Category: ACXM

Change Architect of the Year

The Global Change Architect of the Year is announced! And the 2021’s award goes to… Edwin de Lange in South Africa.

The BP Group and Affiliates are pleased to announce the winner of this years prestigious ‘Change Architect of the Year’ Award goes to Edwin de Lange, Manager: Customer Experience Design at Mercantile Bank, South Africa.

The Award, now in its fourth year, recognises the formidable achievements of the winner in delivering both personal, professional and business transformation in the organisations they work with.

Over the last few years, Edwin has progressed his professional credibility and qualifications and is acknowledged as one of the most accomplished and recognized African Customer Experience leaders.

His perspective on Customer Experience Management is both grounded in reality and backed up with sharp-end practical accomplishments and success. An inspiration to his colleagues and peers it is a well-deserved honor that once again sets the bar even higher for those wishing to push the boundaries and application of business transformation.

Edwin’s recent licenses and certifications qualifications include:

Prior to joining Mercantile Edwin worked for Old Mutual and All Life in the financial service sector in South Africa.

Selected by their immediate peers and fellow professionals the Change Architect of the Year now appears in the ‘Change Architects Hall of Fame’  – Edwin de Lange is now acknowledged as this years ‘Global Change Architect for 2021’. 

You can review Edwin’s profile at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-de-lange-cxs-cppmasters-acxmasters-mentor-coimaster-cppc-aba43911/

https://www.bpgroup.org/changearchitect.html

For Customer Experience, Process Transformation and Operations Management visit www.bpgroup.org

Change Architect of the Year

The Global Change Architect of the Year is announced! And 2020’s award goes to Roland D Naidoo in South Africa.

The BP Group and Affiliates are pleased to announce the winner of this years prestigious ‘Change Architect of the Year’ Award goes to Roland Naidoo, Head of Customer Operations at Multichoice in Africa.

The Award, now in its third year, recognises the formidable achievements of the winner in delivering both personal, professional and business transformation in the organisations they work with.

Roland Naidoo is a Chief Coach and Mentor for several hundred people and has pioneered the integration of Customer Experience Management by changing the methods, approaches and measures of success to innovate within his organisation. 

Over the last few years Roland has also led the upskilling of more than 150 colleagues across the business with professional qualifications in Customer Experience and Process Management and now co-ordinates a team of 20+ qualified ACX Mentors who in turn are coaching, transferring the skills and leading their teams with advanced Customer Experience Management Methods.

Prior to joining Multichoice Roland worked in the banking sector and technology companies in South Africa.

Selected by their immediate peers and fellow professionals the Change Architect of the Year now appears in the ‘Change Architects Hall of Fame’ A charismatic leader Roland is now acknowledged as this years ‘Global Change Architect for 2020’. 

You can review Roland’s profile at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-d-naidoo-b403a029/

Previous winners of the Award can be reviewed at https://www.bpgroup.org/changearchitect.html

If you would like to qualify and become Accredited in Customer Experience, Process Transformation and Operations Management visit www.bpgroup.org

LIVE online Outside-In with Steve Towers & Partners

I can’t believe it is this simple…

4 Minute overview of the content of the 6 sessions over 6
weeks at 3 hours per week

Hi Steve here, as an aside I first ran these sessions in December last year and they were very well received, despite being on a Sunday, so ignore my comment in the first few seconds about Sunday because they are through the week as well.

You will join for 3 hours per week in a live interactive video call and put to work the techniques I review in the video. Immediately usable with colleagues (near or far) you will innovate new approaches to work as we all grapple with our new normals.

Available across the planet in time zone friendly sessions – watch the overview and click the links below to review the detail and register.

See you on the inside! (I mention Sunday training but that is up to you)

Please keep safe in our new normal and I hope to see you soon in the online sessions! (Live, interactive and hands-on with real case studies).

Customer Experience world-class online training

The online ACX Masters program gives Customer Experience and Business Transformation leaders the opportunity to go beyond surface-level presentation and get hands-on, practical takeaways to enable their own successful, business-wide transformations.

Attracting 100,000+ global professionals for those handling seismic business change, this Masterclass provides a Fast track look into customer experience management, change, leadership, BPM and CX space, and the challenges that leading industry professionals are overcoming, both on a macro and micro level.

See the full ACX Masters Level 1-5 online agenda at https://www.cxexecutive.com/agenda.html

Gain the insights from the 2020 Amazon Number One bestseller, ‘Dare! Behind The Scenes Of The Best Business Transformation Project In The World.’ And how large and small organizations can transform their people, processes and performance rapidly with an inclusive approach that delivers successful business and customer outcomes.

Time to Upgrade your skills

It seems that the only consistent thing today is change. With that in mind, how are you keeping up with the seismic shifts in doing business?

We upgrade our homes, our cars and our lifestyles as a matter of course. When was the last time you upgraded YOU? No, I don’t mean a fancy new pair of shoes or those nice looking jeans what I am talking about is the way you think and do. At a fundamental level, we need to be able to lead change and enable those around us to embrace and welcome all aspects of this volatile world, which as I have already suggested isn’t going away anytime soon.

All things considered, that is what our coaching, mentoring and training programs are all about. Not only incorporating the latest innovations in business change but reframing the way you think.

The Experience Manager

In this last twelve months, the approaches we use have upgraded to include a new platform that redefines process and customer experience deployment and includes the capture, analysis, ideation and implementation of experiences from the front-line to the board room.

Now some may think they have done all the growth they need to do and rely on those traditional tools for the daily work. That is, however, the way of the dinosaur, almost waiting for the asteroid to strike and wishing they would survive its impact. We know what happened there.

So is time to refresh and retool?

If so there’s a series of courses from one-dayers to a week across the planet led by been there and done it mentors who spend the majority of their time helping organisations embrace this brave new world. Come and get the benefits of their latest learnings as we codify together, hands-on, the means for you to upgrade and retool.

Case studies are great, but…

I will be blunt (nothing new there then) I abhor the talking heads know it all theoretical claptrap courses where learning is stifled and it is a listen and do as I say dirge. Hence anyone who has experienced our programs will tell you how exciting, invigorating and enabling the hands-on learning is. Even to the extent of using your own challenges and working them through the sessions in association with teammates and colleagues. Yes, case studies help but how much better is fixing your own stuff and learning how to integrate the tools and techniques directly?

That underpins our programs, learning by doing.

Interactive workshops solving your challenges

In fact, the relationships you forge in the fires of embracing the CEMMethod will become a part of the new you on your return to the office.

Find out more…

We are running open courses across the planet in 116 countries with over 100,000 professionals now qualified. Our inhouse courses, where we customise the material to your industry and current dramas, are also popular and we are proud to talk of the thousands of companies who have embraced the learnings. Either way, open or inhouse, you will have a fantastic time so have a look, delve a bit, and sign-up soon.
Your upgrade is waiting!

CPP MasterJohannesburgOctober 7 – 10
ACX SpecialistManchesterOctober 14 – 16
CPP Master DetroitNovember 4 – 7
ACX Master JohannesburgNovember 11 – 14
ACX/CPP ChampionJohannesburgNovember 25 – 28
CPP MasterCape TownDecember 2 – 5
CPP ChampionWashington DCDecember 16 – 18
INHOUSE By RequestYour choice

Is your Customer Experience initiative working for you?
CX Obsessed or just playing at it?
Upskill you or your team find out more to learn how others have become successful with a Customer Obsession strategy


6 Ways to Transform Process and the Customer Experience (at the Same Time)

Steve Towers Keynotes

Where do I start?

I was keynoting a conference in Europe recently, and senior executives in the room were getting the rationale behind moving Outside-In. However, there seemed to be two perplexed groups in the place.

One was what a refer to as the ‘traditional process guys’, and the other ‘the customer is first people’, and interestingly they both asked the same question “Where do we start?”

My honest and most direct answer is “You do not have a choice. You have got to start where you are and go from there!” OK, I get what you’re thinking, how could they take that away and begin to transform their organizations?

So, I walked them through TWO distinctly different ways to navigate to Outside-In working and practice, depending on your mindset, enterprise history and maturity. For the two categories of customer in the room, the NEEDS are the same, just the way they navigate to achieving them is different.

What are the Results?

From a results perspective, both approaches focus on winning the triple crown, that is Improving Service, Growing Revenues and Reducing Complexity (and hence lowering costs).

ApproachProcess EngineeringCustomer First
FocusProcess is the starting pointStarts with Customer Needs
ScopeReengineering the ProcessesAligning everything to Customer Needs
IntentionBuild out from Process to Department to Division to EnterpriseArticulate Successful Customer Outcomes and Remove the complexity of things that do not contribute to it
BenefitsLocal wins building to business-wide transformationImmediate delivery against Triple Crown benefits
Executive Buy-inSlow burn, however when they see the benefits and ‘get it’ the support is significantStarts at the strategic level so influences everything the organization does
RecommendationIf your remit is just ‘improving processes’ this approach will get you their steadily, however, the challenges facing traditional business are seismic so is there time? So, make immediate gains but push hard for more quickly.By demonstrating the value of ‘customer first’ in terms of the triple crown the enterprise can align quickly and effectively. Importantly avoid the ‘soft and fluffy’ sentiments expressed by many in the customer experience world.

How can I Implement?

Back in 2006 the BPG launched the CEMMethod™ and built out an approach, using the 50+ techniques based on global next practice from companies like Virgin, Zara, BMW, Zappos, Apple and Emirates. Since then more than 3,000 companies in 116 countries have become accredited and certified to transform their processes and organizations.

Now in version 11, the choice you make in deployment is based on your ambition and remit within the enterprise.
If you are a leader needing to embrace the digital customer ‘Customer First’ leaps out as the main option. Alternatively, if you are in a traditional process-based business (lean, six sigma, BPM etc.) the more conservative ‘process engineering’ approach may be preferred.

You can access the following resources that will help you make an informed choice:

CEMMethod™ – review its potency and pedigree:
www.cemmethod.com

Outside-In The Secret of 21st century companies (free access): http://bit.ly/StevesOIBook

The Accredited Customer Experience Program 2018-19: https://www.bpgroup.org/acxp1819.html

The Certified Process Professional Program: https://www.bpgroup.org/certifiedprocessprofessional.html

I look forward to guiding you to transformation when you are ready!

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

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

Dubai calling for the 4 day ACX Masters program – Upskill now…

What are you doing in the GCC this April? The Dubai ACXM and this Award winning class should be high on your options list.

The Accredited Customer Experience Master (ACXM ™)

Coming soon to a city near you 🙂
>> UPDATE: Just added DENVER ACXM in September <<
Johannesburg | Orlando | Dubai  | Dubai  | Sydney  | New York  | Denver | Washington DC |  Washington DC Champs | London

Upgrading your skills and delivery for 2018 will determine your success.
Advance beyond functional industrial age thinking to Outside-In customer-centric practices. Tried and tested this program is a direct descendant of the CPP program with now over 90,000 qualified individuals across 116 countries.

So if understanding and applying the techniques and methods deployed in Apple, Amazon, Zappos, Zara, Emirates and BMW compels you to adopt the ‘next practice’ approaches come and join us in a city near you through 2018:

Johannesburg ACXM

Orlando ACXM

 13-15 March 2018

26-29 March 2018
Dubai Masters ACXM 8-11 April 2018
Dubai UAE ACX Champion 15-17 April 2018
Sydney ACXM 28-31 May 2018
New York ACXM 10-13 Sep 2018
Denver ACXM

Washington DC ACXM

 17-20 Sep 2018

9-12 Oct 2-18
Washington DC ACX Champs 15-17 Oct 2018
London ACXM 10-13 Dec 2018

Here’s someone who enjoyed the session:

The BPGroup Accredited Customer Experience Masters® (ACXM) Program takes BPM & CEM Training to an entirely new level.

Become an Accredited Customer Experience Master (ACX Master®) through learning and experiencing the most practical, successful and proven toolkit for customer-centric change

For 2018…

> New Case Studies > 60+ takeaway techniques > 90+ help videos > Fully revised CEMMethod (version 11) > CX Rating (4E’s) integration > All material provided > Dedicated Professional User Group > Ongoing webinars

The Accredited Customer Experience Professional/Master difference

This premier series is designed for those seeking advanced professional skills in customer experience and process management, CX improvement, CX alignment, customer centricity, and innovation.
These are the Outside-In Customer Experience Management, BPM Methods, and Techniques that Deliver!

  • Uncover CX/Process Improvement opportunities in just hours
  • Identify Actions that will improve customer experience and associated processes by 15% to 40% within 20 days of deployment
  • Integrate and Evolve methods such as BPM, Lean, Six Sigma and Operational Excellence to Outside-In thinking and practice
  • Delight your Customers (making them your greatest advocates) through Successful Customer Outcomes and Customer Experience Management
  • Innovate to compete, set the market trend and even dominate your industry
  • Advance Net Promoter Score and Customer Satisfaction to the next level
  • Release significant costs, improve revenues and enhance service (win the Triple Crown) immediately

See more information here, or book directly to a city of your choice:
Johannesburg | Orlando | Dubai  | Dubai  | Sydney  | New York  | Denver | Washington DC |  Washington DC Champs | London

 

Hopefully, we will see you soon!