Category: Successful Customer Outcomes

Let’s talk Successful Customer Outcomes…

James Dodkins –
Chief Customer Officer BP Group
Well as it is so often said, it isn’t rocket science. In fact it has to be one of the simplest concepts available in business today – and yet so often missed. It is often so simple it is elegant, so let’s review what Disneys SCO might just be…

Most of us have been there. A car full of screaming kids eager to start their Disney vacation, however trouble is you’ve driven six hours (or flown ten) and frankly the last thing you want to do is fight the car lot. Much better find that quiet hotel room and bar and chill until tomorrow? Not so. This is the kids vacation and they’re going to squeeze every minute out of the long awaited trip to the Magic Kingdom. So what say Disney in this situation? Do they leave you to fight the crowds, get incredibly irritated and leave you with a pile of now prickly family? Well no –  they have been there too after all and it is real easy to see it from the customers point of view.

Perhaps the SCO is ‘simply magic’? Not some weird business jargon Mission/Vision but something that talks and causes everyone in the Disney business to ensure they are aligned and delivering to that promise. So how would the SCO  ‘simply magic’ work? Let’s review where we are – on the way to the busiest car lot this side of the LA freeway. It is the hottest day this summer the question ¨are we there yet?¨ echoes around yourself, partner and three kids in the car (that’s the average party size to arrive at Disney – five). And yes you are! So you find a spot disembark the kids, look around to size your location and… shut the car doors.


In the ‘rush to the fun’ process Disney discovered that many people lock their keys in the car so right at the start they have on-hand a team of professional locksmiths. They drive through the lot looking for distressed families and unlock their cars – free of charge. Simply Magic. Then there’s the walk to the gates – but wait. Driving through the crowds are golf carts and helpers to steer you towards the nearest ‘magic bus’ with color coded location tags! You probably get the picture and that’s one of the things that makes the Disney performance truly outstanding. The belief that if everything gets itself aligned to the SCO we reduce cost (how much effort do you currently apply to fixing stuff that goes wrong that results in queries and non value added activity?), drive up revenue (how many people would you tell?) and improves customer satisfaction (would you be pleased?).

To coin a phrase, the SCO is a gift that just keeps on giving.

Kindest Regards

James Dodkins
Chief Customer Officer
BP Group

Twitter – @JDodkins

NPS – Dead in the Water?

If you are into or responsible for Customer Satisfaction or Customer Experience you must access this rebuttal of (NPS) Net Promoter Score. What do we think at the BP Group? Whatever we do know we have to get more scientific about the Customer Experience.

Business Process Management – do we really need it anymore?

Sounds provocative however what is it really all about?

The chaotic nature of business today with promiscuous customers, extended customer experiences, multi-channel, always on digital world means control of process is a fundamental pre requisite of the successful business. Leaving the processes to fate is an act of gross irresponsibility and should be treated as such. If you don’t care about your processes you don’t care about your people and your customers.

There that said there is sage guidance from Frederick Winslow Taylor back in 1911: “The first step in gaining control of an organization is to understand the basic processes” From our 21st century perspective we add to that ” Once we understand the basic processes we need to proactively manage them to achieve Successful Customer Outcomes” QED Business Process Management.
We are also faced with a number of different flavors of BPM. What’s yours?
We will discuss that tomorrow.
After all process is just another name for the work we all do.
Regards
Steve

Use Your Buts Well (courtesy of NLP Comprehensive, Colorado)

Here is a terrific example from one of my professional associations (NLP Comprehensive) of creating the right language in and around Outside-In thinking and practice.

This extract comes courtesy of NLP thought leaders in Colorado and I would strongly encourage deeper investigation, and if you can spending some time with these extremely fine souls.

Steve Andreas – A Guide and Mentor to many (self included)

*****************

Happy Tuesday! 

Can you believe we’re already half way through August?  It’s amazing how quickly the years fly by, isn’t it?

This week I thought I would share an article that is near and dear to my heart.  The “But” rule.  It is a fascinating rule, and one that if followed will serve you well.  Let me know what you think of it!

And if you’d like even more education and practice with language and how it can affect your communications and relationships I would recommend you pick up the Portable Practitioner.  Packed with useful and applicable information you can use to improve the choices you have it is one of our most powerful tools available.  So grab your copy today and start making changes in your life by visiting  http://www.nlpco.com/nlp-training/nlp-practioner-home-study/ and picking up the Portable Practitioner program today.

Talk soon,
Tracy

To Comment or Read Online, click here: http://www.nlpco.com/news

Use Your Buts Well
by Steve Andreas  1181 words, 4.7 minutes reading time
One powerful aspect of NLP is to discover what kind of internal experience is elicited by the use of specific language. This enables us to use language in a very directed way in order to get the results that we want. Often the careful examination of a single word yields great dividends, and the word “but” is certainly one of them.
“But” is a negator (Fritz Perls used to call it a “killer”) of whatever experience immediately precedes the word. For me, the image preceding the word “but” quickly slides to my left, disappearing out of my field of internal vision. So “but” is very useful any time you want to (or have to) mention something to someone, but then you want it to diminish in importance or even disappear from their awareness altogether.

Notice what happens in your internal experience when you take any two contents, connect them with “but,” and then repeat this, but reversing the two contents. A tired old joke illustrates this nicely. The mother says to the daughter: “I know he’s ugly, but he’s rich.” and the daughter replies, “Mother, you are so right. I know he’s rich, but he’s ugly.”

So the other side of the coin is to be able to use “but” to defend yourself against a communication that asks you to ignore something that is important to you.

When people are cautious or wary, they often tend to respond defensively, and may oppose whatever someone else says, and find problems with it, no matter how sensible the suggestion might be. In such a situation, often the other person will reply, “Yes, but . . .” (negating the “Yes” agreement) and then respond with an opposite opinion. “Yes, I can see that, but there is a problem with it.” Once someone is focused on a problem, it is easy to get “tunnel vision” and forget that the reason for studying a problem is to find a way to make the suggestion work. Many people then become frustrated because they are stuck with discussing a problem, and don’t know how to get the conversation back to the suggestion that they want the other person to consider.

One alternative is to repeat what the person just said, but replacing the word “but” with “and.” “OK, you can see that, and there is a problem with it.” This keeps both of the representations (the suggestion and the problem) connected together in the person’s awareness, and the problem can be considered in the context of the possible advantages of the suggestion.

If you expect that your suggestion is likely to be met with a “Yes, but” response, you can make the first move and state the reverse of what you want the person to consider. Someone who “Yes, buts” consistently will usually feel compelled to reverse it. In the example above, if the daughter (knowing that her mother is a “Yes-butter),” says, “I don’t know . . . he’s ugly, but he’s rich,” the mother is likely to respond, “Yes, he’s rich, but he’s ugly.” If the mother doesn’t reverse it, the daughter can always follow up with the reversal-and now her position is one of considering both sides of the matter, so she can’t be accused of being stuck in one narrow point of view!

Another very effective use of “but” is as a preemptive move with someone who tends to respond frequently with a “Yes, but,” or someone you expect to respond in this way because of the content, context, etc. Since they unconsciously process with the “Yes, but” pattern, they will also process unconsciously when you use the same pattern with them.

For example, let’s say you want to make a proposal to your boss, who you know from experience tends to find objections, or respond negatively and reject the entire proposal. “You will probably think what I have to say is really crazy, . . . but I’d like to offer you my proposal and see what you think.” If the boss tends to respond in opposition, he will first have to disagree with what precedes the “but” (especially if you pause for a half-second before the “but”), and this will put him into an attitude of agreement with what you will say next. At this point, the boss has already had the opportunity to respond negatively, and then the “but” will tend to push this aside, so he is more likely to simply consider the proposal on its merits. If you’re pretty sure that someone is going to oppose what you say, giving him something else to object to, allows him to approach the proposal itself with an open mind.

You can also invite him to find flaws in your proposal (which is something that you know he will likely do anyway). “You will probably think what I have to say is really crazy, . . . but I’d like to offer you my proposal and have you point out the problems with it.” If he is likely to respond in opposition to whatever you propose, he will also be likely to oppose your suggestion to find flaws in your proposal, and be at least a little less vigorous in doing this. By inviting him to find flaws, you have allied yourself with what he will do anyway, so there is no opposition. He may still find objections to it, but likely without the defensive and critical attitude that otherwise would have been there.

Then when he finds something to object to in the proposal and says, “Yes, but this (X) is a problem,” you can say, “Yes, I see that (X) could be a problem, but if we can find a way to deal with that, I think that the proposal as a whole could still be worth exploring in more detail, because. . . (of the profit potential, etc.).” This is using the “Yes, but” in response to a “Yes, butter” in a way that can keep the discussion going usefully. Again, you are allied with the boss, and together you can consider both the proposal and the problems with it.

When someone says, “Yes (X), but (Y),” you can also include their entire “Yes, but” response as the “Yes” part of your “Yes, but” reply. “Yes, what you just said is clearly important to consider, but I think that (Z) (whatever you want him/her to consider next) is also worth thinking about.” You can continue this kind of move as many times as you want in order to keep the discussion going in a useful direction. Since most people have great difficulty consciously tracking even one such move, this can be particularly effective in getting people to continue paying attention to what you think is important, and to continue considering and discussing it.

These are all very useful ways to keep a discussion on track and not get caught up in struggling with peoples’ habitual and defensive responses. But all these moves, no matter how skillfully done, will not salvage a lousy proposal, no matter how clever you are.

Steve Andreas, with his wife Connirae, has been learning, teaching, and developing patterns in NLP since 1977. Steve is the author of a number of NLP articles and books, including Heart of the Mind, and has produced many videotapes and audiotaped demonstrations of specific NLP patterns for personal change.

Coming Events:

Resolving PTSD: The Many Aspects
With Steve Andreas
***FINAL CHANCE***
August 15-18 2013  Boulder, Colorado
PTSD often comes with a cluster of “companion issues.” Learn how to recognize the different aspects of PTSD, and how to resolve each of them.
Tuition: $650
CEU’s available
http://andreasnlptrainings.com/resolving-ptsd/

Coming to Wholeness
with Connirae Andreas
Sept. 14-15, Boulder, CO
If you are interested in spirituality, personal growth, NLP, or you just want a way to deal with stress that actually works, this training is for you.
More Info & Register!
http://andreasnlptrainings.com/wholeness/

Core Transformation
With Tamara Andreas
No Will-Power, No Discipline, No Positive Thinking, Just You!
Oct. 11-13, 2013 Boulder, Colorado
Earlybird Rate! $395 – Save $80 by registering by Sept 20. Regular Tuition: $475
Read more: http://www.nlpco.com/training/core-transformation-1/
 

Great week for reviewing the State of the Process Nation – download them there resources before they go :)

Steve Towers CEO & CPP Champion®How many places can you go for information?
At the BP Group we have at least TEN, and here are the links:

http://www.successfulcustomeroutcomes.net
– 283 articles on Advanced BPM

http://bpcommunity.blogspot.co.uk/
– 200+ articles on process improvement

https://www.youtube.com/user/snoozers69
– Over 50 videos on the theme

http://www.slideshare.net/stowers/
– More than 70 presentations (downloadable)

http://www.bpgroup.org/
– 80+ courses leading to the Certified Process Professional qualification (CPP) all over the globe through 2013/14

http://www.oibpm.com/
– for all things and links Outside In

http://www.certifiedprocessprofessional.com/
– Professional qualifications since 1992

http://www.processmiracle.com/ – FREE course featuring the Secret Sauce

http://www.bpgroup.org/their-opinion.html – Testimonials about us

http://bit.ly/joinbpgroup – 11,000 members networking with ideas

All the Very Best
Steve

First Steps into Outside-In Thinking Part 3 – What is OI in the context of the BP Group?

1. Outside-In is a philosophy and method of managing an organisation by understanding and

delivering Successful Customer Outcomes.

2. Outside-In Process optimizes value-delivery to customers. By fusing customer-driven process with customer-centric strategies, O-I creates successful customer outcomes (SCOs) – the foundation for achieving sustainable growth and profitability in an increasingly buyer-driven marketplace.(Customer ProcessOne Council, May 2010)

There are many accreditations in the process space. This BP Group community is sponsored by www.bpgroup.org which in turn advocates the Certified Process Professional qualification ( http://www.certifiedprocessprofessional.com ).

There are five levels of recognition:
• Certified Process Practitioner (CPP-Practitioner)
• Certified Process Professional (CPP-Professional)
• Certified Process Master (CPP-Master)
• Certified Process Advanced Master (CPP-AdvMaster) 

• Certified Process Champion (CPP-Champion) 

 

A significant part of that hands-on learning is focused on Outside-In and includes discussion of various methods such as CEMMethod

There is a rapidly developing cadre of people and organisations delivering Outside-In training, consultancy and advisory services with case studies, presentations and podcasts at http://www.oibpm.com

The Annual BP Group conferences have a strong flavour of Outside-In with notable organisations who are the pioneers of Outside-In present and delivering case studies, tutorials and workshops. Not least of which is Steve Towers book – Outside-In,
now in its fifth edition ( http://www.outsideinthesecret.com )

First Steps into Outside-In Thinking Part 2 – Origins of Outside-In

Despite all the issues documented in Part 1, there have been companies who have regularly ‘bucked’ the trend and posted great business results, grown significantly and sustained that growth.

Outside-In has been built on the approaches and lessons learnt from those companies who have managed to beat the competition and moreover delivered market beating results on a sustained basis. The approaches and techniques have been developed to be easily applied even to those organisations that have already been through numerous change iterations and believe they are as efficient as they could expect to get.

For example SouthWest Airlines posts 58 consecutive quarters of profit when most of their competition made huge losses – in the case of Delta this has been billions AND more than once ‘achieved’ in just a quarter! Apple have introduced innovative new products and regularly posted impressive results and increasing market share when organisations like Motorola who used to be one of the main players in the mobile handset market have dramatically suffered despite having gone through numerous iterations of business improvement.