Taking the customers’ journey to the boardroom. Hands-on operational review. Rapid diagnosis. Sustainable results.
ByMatthew Arnold
In my last article I wrote about the difference between strategic and tactical thinking with respect to large processing / contact centres, and, in my opinion, explained why I thought this was just wrong-headed. When a large part of the organisation is there to ensure customers are happy, it’s fundamental to ensure queries are cleared as…
ByMatthew Arnold
Much of my work is undertaken in the service industry, and often in large processing centres where the work is done, customers phone in, problems are resolved, and often payment is chased. In recent times, these have included utility companies, banks and councils. I’ve had a few really interesting discussions over the last few months…
ByMatthew Arnold
I’ve posted before about how small changes in the system can deliver dramatic results. I especially like the ones where the answer isn’t where you’d expect it to be. One has to really study the system first: what is the purpose of the operation? what is the customer journey? what other factors are playing out?…
ByMatthew Arnold
Wow – I’ve just read this book, and its quite amazing – I’d recommend it to everyone. You may have seen or heard Hans Rosling in TED Talks in recent years, simply explaining that our mental models of the world today are broadly wrong – very wrong. His approach, very much like W Edwards Deming,…
ByMatthew Arnold
As many of you may know, I’ve worked in quite a few Local Authority Housing Benefit departments – these teams provide benefits to vulnerable adults to assist with rent and council tax payments if they are on low incomes. Not only is there usually ample scope for improvement, it also means those that need the…
ByMatthew Arnold
I read a fascinating book recently all about Ross Brawn’s achievement in F1, how he sees the whole team as a system, and the similarities with running any large organisation. Ross Brawn has played a major part in many leading F1 teams, including the winning streaks at Ferrari, Brawn GP and Mercedes. Having semi-retired a…
ByMatthew Arnold
My last two posts have been about queues – I promise, this will be last one about queues for a while….! This one goes back a few years, but I see it time and again, in offices, contact centres, post offices, coffee shops… I was helping a council with their Housing Benefits claims, and spending…
ByMatthew Arnold
In my last blog, I discussed the queuing issue at low-cost supermarkets, and mentioned the difference between the way Starbucks and Caffe Nero make your coffee order. Did you spot the difference the last time you were in? As I mentioned before, if you wonder in without looking, you’ll come out a few minutes later…
ByMatthew Arnold
There was a interesting item in the news a few weeks ago regarding a plateauing of sales at the discount food stores, relating to the shopping experience, particularly the often poor queuing process. Call me sad (!) but I regularly look at the different queuing systems businesses use. The post office. The benefits office. Petrol…
ByMatthew Arnold
I’ve helped quite a number of Housing Benefit departments in the last 15 years, including helping Darlington move from 60th in the national league table to the top 10 – where they remain (based on customer end-to-end time). I also helped Milton Keynes reduce their end-to-end time from 60 days to 20. Likewise Middlesborough. And quite…