BPM Tips for 2021 (and Beyond)

Which #BPM skills will be hot in 2021?
Check out answers from 20+ experts! https://lnkd.in/eN3FM2a thanks to Zbigniew Misiak (LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/zbyszekmisiak/)

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With contributions from:

Jim Sinur
Steve Towers

Tony Benedict
Lloyd Dugan
Marlon Dumas
Scott Francis
Ian Gotts
Barbara Hodge
Paul Holmes-Higgin
Cristian Ivănuș
Mathias Kirchmer
Holly Lyke-Ho-Gland
Jan Mendling

Jim Sinur – BPM Guru

Juergen Pitschke
Brian Reale
Adrian Reed
Pedro Robledo
Michal Rosik
Tomislav Rozman
Alec Sharp
Phil Simpson
James Taylor
Miguel Valdés-Faura

There are some notable Tips in there. I especially liked this one…

Innovation Democratization by leveraging Collaboration for Process improvement methods, tools and techniques

Jim Sinur in BPM Tips 2021

There are certainly many many tools out there but none, as far as I am aware, who can do that yet. Or Are There?



Do you want to embrace advanced Customer-Centric thinking and become Outside-In?

https://lnkd.in/djWxB8m

👉 Step #1 – Review the upskilling options to become an ACX Professional & ACX Master: https://lnkd.in/dANgYX59

👉 Step #2 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE*  https://bit.ly/OI2021now

👉 Step #3 – Connect With The Community: https://linktr.ee/SteveTowers

👉 Step #4 – Keep Pace with Change: Recent Keynote – The Hard Benefits of XM | https://cemnext.com/xmroi2023

👉 Step #5 – Review the Testimonials Accredited Customer Experience Professional – BPG (bpgroup.org)

6 Steps to Customer Obsession (and Why)

Disruption Rules…
For more than eleven decades, Gillette ruled the world of shaving. In 2010 it had a 70% market share, now today (2021) it is around 54%. The emergent market leaders are a pair of start-ups, Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club.

Gillette’s market share is being cut…

The newcomers’ secret includes understanding changing customer needs, a narrow product line, incisive data analytics coupled with social media savvy, no middlemen, right sourced manufacturing, and lower prices than Gillette.

It is happening everywhere, with previous industrial giants being displaced across many business categories, including Casper in mattresses, Barnabas in men’s clothing, Allbirds shoes and trainers, and Warby Parker in eyeglasses.

Direct to consumer brands captured an estimated 20% of all online retail sales in the US in 2020. Established brands, consumer or industrial, are under more significant attack than ever. New entrants face lower entry barriers and have no baggage of past business models and industrial age thinking. 

Enlightened Customers

Customers have become enlightened…

Customers have become ‘enlightened’ through social media and learn about new trends and better products and experiences at lightning speed. Through the pandemic, customers expectations rose, they have become more choosey and rebellious. In fact, you could say customers have become prosumers.

Coupling these trends and increasing aspirations necessitates companies to become progressively Customer Obsessed if they wish to stay in the game. This requires an unending exploration and understanding of customer needs (even when customers themselves may not be aware of them) and an ability to act on those needs. The objective is to actively listen to 100% of interactions 100% of the time to understand micro trends and undertake next level research to deliver increased personalization.

Customers reject the one size fits all industrial age companies in favor of agile, immediate, and empathetic organizations. Mass customization is now achievable at a decreasing cost, allowing companies to offer specific personalized experiences and stay connected at every customer journey stage.

Extreme Alignment

Business alignment concept, strategy and planning, white arrow on road background, vintage and retro


This extreme alignment of everyone and everything towards successful customer outcomes is the hallmark of companies like Adidas. They have established speed factory facilities in Europe and the US, with an ability to measure each individual customers stride, speed, and gait. From that information, use 3D printing, AI, and automated manufacturing to compact the time from order to delivery. This hyper-personalization is welcome so much that customers are prepared to pay significantly more for their unique product.

Adidas is just one example. Cast your eyes over all industry sectors’ leaders, and you will see customer obsession in every aspect of their systems, processes, and experiences right across the complete supply chain.

How aligned is your company?

1. How personalized are your services and products?

2. Do you enable customer co-creation of the products and services they consume?

3. What is your company doing to continually innovate across all aspects of the business?

4. Where are the pinch points in existing operations that prevent rapid execution of change?

5. Is there an established culture of customer obsession?

6. Are the dots connected and lines drawn between strategy, leadership, and execution?

Time is short

Time Is Short…

Those companies that are unable or unwilling to make the changes necessary to move from industrial silo thinking to customer obsession face an imminent existential crisis brought about by these shifting business models. If they cannot evolve quickly, they will go the way of the Blockbusters, Kodaks, Nokia, Circuit City, Borders, and so many others.


Put the theory into practice and join us for the online, the live and interactive Certified Outside-In Master® program.

Review the content and register at: https://cemnext.com/oi2020

The launch of the program in 2020 qualified 20 people as Certified Outside-In Masters.

BPG PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ADDS NEW OUTSIDE-IN COURSE TO 2021 PROGRAM

Jan 8, 2021

New course offers Critical Training Organizations Need to Upskill Their Workforce and Gain an Edge in the New Normal

LONDON, England. January 8, 2021 — To accelerate business-critical training in the post-pandemic world and emerging customer-centricity, BPG Professional Education is adding a new timely courses to its 2021 line-up.

“The pandemic provides an ideal moment to embed customer obsession into businesses new operating models, and this will increase organisations’ ability to align everything and everyone to successful business and customer outcomes,” said Steve Towers, Executive Director of BPG Professional Education.

The Certified Outside-In Master® (COIM®) – starts on January 18th for 7 weeks at 3 hours per week –

‘Harness the power of cutting-edge approaches to create compelling new products and achieve game-changing innovation.’

https://cemnext.com/oi2020

Week #1: Introduction to an Outside-In world

Week #2: Reframing Around Customer Needs

Week #3: Focus on the Causes of Work

Week #4: The Disruption Factor

Week #5: Innovating Innovation

Week #6: Connecting the Dots and Drawing the Lines

Week #7: The New Normal of the Customer Obsessed organization

Over the 7 weeks the COIM program will feature 18 live interactive sessions backed up by tutorials, assignments and 1 on 1 coaching. With new case studies, videos and dedicated WhatsApp and LinkedIn forums.

The COIM program first ran in Spring 2020 and comes complete with Amazon best selling book (from 2020) ‘Dare! Behind The Scenes Of The Best Business Transformation Project In The World,’ and the book ‘Outside-In The Secret’ (published in 2010, now in its 10th edition – fully updated for 2021)

The Certified Outside-In Masters 2020 graduates

Coach & Guide:

Steve Towers, CEO & Founder BP Group. These expanded offerings complement BPG’s Professional Education with its Accredited Customer Experience and Certified Process Professional courses available to organizations around the globe.
For more information or to register, visit: https://cemnext.com/oi2020

ABOUT BPG PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

For 30 years, BPG Professional Education has provided business professionals worldwide a gateway to renowned BPG research, knowledge and expertise, through advanced professional programs designed specifically for them. Since 1992 more than 120,000 from 124 countries have qualified in programs ranging from Business Process Management, BPR, Customer Experience Management and Outside-In.

In addition to industry-focused, two-day to-seven-week Open Programs, BPG Professional Education offers individuals and teams the opportunity to take online, blended learning courses. Additionally, customized programs (leading to professional qualifications) can be delivered in specific industry sectors such as banking, retail, B2B, D2C, Utilities, Pharmaceutical, etc.

Testimonials from the 2020 sessions include:

Another fantastic learning, personal, and professional development experience with you! Lyall Shapiro, Australia

Thank you, Steve. Very intense but amazing, and already putting it into practice! 
Edwin De Lange, South Africa

Thank you soooooooo much, Steve.. this achievement means a lot to me & colossal credit goes to you… looking forward to my next training.
Amal Shaira, United Arab Emirates

Thank you, Steve Towers, for an awesome
Time of masterful learning. I can’t wait to attend your next class!
Victoria Weaver, United States

Contact Information

Steve Towers
BPG
https://www.Bpgroup.org

+44 7429 518277
+1 970 368 5454

The five crucial things successful CX organizations do every day

Most successful CX organizations do these things to lift their game.
Let’s review their winning approaches.
Then Model your own strategy based on these leading CX ‘next’ practices.

The article is a build on terrific feedback from my recent ‘5 Critical Failures of 80% of Customer Experience initiatives’.
(You can see that here: http://bit.ly/5CriticalFailures)

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”

George Bernard Shaw

So with that in mind, let’s move beyond the mistakes and uncover the winning strategies and how best can we implement those insightful approaches?

Based on our recent work and research my report from the CX front line should help you rethink your approach in our collective endeavor to get more scientific about the customer experience.

In the earlier article, we identified five major errors and causes of failure. Let’s review how winning CX companies reframe those into successful strategies.  

1. Top teams understand CX success and get out of the way of their people to let them get on with it.

To achieve strategic CX success, it is necessary to understand the limitations imposed by industrial age thinking (getting better at doing the wrong stuff faster, functional specialisms, outdated reward systems) and help the organization migrate to Outside-In thinking and practices. At Zappos, for instance, it is more important to meet the customer (see Zappos hits the road.. http://bit.ly/Zappos2021) and gather insights, and provide input to reshaping the organization.

The top team is actually out there “We want to shake the customers hands, give them really big high fives and meet their friends — delivering happiness and memorable experiences along the way,” said Kristin Richmer, Senior Brand Marketing Manager, Zappos.


The task then is not overlaying the new insights onto an industrial age siloed world. It is actually to reshape the organization, its people, the reward systems, processes and systems to better deliver successful customer outcomes.

Tony Hsieh reinforced this feed forward approach “we actually want to talk with customers more as 70% of our business are repeat buys. Hiding our contact details and making it difficult to talk is not our way” http://bit.ly/TonyHseih

2. Customer needs are understood and developed to create the organizational alignment towards successful customer outcomes.

Leading CX Companies have developed an a-b-c strategy when boiled down includes
(a) stop asking customers what they wantl
(b) get your head around current customer expectations, and
(c) articulate customer needs even when the customer doesn’t know what they are.

This effort is not a ‘one and done’, it is about continual learning and then development of services and products that anticipate customer needs, rather than following the outdated mantra of those organizations seeking more and more (often meaningless) feedback. And Disney provides a demonstration of this a-b-c approach.

Consider this:

Disney World Orlando, is about 43 square miles, about twice the size of Manhattan. (pre pandemic) 30 million guests per year enjoy 4 theme parks: the Magic Kingdom, the Hollywood Studios, Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.

You can navigate to these parks by car, bus, monorail, boats and a ferry depending on your hotel – and that in itself includes over 20 themed for your delight. Coupled with Disneys wearable “Magic Bands” (see http://bit.ly/MagicBand) you receive a smooth personalized experience where ever you are.

This collection of entertainment is a dynamic living system focused on successful customer outcomes. With digital real-time feedback, Disney offers an integrated experience built around a co-ordinated set of business and customer outcomes, from the time you think of a trip, to the time you are back home with the kids.

3. Being customer-centric isn’t about projects – it is a state of mind.

A great mistake of many is approaching customer experience as an initiative, something with a clearly defined start and end point. Appreciating CX is a state of mind for the whole company is a major differentiator and allows successful organizations to continually tweak and evolve, rather than live in a permanent state of project stop-start crisis. The guiding principle is, at the heart of CX, change is desirable, welcomed and systematic. It impacts everyone and everything all the time.

4. Successful CX transcends measures and implements a rigorous feedback/feed forward framework.

A recent analysis in the banking industry suggested that more than 85% of the total key performance indicators measured outputs – things that get produced from activities. Successful CX companies however, have a very different profile and focus, their attention is on measuring outcomes – the result of what is produced. To these companies this is not a semantic distinction, it underpins the total CX strategy. As a result, the measurement systems are simplified, and the focus on results rather than activity moves the dial towards customer centricity so much more quickly.

Programs such as Disney’s True North set a direction with supporting metrics, and rather than measure everything that moves they focus on the results and outcomes that need to be delivered to achieve successful customer outcomes. In this context, more than 75% of measures are ‘Outcomes’ with less than 25% outputs.

Test this for yourself in the contact center. 

What are your top ten measurements, are they output oriented or outcome based?
The former (outputs) would be things like average handle time, abandon rates, downtime and so on.
The latter (outcomes) would be the delivery of customer need, queries completely resolved (not the piece mean partial interim ‘first call resolution’ type things measured with a functional bias).
In summary, CX leaders have fewer measures and the majority are now Outcome-focused.

5. CX is both the strategy and the operational objective to overcome needless complexity.

A Forrester survey says 81% of CX professionals are mapping experiences from the customers perspective but only 21% are mapping the ecosystem (processes, people, technology). In this context there are two opportunities that successful CX companies exploit:

i. CX can only be successful if you build a complete CX ecosystem. This is a process of creating alignment from Customer Experience strategy to execution and connects the frontline who deliver the customer experience with those people and systems who provide the means of delivery. Amazon refer to this aspect as ‘North Start Alignment’

ii. CX Current state crisis. Successful CX companies can clearly articulate the what and how the organization should be doing to deliver great experiences.

They do not become mired in the exercise of mapping all the current external and internal processes and systems (which can take years to complete and provides little in the way of direction for what should exist.)

These companies understand the reality that the current structure and systems were never created with excellent CX in mind but were in fact designed around an industrial age, production system based model.

Hence, next practice is to utilize design principles that envision what should be, and then progressively mature and migrate the organization to that vision.

To conclude CX success doesn’t come from wishful thinking. 

It is a deliberate and sustained effort to understand and articulate the ever changing customer. To build a new trust with them that goes beyond the platitudes of the past.

In the near term it is about becoming more scientific about the customer experience. In the longer term it is a guarantee of business success. We have codified these CX next practice approaches into the CEMMethod (now version 13). You can access that as a resource with others below.

The earlier article can be viewed here: ‘5 Critical Failures of 80% of Customer Experience initiatives’. http://bit.ly/5CriticalFailures

How to become Outside-In

Start here:
Your definition of Customer Experience is/may be wrong (3 minute video)
http://bit.ly/CXDefined (from James Dodkins aka CX Rockstar)

Then review this:
I have also just done a 3 minute explainer video for Outside-In – see it here:
https://bit.ly/OITheDifference

Then follow these 5 steps:
Step #1 – Get The Book: Outside-In The Secret *FREE* | https://bit.ly/OI2021now

Step #2 – Get The Training:
Certified Outside-In Master® | https://cemnext.com/oi2020
Certified Process Professional Master®  | https://bit.ly/CPPM21  
Accredited Customer Experience Master®  | https://bit.ly/ACXM2021  

Step #3 – Get the Software:
The Experience Manager | https://bit.ly/TEM2021  

Step #4 – Connect With The Community:
LinkedIn | https://bit.ly/Steve2021
Blog | https://bit.ly/CXO2021
BPG Website | https://bit.ly/BPG2021
Steve Towers Web  |  https://bit.ly/SBT2021
Twitter | https://bit.ly/SteveTowersTwitter
YouTube | https://bit.ly/ST_Youtube

Step #5 – Keep Pace with Change
Recent Interview | http://bit.ly/STInnovation