It is pretty much accepted wisdom these days that companies should be customer focused. It is however unfortunate that most companies go the wrong way about this by asking their customers what they want. Customers describe their requirements in terms of products and services which when the company builds and delivers them are not desired or bought. Henry Ford put it very well “if we ask customers what they want they’ll ask for faster horses”.
And yet here in the 21st century a surprising and somewhat alarming majority of companies do precisely that. Why does this fail?
I wanted to buy a projector for business presentations, one of those micro LED models that have recently begun to become popular with those of us who travel. Looking for that instant gratification thing (go pick it up at the store today) I found that one was in stock at the local Circuit City (according to the Circuit City website). That’s the last part of this story that comes anywhere near being an SCO…
I’m behind the time for my traditional New Year article where I share my insights into the latest trends, happenings and expectations of the coming year. The delay comes from the challenge of conveying what I believe is the most important message I have ever delivered – and I needed to get it right!
So what’s in store for us in 2008? The most important thing is for you to know that with BPM you have a choice…
The Bennu Group is pleased to announce that the CPP Level 3 training module is now available in our Online Training system! This marks a major milestone for Bennu Group, delivering against early commitments to have all three of our advanced process management techniques available in our online training system by the end of 2007.
What’s unique about the process innovation technique in CPP Level 3? This is the only process innovation that has consistently uncovered a myriad of new improvement opportunities in the processes it has been applied against. From Improved to Radical (fundamentally resetting the customer value proposition in the market place), this is the technique being used by market leaders to drive their tactical and strategic initiatives.
Complexity is the defining character of our age. We see it encroaching on us from every direction. Complexity seems to have infected even those things that were at one time very simple. Remember S&H Green Stamps, one of the first customer loyalty programs? My parents and grandparents collected them whenever they made a purchase at a participating vendor. They licked and placed them in books until they had enough to redeem for an item in the S&H Catalog. They sent the required number of books and pages of green stamps off to wherever and a short time later we received the item in the mail. A model of simplicity compared to what we have now.
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