mike Feldman
Vice President and General Manager
Enterprise Sales and Services
IPG-Americas

I’m up early and ready for an engaging and informative day with customers and partners here at ImagePrint. In all of our customer conversations today, we’re focused on how we can help customers optimize their infrastructure, manage their environment and improve their workflows.

With this in mind, today we are excited to announce three new imaging and printing solutions that include:

HP and Perceptive Software Capture and Workflow Solutions, which enable customers to capture and organize all types of documents then retrieve a specific page instantly from a wide variety of standard as well as custom enterprise business applications.
HP and ReadSoft Automated Invoice Processing Solution that transforms paper-based workflows into a seamless electronic process. This allows for finance and administration teams to interpret, validate and verify information contained in printed invoices.
HP Automated Invoice Processing Solution for Manufacturing captures invoice data for manufacturers at remote locations using HP MFPs and rapidly interprets, verifies and approves the information electronically. The solution facilitates rigorous records management, compliance and risk reduction, creating fully digital documents that can be processed in days rather than weeks. It is ideal for manufacturers looking to reduce labor, document storage, shipping, and courier costs.

In addition, we are also announcing the new Green IT Action plan for printing and imaging, a step-by-step guide to help customers develop a plan to reduce the environmental impact of printing and imaging.

The new solutions and the Green IT Action Plan expand HP’s portfolio of solutions to addresses the document management and sustainability needs of enterprise customers. To learn more about these solutions, visit: http://www.hp.com/go/imageprintma.

I’m looking forward to meeting with customers and to a great night that includes the “Taste of Florida” dinner and reception here at ImagePrint.

Bruce Dahlgren presents the keynote address at ImagePrint 2008.

Technorati Tags: IT,Green,HP,ImagePrint,Document Management,Workflow

Continuing the Dialogue: Addressing our Enterprise Customer’s Top Business Concerns

Tac Anderson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:15:00 GMT

Live from ImagePrint 2008

Mike Feldman
Vice President and General Manager
Enterprise Sales and Services
IPG-Americas

Greetings from Orlando!

I am blogging this week from the beautiful Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida at ImagePrint, HP’s annual imaging and printing conference for enterprise customers. This year, I’m looking forward to participating and hosting sessions from a different vantage point under my new role in leading HP’s enterprise business.

Tomorrow morning, I will host what I hope to be an engaging conversation with our customers about their top challenges and how partnering with HP better enable them to assess, approach and meet their imaging and printing objectives. During the past year, I’ve been able to see first-hand our customer’s top business concerns and priorities. I hope to ensure that the 800+ customers and partners attending ImagePrint obtain value from HP on all levels. There will also be a keynote from Bruce Dahlgren, senior vice president for Worldwide Sales and Services that will feature HP’s vision of imaging and printing and how opportunities and tools available now can help customers achieve their business goals. Select customers will also participate in panel discussions sharing their insights and best practices for a variety of topics ranging from “Green IT” to optimizing printer fleets and improving workflows.

I’m off to greet customers that are arriving today. Stay tuned for additional updates this week.

Search results matching tag 'customers'

EODB Assessments and Anniversary

Positive Earnings Announcements and Focus on Customer Experience

Customer’s Clock Rules

Putting Customers First

Beyond the Super Bowl Spectacle

Related articles by Zemanta

HP Kicks Off National Retail Federation Event with New Retail Printing Solution

Close Kins: Customer Experience and Ease of Doing Business (EODB)

Achieving Business Success for our Enterprise Customers

Related articles by Zemanta

HP Unveils New Document Management Solutions and Green IT Action Plan for Enterprise Customers

Continuing the Dialogue: Addressing our Enterprise Customer’s Top Business Concerns

Live from ImagePrint 2008