This post is part of a series based on content from my recent keynote presentation at Quadient Inspire Days 2023 titled “Connecting the dots: megatrends in global customer experience”. It looks at what allows us to drive faster in our cars and how we might apply these same principles to our businesses to allow them to move forward faster. I then discuss the importance of proper governance and look at some of the “small miracles” that occur across an organization – items that we sometimes take for granted but are vital to delivering exceptional communications to customers. If you prefer, you can access the video recording of the webinar here instead.
Why do we drive so fast?
Let's switch gears and ask ourselves - Why do we drive fast? When you’re behind the wheel of a car, you’ve likely exceeded the speed limit at some point. So, why do we do it?
Well, the first reason is that we have insurance. If God forbid we get into a car accident, we know that an insurance company has our back. This lessens the potential financial risk.
We also drive fast because we have tools available– including airbags, seatbelts, and automated driving assistance. This lessens the potential physical risk.
We've also likely done it before. We know the route – to the local market, to work or school.
Maybe I know where the police are likely to be and feel there is little risk of being caught. Maybe it’s an easy route, a straight line, a route that I’ve driven many times before. Knowing the route we are driving increases our comfort level.
If you were a driver in the 80s and 90s, you might have used a radar detector to tell you where the police had radar setup. Today, Waze, Google Maps, and Apple Maps offer similar information. This lessens the potential financial penalty and point violations on your license should you get caught speeding.
Last but certainly not least are brakes. if you must slow down, you can because you have brakes that put you in control. These are some reasons why we drive fast, even though we know there’s a risk of causing an accident or getting a speeding ticket.
Allowing the business to drive faster
So why does this matter to us, and why is this important? Because we must provide our businesses with the tools they need to drive fast too – to launch new products, acquire businesses, retire products, drive new customer acquisitions, and onboard and offboard customers as fast as possible. To do that, we need to provide tools that enable all stakeholders across the organization, such as legal counsel and compliance teams.
Bring them into the process where it matters and when it matters, and only involve them when needed – to review terms and conditions or perhaps just one item on a contract. Systemically structuring our customer interactions can speed up the processes and communication flows.
We also need to be able to comply with ever-changing regulations depending on our industry and jurisdiction. Some of these regulations may be very simple, and others quite complex. Understanding how these compliance requirements cascade through your organization and their impact on your communications and the experiences you're building with your customers and prospects is paramount to ensure you can make changes quickly.
And with all the data you're collecting, you also need to ensure that you're protecting that data and staying “in the lines” regarding how and how often you communicate. There's a fine line between really knowing your customers and being creepy. And how do you know what that line looks like?
You must protect your data and the privacy of your customers and employees while ensuring you have the tools to drive effective communications – to allow the business to drive as fast as they need to.
How connected governance impacts customer experience
In a recent report from Gartner, they refer to this practice as connected governance. Connected governance is a mechanism to bring together and coordinate diverse business areas to avoid time-consuming, watered-down, or conflicted decisions. The report states that by 2026, 20% of high-performing organizations will use connected governance to scale and execute their digital ambitions.
The key to connected governance is understanding how to select and provide the required tools to ensure that you aren’t just providing access to the required information but also embedding that data into processes and the organization’s ways of working to accelerate the move to digital.
It’s not as simple as PowerPoint
What everyone loves about PowerPoint is that it makes everything look simple. You can easily draw boxes and arrows and make a complex process appear simple. But when it comes to customer communications, those simple process flows often hide a lot of complexity. So here is an example of a “simple” five step communication process:
On the surface, it appears simple:
- We start with data collection and understanding the data points that must be included in a communication.
- We then focus on communications design. What will it look like? What's the intention of that communication?
- You have a workflow, including business rules that take place behind the scenes and the corresponding approval workflows.
- Next is distribution. How are you distributing that communication? Is it only via email channels? Is it SMS, WhatsApp, or a physical letter? Is it all of the above? And how will you distribute that piece of content?
- Finally, we need to analyze and understand the specific actions we are looking for the recipient to take and understand how the communication will be used.
Behind this very simple diagram is a complex process. It can be, especially for heavily regulated industries, especially if you have multiple systems, stakeholders, workflows, et cetera.
A small miracle occurs here
And tying the process together, I refer to the acronym SMOH – which stands for “Small Miracles Occur Here”. Because in most organizations, as you’re moving from one step to another, a small miracle occurs in the process. Something that makes that step in the process a wonderful experience for not just employees but also for our customers.
The first miracle that occurs is the interconnection between systems and applications. For many organizations, these include legacy applications running on a mainframe or a legacy operating system. Others may be new processes inherited via acquisition. For each system we want to integrate into communications, we must ask ourselves how we will connect to these systems securely in a way that complies with industry regulations.
The second small miracle that occurs is formatting. It would be fantastic if all the data came in the same look and feel, shape and form. But the reality is that data comes in many different formats and variations. For each data element we want to connect to, we need to understand how to standardize the data. How to make it available inside a communication and leverage it to predict and deliver the outcome we want.
The third small miracle is managing data security while making it available on the devices and systems employees use to interact with customers. A recent Forester report examines data security and how often employees access sensitive data. We must ask ourselves how we will govern access to personal customer data collected while making it accessible to our employees across computers, smart devices, smartphones, and tablets. Data pulled from communications span the customer journey from invoices, contracts, customer feedback, etc.
The fourth small miracle is design. Because we need to take all that data and integrate it into a compelling design. It must look modern, be on brand, compliant, and personalized to the person receiving it. And the process of delivering that designed piece needs to be done in a way that is seamless for employees and customers. It also needs to support omnichannel – and work across any mobile device, whether it's an iPhone 6, iPhone 13, Samsung, a tablet, a computer screen, or paper.
The fifth small miracle is effective personalization. In the same report, the Forester team highlights companies' struggles with personalizing different communications and experiences. How to effectively use customer insights and design and personalize communication while maintaining compliance effectively.
In essence, building an efficient communications process allows us to leverage the existing "small miracles" that happen across an organization and make them a systematic part of delivering exceptional customer communications. By providing our businesses with the right tools and connected governance, we can ensure data protection, privacy, and effective communication, allowing them to drive as fast as they need to.
