Let’s be honest – if you’ve ever thought that Quarterly Business Reviews (or QBRs) were a huge headache, you’re not alone! A QBR is an alignment meeting that’s held every three months between a company like Perficient and its clients.

When my director first introduced us to the idea, the team was skeptical. It seemed like just another box to check, and my first few QBRs felt more like a chore than an opportunity. No surprise when they didn’t lead to much account growth! Over time, though, I realized what a gift they are, and everything changed. Let me tell you why QBRs matter and how to make them work for you! 

There are three parts to a productive QBR – showcasing successes, offering recommendations, and reviewing goals. Let’s dig into each part individually. 

Part 1 – Showcasing Past Successes

The first step in any QBR is what earns that “quarterly review” name. This is where you get to show off the Perficient team’s accomplishments over the previous quarter. What were our big wins? What cool new features launched? Sometimes we have quieter quarters than others, but there is always something you can display as an achievement. Get creative and be sure to lean on other team members for suggestions!

When you’re showing off the team’s wins, make sure you keep in mind that not everyone on the call has the same role. One fantastic benefit of QBRs is getting to present to VPs and other executive leadership who may not be involved in the day-to-day engagement. However, they may not really understand the impact of a statement like, “We successfully implemented a multi-instance deployment strategy leveraging Sitecore’s xDB architecture, optimizing the content delivery network integration for enhanced latency performance.” 

There’s a reason that KISS is such a popular principle– keep it simple! Use non-technical language as much as possible and remember to tie your achievements back to how the client benefits. We all know Perficient teams deliver maximum results, but how does that really impact your client’s bottom line? Explain exactly how this past quarter helped contribute to their success, through wins like boosted site security or reduced costs.

Part 2 – Offering Thoughtful Recommendations for Improvement

Now we head into everyone’s favorite part – offering recommendations and driving new business! This is where you start looking ahead to the upcoming quarter and thinking about The Next Big Thing. Sure, it might be tempting to think this is your chance to push all those shiny upgrades and premium options that will help pad your pockets (kidding!). But in reality, that’s not at all what a good QBR is about.

What really drives success is understanding your client’s story. A sales leader I admire once said that you can’t be truly successful at selling unless and until you deeply understand someone’s story. What motivates them? What do they look back on at the end of the year and feel proud of? When you understand these things about your client, you open the door to making thoughtful recommendations that actually offer value.

It’s not about making the sale – it’s about taking care of your clients. It’s about understanding their business, their needs, what their frustrations are, and what will really drive their growth. Pushing that flashy new tool may net you a bigger commission check, but when you get to next quarter’s QBR, are you going to be able to show that it helped your client meet their long-term strategic goals? Or is it going to be something you sheepishly leave out of the QBR, because your client spent a bunch of money and had nothing to show for it? 

Part 3 – Aligning with the Client’s Business Goals 

By the time you get to this stage of most QBRs, you’ve been presenting for about 45 minutes straight. Now it’s your client’s turn to shine! You want to ensure that you’re aligned with their business strategy, so kick this part off by asking them what the future looks like. Some good example questions are –

• What specific outcomes do you hope to achieve in your business over the next quarter, the next six months, the next year?

• Are there any challenges you’re currently facing that you believe could impact your goals? 

• What does success look like for your business a year from now? 

What may surprise you is that if you’ve done your homework and put in the time to understanding your client’s story, this part of the conversation should be a close mirror of Part 2. If they bring up challenges, you should ideally already know about most (if not all) of them. When they talk about new initiatives, hopefully you’ve already considered those and included them in your earlier recommendations. 

What you don’t want is for the client to surprise you with goals or challenges that you’ve never heard before. This can potentially mean a misalignment in your understanding of their “big picture”. But don’t panic if this happens! Think of it as an opportunity to realign and dig deeper into their evolution. This is your chance to recalibrate and ensure your team’s work stays focused on what truly matters to your client. Sometimes, these surprises can open the door to even better growth and collaboration. 

Why QBRs Matter for Long-Term Success 

Here’s the crux of the matter – when you’re deeply aligned with your client’s story, sales don’t need to be forced.

They happen naturally. 

Once your clients see that you genuinely understand their business and aren’t just trying to make a quick sale, they start to ask for more on their own. Since adjusting my own frame of mind, I’ve had clients come to me directly asking for additional services, because they trust my recommendations and know I have their best interests at heart. Nurturing this kind of credibility comes from consistently delivering value and keeping the focus on what matters most to the client, rather than pushing unnecessary upgrades.

QBRs aren’t just a quarterly obligation. They’re a critical part of building lasting relationships with your clients. When done right, they help you showcase Perficient’s value, offer strategic recommendations, and ensure that both you and your client are in sync on the path forward. 

By shifting your mindset and treating QBRs as a tool for building trust, you’ll find that sales and client loyalty come naturally. And trust me, once you’ve experienced that shift, you’ll never look at QBRs as a headache again!

Delivery dates play a vital role in any type of eCommerce store for customer satisfaction and retention. The Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud delivery date feature will allow customers to choose a delivery date during checkout and review on the website. The customer can select any delivery date, even the current date. The site administrator can enable or disable the delivery date capture on the frontend checkout and review page.

This request delivery date feature allows businesses to improve their customer service by delivering the product on the customer’s chosen date.

Benefit for Request Delivery Date Selector

Customer-selected request delivery date is important for  ecommerce industries below:

1. Food and cold drinks orders
2. Grocery orders
3. Flowers and plants orders
4. Gift -Birthday, anniversary, etc. orders
5. Gold and diamond jewelry orders

In the Food industry – Required Request Delivery Date

Customers who purchase these products frequently need them for barbecues, parties, or other activities by a certain date. Additionally, they might want everything to be delivered the day before the gathering. The fact that most consumers don’t have a second freezer to stock with enough steaks and ice cream for a party only serves to complicate matters further.

In the Gold and Diamond Industry- Required Request Delivery Date

A ring, necklace, or other precious pieces of jewelry purchased online is unlikely to be left unattended on the recipient’s doorstep for more than a few minutes. Customers are able to prepare for and anticipate receiving their expensive purchases thanks to the delivery date selection tool.

In the Gift Industry- Required Request Delivery Date

The gift sector of ecommerce is expanding quickly. There are numerous methods for consumers to benefit from online gifting. The same is true whether they decide to buy their friend or loved one an interest-based box, a gift card, or that piece of clothing they have been coveting all year.

Both sides in the exchange feel that the online gifting experience was more like receiving a gift in person than ever before because we let the gift-giver choose the date using the delivery request date picker.

How to Enable the Request Delivery Date in Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud?

Please follow the steps below:

• Go to Admin Console > Administration > System > Settings.

• Find the setting in the search textbox, “Enable Request Delivery Date,” and change the setting “No” to “Yes.” By default, it is “No.”

• Set Maximum Delivery period in numeric format. By default, it is 90 days.
• (The maximum number of days ahead that a customer can request a delivery. Default value: 90)
• Click on to save button
• Go to frontend site and add some products
• Go to the checkout page, and you can see the “Request Delivery Date” option on this page.

• Select “Request Delivery Date” and place the order.

• On the order confirmation page, you can see the selected Request Delivery Date.

• You can see the selected requested delivery date in the order confirmation email.

Conclusion:

We can use this request delivery date in many products such as gift to special dates, one-day delivery for food, restaurant orders, etc. Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud has given this feature by default and allows users to customize their delivery date.

For more information, contact our commerce experts today.

This year at Gartner IT Expo, Mandi Bishop, Senior Director and Analyst at Gartner, discussed the (mostly) hype-free plan to digital strategy.  She was very focused on a pragmatic approach.  Digital strategy to her is about optimization 2017 and 2018 was about “learning how to pedal”  2019 is about optimizing the motion.  Your digital business strategy is probably about transformation. That means that payers have to transform and that means you have to optimize.

Mandi had three areas of focus:

1. Optimization is exciting
2. Customer experience means growth
3. Things to fuel customer experience

Optimization is Exciting

To create this plan, you need to know what leadership is looking for.  Are they looking for growth?  Are they looking for a Schwinn?

Answer:

1. For CIO’s, growth is the leadership priority
2. Digital is the second highest priority (but why do organizations keep spinning digital wheels?)

Quote: “The Biggest issue for digital is funding. Second is organizational innovation, third is insufficient skills and fourth is culture.”

Question: How do you get leaders excited about optimization?

Answer: Link optimization to growth.  align to the business

There are 6 categories to optimization

1. Improve existing revenue
2. Reduce medical expense
3. Reduce admin expense
4. Improve employee productivity
5. Enhance customer experience
6. Increase asset utilization

Every single one of these optimization elements has a growth tie-in.  For example, customer experience.

What Does Customer Experience Mean to Growth

Fact: Consumers with a positive experience spend 140% more than those with poor experiences (HBR)

Put yourself into members shoes.  How often do you see friction points in the experience?  Each element leads to a potential for churn. To optimize, you need to expand your idea of customer experience.

KPI’s

• NPS
• CAHPS
• Reduce call center volume
• Reduce call center hold time
• Fewer grievances filed

Functions involved:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Customer Service
• Don’t forget about care management
• Provider Data Management
  • the credentialing process is a pain point for providers
• Claims processing
  • Denied claims bring huge issues
  • Why should a denied claim be a surprise
• Utilization Management
  • Today’s prior authorization is painful
  • The AMA regularly surveys their physicians.  Last year, 86% said the burden got worse
  • 92% say process delays care
  • 78% said this leads to care abandonment
  • 92% say the process has a negative impact on clinical outcomes
  • 70% say they spend too much time in clerical work
  • In 2018, 90% of prior auth happens via phone and fax
  • It can last for weeks

All these interactions need to be effortless and optimized.

Just for prior authorization, you could:

1. Put in a request through EHR (integrate this)
2. Flow through to UM
3. Apply logic and business rules
4. Automatically send a request for more information
5. HL7 request will get you the medical record
6. An approval can be completed much faster
7. You can then notify both the patient and provider of the approval

Fact: Only 15% of prior authorizations are coming through standard HIPAA 278.  e.g. 85% of these authorizations are ‘special’  There’s a lot of room for improvement here.

Take the Apple Watch (OK, the hype is here)

Imagine that it now integrates to your systems. Imagine how a health event captured by the Apple Watch also kicked off a process with your company.

Immediate tasks for you to automate this:

1. Standardize on HIPAA 278
2. Make  prior authorizations accessible to members
3. Automate clinical data integration
4. Implement medical policy as logic
5. Automating prior authorizations workflows
6. Bundling common procedures (You don’t need to ask for every single qtip in this experience)

How do you fuel the customer experience?

Answer: It’s all about the data. Data is the core of the digital payer architecture.

• Customer of things platform
• Information systems platform
• Ecosystems platform
• IoT platform
• Data and analytics platform

Good news: 96% of payers has as a primary priority to get data and insights.

Recommendations

1. Find the customer experience and growth value in everything
2. Increase decision logic transparency to improve the experience
3. Design for data-sharing and partnership

Fact: 30% of US Healthcare Payers are focused on taking off the training wheels. They are focused on actual investment in these things.

Sales enablement. It’s the process of providing your sales team with the tools they need to successfully engage with the buyer and sell more effectively. But the value in sales enablement tools seems to get lost when sellers have multiple data sources at their disposal and none of them work cohesively. This is the challenge that global asset management firm AllianceBernstein (AB) had before partnering with our MicroStrategy business intelligence experts (formerly of Southport) to create a customized mobile sales enablement application.

1. Sales Territory Analytics
   The app can display trends by client relationship, firm, branch, and advisor.
2. Sales Transaction Data
   Users can compare current sales trends vs. prior sales trends.
3. Client and Office Profiles
   SIMON shows geographical map and content specific to client interaction and relationship.
4. Market Opportunity Data
   The incorporation of alternative uses of paid for data to generate sales opportunities.
5. Product Data
   Users can view product performance and trends.
6. Marketing Content
   The app can conveniently store marketing content in one place, eliminating the need to share documents outside the app.
7. Third Party Client Analytics
   SIMON gives users on-demand access to customer analytics within the mobile app.
8. CRM Meeting and Task Creation
   Salesforce integration for real-time reading and writing. This integration replaces emails and phone calls with tasks that automatically flow into AB’s internal support staff queues for work flow completion.
9. Prospect and Campaign List Generation
   Sales professionals have access to lead generation information.
10. Connection Mapping
    This allows systematic association of time zone information during the writeback process.

Empowered Sellers

AB’s investment in SIMON has allowed the company to better understand how its salesforce is doing; make correlations between sales activities and results; identify stronger opportunities within the sales cycle; and so much more.

The adoption of a mobile sales enablement tool is critical to any sales organization looking to fully utilize its data and business intelligence as well as streamline sales efforts.

Watch the video at the top of the page to learn more about how AllianceBernstein empowered its sales organization using the MicroStrategy platform with the user-friendly application SIMON.

Digital innovation continues to disrupt industries at lightning speed. Today’s organizations are transforming their entire business – from strategy to operations, technology to culture – to better deliver value to their customers. In 2017, we compiled the top 10 trends leaders needed to know when it came to their digital transformation journey. In this 10-week blog series, we’ll further explore each trend and address how you can continue to modernize your business for success.

Before the age of the Internet and search engines, writing a history report required a lot more legwork.  You had to physically go to a library to do your research. (Anyone remember Encyclopedia Britannica?)

Of course, you need multiple sources to write a paper. Back then, the best way to find other references was to dive into the card catalog and search by subject, author, or book title.

I’m dating myself here, but the birth – and early mass adoption – of the Internet changed everything. It initially impacted me as far as school projects. My first exposure to the “world wide web” was during my days as a high school senior and then my college years. Anyone who had a dial-up connection – or access to Ethernet in your dorm – was getting familiar with the emerging possibilities online.

It started with my first email account and then quick adoption of online chat, like AIM (a.k.a. AOL’s Instant Messenger). I missed the boat on social media by a couple of years. (Facebook didn’t come to my university until after I graduated.)

Maturing Technologies and Its Impact

Fast forward 20 years, and these once-emerging technologies have all evolved. They are among the go-to resources in our lives, and never far out of reach on our mobile devices. Think about it:

• AIM has been replaced with text messages and messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger.
• Email remains a primary communication channel. But brands and marketers have expanded its use to reach their customer base. Additionally, it’s a channel consumers can use for customer service.
• Search engines (or embedded search on websites) have certainly replaced trips to the library. It’s our go-to when we can’t recall a quick fact, or want to find the nearest restaurant or coffee shop. But search engines have even evolved – we can now access digital assistants on our phones (think Siri) or devices in our homes (think Alexa.)

Remember Ask Jeeves?

Before we were tempted to Google this or that, there was a search engine that quickly gained popularity in the early days of the Internet. Part of the appeal was that it catered to how people wanted to find things online – by asking questions.

AskJeeves.com launch page

AskJeeves.com, which debuted in 1997, stood apart from Yahoo! or Alta Vista because it “encouraged search engine users to field their curiosity in the form of a question.”

You could almost consider it one of the early forms of a virtual assistant. Garrett Gruener, the venture capitalist behind AskJeeves.com, had the brilliant idea to “humanize information-gathering online.” Rather than overwhelming users with pages of results that may or may not be relevant to a simple search, Ask Jeeves was a “more refined option” with Jeeves present near the search bar to serve as your “virtual concierge.”

Many of the queries were consumer-oriented – asking for the best eateries, plumbers, or hotels – while others sought the kind of information that required both urgency and specialized knowledge.

While no one had a crystal ball in 1997, the premise behind Ask Jeeves was spot on. You can see how it translated to the evolution of online experiences in the past 20 years. So, how does it relate to technologies and the digital experiences we know today?

Welcome to the Age of Smart Anything

Perhaps we take it for granted, but the rise of smart technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to transform the way we live. The benefits they deliver have elevated our expectations as consumers. And, they are quickly changing how companies operate.

Adopting smart tools will soon be a must-have for enterprises to stay competitive in the marketplace.

Today’s solutions allow companies to gather and use data for creating a world-class customer experience for users across every channel. But to bring these experiences to life, you need smart technologies that can efficiently and cost-effectively deliver them.

How AI and Chatbots Can Transform Your Business

Implementing AI and chatbots to complement the post-purchase experience will allow you to scale your customer service. When executed well, they benefit customers with self-service options, allowing them to find answers or resolve issues quickly. This reduces time and costs so that your service reps are available to tackle more complex issues that customers can’t solve on their own.

Chatbots provide scalability and efficiency for customer service centers.

When it comes to self-service, companies see the value of social messaging apps (like Facebook Messenger) or chatbots. Business Insider reports that 56 percent of businesses said engagement in these channels positively impacts their ROI, and 58 percent said they reduce customer service costs.

Additionally, a recent survey of U.S. Internet users reveals that the top two elements of a good online customer service experience include:

1. Getting issues resolved in a single interaction
2. Receiving a speedy and timely response.

As a result, leading brands are following customers onto social messaging platforms. In fact, 90 percent of businesses use Facebook to respond to service requests.

AI also enhances the service experience because it can quickly consume, analyze, and interpret structured and unstructured data. Machine learning, natural language processing, predictive analytics, cognitive computing, and signal services are all elements of AI that help drive more relevant and personalized experiences for your customers.

Transforming the customer experience is one of the many reasons why AI adoption is gaining ground within organizations. In 2018, AI initiatives rank among the top five priorities for CIOs. Gartner estimates that by 2020, 85 percent of CIOs plan to pilot AI programs through a combination of buy, build, and outsource efforts. That’s a significant uptick over a two-year period when you consider only 21 percent of CIOs are piloting AI initiatives today.

Not only can AI and chatbots improve the customer experience, but they can also positively impact other areas of your business. A recent Forrester report states:

AI will be employed across enterprises, doing everything from engaging with customers and employees to automating and improving large elements of the operation. The deployment of AI technologies will create significant value, as companies will be able to predict customer needs in near real time while optimizing operations and supply chains in the background. This transformative capability will further prepare companies to win, serve, and retain customers. The question is not just who will get there first, but who will do it right and best.

The Promise of IoT

The Internet of Things is quickly emerging as a leading source of data and business intelligence. Business Insider states that it’s “disrupting businesses, governments, and consumers and transforming how they interact with the world… the proliferation of connected devices and massive increase in data has started an analytical revolution.”

Companies are going to spend almost $5 trillion on IoT in the next five years.

More organizations realize the enormous potential for investing in IoT – from improving business processes and minimizing risks to enhancing customer experiences. Consider these examples:

• Manufacturing – developing connected products that inform the supply chain about predicted demand for aftermarket parts
• Transportation – connecting shipping vehicles with temperature sensors to ensure goods, especially food, arrive in safe condition
• Energy – sensors that monitor networks of oil/gas transport pipelines, valves, and pressure gauges to prevent leaks and contamination
• Healthcare – connecting medical machines and devices to systems that easily share patients’ data and images with their providers

The phenomenal market opportunity for IoT continues to grow. But there’s more to it than installing sensors on products or equipment and calling it “smart.”

What does all of this mean for your business?

The scope of applications for IoT solutions is still in its infancy. Your organization won’t benefit from adopting IoT solutions unless you’re thoughtful about the purpose and role that it plays.

Read about 50+ successful use cases across 11 major industries in The Why, What, and How of IoT. You’ll also learn the strategic process for implementing these solutions within your organization.

See the Full Picture with Contextual Intelligence

Massive volumes of data created every day provide the basis for contextual intelligence. A few quick facts to consider about Big Data:

Smart watches and other wearable devices provide data to drive contextual intelligence.

• 10 billion mobile devices will be in use by 2020
• 294 billion emails are sent daily
• Google processes more than one billion searches each day
• On Facebook, more than 30 petabytes of user-generated data is stored, accessed, and analyzed
• Twitter users send more than 230 million tweets daily

In other words, the volumes of data will drive better use of data in context. But how?

Most major software vendors can use contextual intelligence to help users identify what works and what doesn’t. It’s especially important for companies that strive to deliver real-time personalization.

According to our Perficient Digital colleagues, a majority of companies are aiming to provide contextual personalization in near-real time. This is because it addresses masses of people visiting websites, and it’s easier to achieve.

Web content management vendors continue to refine personalization by injecting intelligence into their platforms. When you’re dealing with millions of page views, there are simply too many data points to analyze and determine the optimal path. With built-in intelligence, marketers can simply define an end result and a few parameters, and then let the system do the rest.

Bottom line – contextual intelligence will improve the ability for digital business leaders to make data-driven decisions.

The Next 20 Years: How Will Smart Anything Evolve?

Just as the dawn of the Internet has forever changed our world, the age of “smart” technologies will continue evolving and elevating our expectations as consumers. It’s hard to imagine what’s in store in the next 20 years when our current reality is having connected devices in our homes and using virtual assistants like Alexa.

Rest assured – one day we may look back on 2018 and be amused by how we used to ask Alexa to tell us the current time, get the weather forecast, or play our favorite song.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a single sign on (SSO) for your daily work routine? How many moments would be spent helping a patient, instead of staring at a screen trying to remember usernames or password credentials?

Take a moment and consider this. How many applications, websites, and dashboards do you have to sign on to in a day? Sometimes once, and other times multiple due to security or session time-outs. Healthcare requires a complex system of security, and therefore, an in-depth form of information access; but when is it too much?

“Did you know that the average person maintained 27 passwords in 2016, an increase from 6.5 in 2007?”

Why SSO? Does it have an impactful benefit?

Convenience

Currently, healthcare practitioners use 7 applications or more in their daily routine. That is a lot of login during the workday. With the use of a safe and protected SSO, users have the ability to securely log into all platforms in a single moment.

Productivity

Recently a not-for-profit, health care system serving over 800,000 people throughout western New England implemented a single sign-on solution. Over a six month period, the new platform saved the employees nearly 1,800 hours of login time. Allowing for more time with the patients to provide greater value.

Reduce Help Desk Costs

A report by Gartner indicated that, 30% of help desk calls were associated to password changes. The report concluded each password reset cost the average company about $32. It was estimated that on average, a user would need four password resets per year. Therefore, an organization of 3,000 employees would spend $384,000 per year on password resets alone! What’s more, is that figure continues to grow due to the fact that more applications are in use.

Let’s take it one step further in healthcare

“Clinicians utilize an average of 6.4 passwords per day. Applying an SSO solution will save an average of 9.51 minutes per day per clinician. Implementing an average salary of $135,000 per year and a 250 day work year, the cost savings would be $68 per day, or $2,675 per year, per clinician. As a result, an organization with 700 full-time clinicians can save more than $1.88 million per year with an effective SSO solution in place.”

Therefore, while an SSO does have a high initial cost, research proves that an SSO reduces help desk calls and saves time while increasing convenience and productivity, which ultimately results in cost savings.

Does your company incorporate a single sign on platform? What results have you seen from the implementation?

Digital innovation continues to disrupt industries at lightning speed. Today’s organizations are transforming their entire business – from strategy to operations, technology to culture – to better deliver value to their customers. We’ve compiled the top 10 trends leaders needed to know when it comes to their digital transformation journey. In this 10-week blog series, we’ll further explore each trend and address how you can continue to modernize your business for success. 

When it comes to true digital transformation, companies find themselves on a comprehensive journey to modernize the systems that create, deliver, and sustain meaningful customer experiences. As you may have read in the first post of our “Top 10 Trends for Digital Transformation” series, if organizations don’t rise to the occasion, and implement the necessary strategies to become customer-obsessed, they will find themselves lost, defeated, out of business.

Target gets it. The leading retailer made the necessary investments to get in front of the rising demands of its customers, and maintains a level of loyalty of which most brands dream. Sadly, any child of the 80s and 90s, has had to watch as their childhood toy store – Toys R Us – was too slow to react, and unfortunately became digital prey.

With these two brand examples, we see just how critical it is for companies to digitally transform their customer experience strategies to provide a more comprehensive, cohesive, omni-channel experience consumers have grown to expect.

However, the customer experience is just one-half of a successful digital transformation journey. Today’s organizations will only be truly successful if, and when, internal business operations and systems are digitally transformed as well.

Business operations is a complex environment that consists of multiple systems, processes and technologies like financial systems, CRM software, and ERP, BPM and ECM. Behind every one of these processes is a team of people challenged with managing and producing data, information and insights to help make informed business decisions. It’s the people, processes, and technology within an organization that drive performance and value.

So, what does it take to optimize operations, processes and systems?

Optimizing operations starts with you, the digital business leader. Understandably, when you take a step back and analyze the sheer amount of internal systems, processes and technologies you’re responsible for, and then add on the cost of operating each, optimizing operations can seem overwhelming. However, it’s necessary to avoid becoming digital prey.

Understand your role as connector, evangelist, technologist. You have an opportunity to execute a comprehensive, successful digital transformation journey by executing on three key strategies:

• Understand emerging trends
• Shift your mindset
• Enable your employee

Knowledge is Power: Understand Key Business Optimization Trends

ECM and BPM systems align for intelligent operations

Administrators of BPM and ECM systems are increasingly tasked with managing high volumes of content and critical business processes. These systems’ users expect flexibility, simplification, speed and accessibility to make their day-to-day tasks easier and more efficient.

Beyond business agility and integration trends within ECM, Forrester reports that BPM systems are now key components of a successful customer experience strategy, and require a tight alignment between business and IT to intelligently support a customer’s journey.

Additionally, we’re beginning to see the merging of BPM and ECM into what is now called Digital Process Automation (DPA). DPA is a term we use at Perficient and have seen experts like Forrester also use. DPA – or digital business automation – combines business optimization systems into an end-to-end platform to automate and enhance the efficiency of business systems across ECM, BPM, workflow and more. It is critical to begin to understand the evolution of ECM and BPM into DPA as you continue to optimize business operations.

Focusing on the optimization of your internal systems and processes is a key element of your digital transformation journey. Gain valuable insight into how to navigate this journey by following these 10 guidelines for ECM and BPM system optimization.

DevOps emerges as a key strategy for success

Mobile. Tablet. Desktop. The arrival of multi-platform applications has forced today’s businesses to rethink how they innovate across hardware. We’ve witnessed forward-thinking organizations experience great success in solving complicated IT challenges by adopting DevOps as a key strategy.

DevOps isn’t a solution or technology, but rather a holistic approach to software delivery emphasizing collaboration across the development, operations, and business groups. DevOps allows teams to break down traditional silos, shorten feedback loops and respond more effectively to necessary changes. It requires employee buy-in, adoption of new technologies and an appetite for transformation.

Don’t let DevOps remain a mystery. Arm yourself with the necessary information to further gain buy-in from your leadership team for ongoing investment and innovation around business operations. You can start by taking a closer look at the five key steps to DevOps success: defining DevOps, IT review and assessment, establishing building blocks, migration and shift, and unleashing innovation and change.

Shift Your Mindset: Operations Delivers Experiences

Your company must adapt to today’s customer demands, and ensure it has the right technology in place to support your digital business strategy. Operations has the power to enhance the overall experience. You can lead the charge for continually improving how your business and its teams operate.

You may find your current business technology and infrastructure outdated, cumbersome, and expensive. The good news – the budgets necessary to digitally transform operations are on the rise. Forrester recently forecasted that U.S. tech budgets will grow nearly six percent in 2018. Spending on cloud adoption software and services – like DevOps – was reported to reach its tipping point as well.

Now is the time to make the case for ongoing investments in business technology rather than only budgeting for backend technology like outdated legacy systems or infrastructure. How

Reposition the conversation to one of value and innovation versus purely cost-cutting.

As Forrester’s J. P. Gownder and Andrew Hewitt stated it best in “How to Budget for Workforce and Customer-Facing Technologies for 2018 and Beyond:”

“Your company’s customers, channels, and competitors are digital, and [you] can play a key role in choosing, deploying, and supporting technology innovation that supports its digital business strategy. To do this effectively, [you] must prioritize agility and flexibility ahead of traditional top priorities of reliability, standardization, and cost reduction. Ultimately, succeeding here might require re-engineering the foundations of your infrastructure by moving key systems to cloud, taking a mobile-first approach to workforce enablement, and moving from systems of engagement to comprehensive systems of insight.”

The right mindset also has the power to drive the c-suite to evolve their assumptions of your business operations teams and functions. Cost matters, yes, but shifting the conversation to one of value and innovation, which leads to a more successful digital transformation, can further rally executives across multiple departments – marketing, HR, finance, and IT – to see the value in optimizing operations.

It’s All about Your People: Enable Your Workforce for Success

Behind every system, report or technology sits someone who has the power to enhance your digital transformation journey. We’ll further explore the power of your people and culture in a future post within this series, but when it comes to optimizing operations, you cannot forget the people part of people, processes and technology.

Why? A research report by Temkin Group highlighted in this CMSWire article found that customer experience leaders (think Target) have 60 percent more engaged employees than those companies whose customer experience lags behind. You must rally your leadership around the notion that the employee experience within your organization is just as important as the customer experience provided to your end user.

Create a strategy for enabling your employees to perform their jobs more efficiently and across siloes with devices, software and services that improve workforce productivity. Include it in the budgeting process. In doing so, you’ll drive more value and more positive customer experiences as a result.

When it comes to digitally transforming the business, optimizing operations is the second, but equally important, half of the ongoing journey toward modernization and transformation. Better understanding key emerging trends, shifting your mindset from cost to innovation and value, and investing in your people who make it all possible, all are key strategies toward ongoing, business optimization success.

Do you want to read more about the top ten digital transformation trends?

Click here to read about trend three: The Secret Ingredient to Digitally Transform Your Business

We are heading toward the end of Q1. Organizations have finalized budgets and have set their strategic direction. Do you feel like you have the right operating model in place for your team to meet company objectives? Do you have your priorities sorted out? What does success look like?

Stepping back and taking a simple operating model approach to implement your strategy will yield immediate and long-term benefits:

• Ensuring alignment with the overall enterprise vision and strategy
• Aligning your function with your peers and partners
• Driving focus with your team on the priorities and measurable outcomes
• Providing clarity to others in the organization
• Establishing an introspective and continuous learning culture

This exercise isn’t just for those at the top, you can do it with your team over a series of small working sessions.

1.  Define The Strategic Priorities

Define the top 3-5 things you can do that will move the needle for your organization.  Sometimes the priorities are obvious and clear, sometimes it requires some serious churn to land on the right set of priorities.

• Collaborate:  Reach out to your peers, engage your team, find partners in the industry, and get different perspectives on strategic direction.
• Iterate & debate: Test the priorities against each other, dive a bit deeper until the priorities become specific, achievable, and don’t require explanation.
• Incubate:  Let your priorities soak for a bit and breathe.  What might seem like a priority out of the gate may fade as you get into a more strategic mindset.

Once you have landed on your top strategic priorities, turn your focus towards aligning your processes, team members, systems, and performance measures to achieve the desired outcomes.

2.  Establish the Process Model:

Clearly articulate the what your team is accountable and committed to deliver to the overall value stream, shared services, or foundational operations.

• Clear Scope:   Understand the processes you own versus those that you contribute or only need to be informed. Be able to articulate what is NOT in your scope.
• Clear demarcation points:  Understand the inputs and outputs with your organization and the others in the enterprise. Overtime, these boundaries can get blurry, so taking some time to clarify roles and responsibilities with your peers will help avoid confusion and go a long way and avoid turf wars.
• Ogres and Onions:  Processes are like ogres and onions, they come in layers.   By breaking down your processes into a layered inventory, you can get to the detail necessary to clearly define the inputs and outputs, responsible owners, the required tool, and control points.

3.  Align the Organization Structure

Now that you have clearly defined the processes, put the right organization structure in place to effectively manage the process.

• Right leaders:    Surround yourself with great lieutenants. Many organizations reward top performers with promotions into management positions and these great individual contributors are thrust into leadership roles before they are ready. Transitioning from an doer to leader is an art and it takes time to hone management skills.
• Right person in right role: Many employees don’t flourish until they are in the right role at the right time.   Think about where it may make sense to make some personnel moves to find a better fit for a team member and make it a win-win situation.
• Right mix of skills. Proactively diversify your team and embrace a mix of skills to maximize the strengths across the team.  Put together a well-rounded team that combines deep subject matter experts with generalists that can be flexible across roles. It’s also important to balance technical skills with soft skills such as effective communication and emotional intelligence.

4.  Select the Right Systems and Tools

In today’s business climate, there are so many tools to support business processes and provide unique capabilities. It is so easy to fall into the trap to believe that if you only had the right systems, everything would be just fine.

• Keep it simple: Find the right tool suite stick to it in order to maximize the value.   Every time you introduce a new tool, you increase variability and lose some of the coveted benefits you seek to achieve.  However, if it is definitely not working, reassess what you need and move on quickly.
• Be real:   It takes discipline and commitment to maximize the ROI on technical investments used across organizations. Expectations on what the tool set will provide need to be set at all levels of the organization.
• Right-sized: Spend the time up front to ensure that you are selecting the tools that meet your requirements and are appropriate for your business.  There is no reason anymore to buy more than you need or to introduce complexity that your team doesn’t gain benefit.

5.   Implement Performance Measures:

• Establish a Hierarchy. Like a value tree, start with the #1 performance measure that effectively shows progress in achieving the strategic priorities.  Then define the 2-3 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can used consistently measure and show trends against the performance measure. From there, you can then define each of the metrics across the organization that impact the KPIs.
• Business Rhythm:  Establish the frequency that you are going to assess your performance against the strategic priorities. You will gain credibility and trust by sharing your progress and providing transparency across your leadership, peers, and employees.

Do it all again:   Taking an operating model approach to run an organization is a continuous improvement activity that should be refreshed, revised and takes discipline and commitment.   The most effective leaders are constantly evaluating where to make improvements and seizing opportunities.  They are honest with their progress, understand they will mature over time, and get genuinely excited about the opportunities to come.

While the industry is seeing much innovation, and while energy companies are doing positive work in communities and around the world, there is no question that the industry still faces several serious challenges. The industry needs fewer counterproductive industry regulations and, instead, better policies that leverage free trade and support innovation. Free trade can lead to more investment, job creation, and increased energy production. It would ensure a reliable supply of energy, as well as affordable energy, for years to come.

Government regulations continue to hamper progress in the industry. While both industry and government-sponsored research have found that certain infrastructure projects pose no risk to people or the environment, political battles continue to slow success. The delays and constant hurdles are costing energy companies large sums of money and jeopardizing the national and economic interest. In fact, according to a report published by the Congressional Research Services, in 2015 the federal government finalized 3,410 new rules and proposed an additional 2,342 ones.

However, since he took office, President Trump has “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies.” In his speech at the Unleashing American Energy Event, he said he has “been moving at record pace to cancel these regulations and to eliminate the barriers to domestic energy production.”

With the America First Energy Plan, the energy industry has the potential to flourish for years to come. According to the plan, “The Trump Administration will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution to bring jobs and prosperity to millions of Americans. We must take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own. We will use the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure. Less-expensive energy will be a big boost to American agriculture, as well. The Trump Administration is also committed to clean coal technology, and to reviving America’s coal industry, which has been hurting for too long.”

Using the insights we’ve gleaned from conversations with clients and perspectives from industry executives, we have prepared a guide that describes the current state of the energy industry. Use it as a barometer to measure the impact of your own activities and initiatives. How do you compare to your peers? Are you doing the right things? Should you adjust your strategy to remain or become an industry leader?

You can download the guide here or fill out the form below.

Philanthropy remains incredibly important to energy companies, which made financial donations in the wake of horrific events, such as the hurricanes in Texas and Florida and fires in California, in 2017. As of August 2017, ExxonMobil had made a “financial commitment for Harvey relief to up to $9.5 million.” Money is also being sent to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. One press release that ExxonMobil issued read, “ExxonMobil and Employees Contribute More Than $50 Million to U.S. Colleges and Universities.” In addition, energy companies continue to drive and support social and economic programs in the countries in which they operate.

In an Economic Club of Washington, D.C. interview, John S. Watson said, “Governments all have different priorities and they all want local content. They all want to build up the industry in their own country, they want jobs in their own country. So we do face those demands. In fact, they’re a part of many of our agreements. And a lot of the social work that we do, we do much of it voluntarily, but they want development in their country. They want a better way of life. And they want more than just come in, extract, and leave. That was the model 50 years ago. That’s not the model now.”

As energy companies thrive in the new operating environment, philanthropic work will increase. Energy companies understand the need to give back and improve communities. It’s about reaching out and lending a hand to those who need it most, often at very difficult times in their lives.

Using the insights we’ve gleaned from conversations with clients and perspectives from industry executives, we have prepared a guide that describes the current state of the energy industry. Use it as a barometer to measure the impact of your own activities and initiatives. How do you compare to your peers? Are you doing the right things? Should you adjust your strategy to remain or become an industry leader?

You can download the guide here or fill out the form below.

While operational efficiency is critical when it comes to running a lean and profitable business, it is closely intertwined with the customer experience.

For example, better processes along with front- and back-end systems can lead to faster and more effective customer service. It can also lead to better and faster delivery of products and services. In turn, products and services that offer incredible customer experiences, along with wonderful customer service to support them, can create and spur growth.

Remember, the proliferation of mobile and digital has created very high customer expectations, forcing communications companies to rethink their game plans entirely. It’s the main reason why companies are so driven to innovate and focus on the customer. Industry leaders must constantly change, adapt, and create exciting new offerings to cater to and satisfy today’s consumers.

In Comcast’s Q3 2017 earnings call, Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO, said the company’s “ongoing effort to improve the customer experience accelerated this year and will continue to be an important driver in the future.” Its investment in software and other technology is paying off. “We are now seeing results from the investments we have made in data analytics and other technology to better anticipate and diagnose service issues and to give our customers more control with digital tools like the My Account App,” he said.

Mr. Roberts provides a textbook example of how product innovation has helped improve the customer experience, not to mention customer service. He said, “We [Comcast] reduced customer calls handled by our agents by four million. We also increased the percentage of customer interactions completed digitally by double digits. So, better service is not just critical for our customers, but is helping our financial performance and we believe there is a long runway for further progress.”

Specifically, he mentioned that the number of phone calls new customers made in the first 90 days was down by a “double-digit percentage.” He continued, “The investments in the customer experience are clearly working, and we believe we have the foundation in place to drive further improvement from here.” Not surprisingly, he said that as customer relationships are growing, customer service costs are down.

The communications industry continues to evolve. As technology advances, companies evaluate how they can take away market share from their competitors. Companies must differentiate themselves, and typically not just in one way. Today’s consumers have so many providers from which to choose, and there is often little that distinguishes one from another. The better and more positive the differentiators, the more loyal customers will be. The lower the churn, the higher the profits.

A well-known example of a company that has done what many would have said was unthinkable is T-Mobile. There is nothing typical about the company. Not the CEO. Not the customer experience. Not the customer service.

Let’s start with John Legeras, the CEO of T-Mobile. His brashness and nontraditional executive style have caught the attention of customers, competitors, and investors. Mr. Legeras has no problem taking shots at his competitors (or as he calls them, “the duopoly”), and boasting of the company’s success. To be fair, his comments are generally not unfounded. T-Mobile’s “Un-carrier” moves have resonated with customers and have forced the company’s competitors to rethink their strategies and implement change.

As an example, in an October 2017 press release, the company said “Customers are continuing to choose T-Mobile over the competition because they get more value for their hard-earned dollar. Q3 was no different as we unveiled our latest industry-changing move: Netflix on Us. The other carriers focus on pushing bigger, fatter, pricier packages of content and services on their customers, while T-Mobile partnered with Netflix to give customers what they want – at no extra cost.”

T-Mobile is a wonderful case study of a company that is shattering stereotypes and breaking barriers. It’s a company whose employees are proud to wear its magenta shirts, and its customers don’t dread calling customer service. It’s a company that is making communications companies “cool,” a term no one would have thought to pair with the industry.

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Using the insights we’ve gleaned from conversations with clients, perspectives from industry executives, and statistics from market research reports, we have prepared a guide that describes the current state of the communications sector.

Use it as a barometer to measure the impact of your own activities and initiatives. How do you compare to your peers? Are you doing the right things? Should you adjust your strategy to remain or become an industry leader?

You can download it here or fill out the form below.

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A recent Financial Times article highlighted a report which found that oil and gas companies with more ethical operations are more profitable and valued than their competitors. According to the report, “For oil and gas companies, the valuation premium was almost a fifth for those that combat corruption, have better health and safety processes or attempt to limit environmental damage.”

In fact, to reduce the risks associated with environmental, social, and governance issues, investors are increasingly evaluating a company’s sustainable business practices before they buy shares.

According to Investopedia, “Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The concept of sustainability is comprised of three pillars: economic, environmental and social – also known informally as profits, planet, and people.”

Energy companies continue developing and enhancing sustainability programs that push their strategic values and priorities. Typically, these programs revolve around the pillars mentioned above.

Ensuring that companies research, innovate, and guarantee a reliable supply of energy in a compliant manner is important. This is why companies remain steadfast in their expectations of employees.

Remaining ethical, transparent, and respectful of one another is critical. Reputations – and employee lives – are at stake. Employee safety is a top priority for organizations. Employees work in incredibly difficult and dangerous environments. Ensuring they go home safely every day is always at the top of executives’ minds.

While expectations regarding employee behavior remain high, it’s essential that employers invest in them. Employees must feel trusted and appreciated, as well as encouraged to innovate and make a difference in society.

Equally important is a concern for our environment. Energy organizations can make the world greener and cleaner by reducing carbon, water, and waste. Protecting the world’s natural resources is a “must” and the programs that companies put in place can make a big impact.

While sustainability efforts have been made for years, they’ve now become more important than ever. The way in which a company addresses economic, environmental, and social issues is often a barometer of success. Companies like Andeavor, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Hess (all named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index) will continue focusing on their responsibility and sustainability initiatives.

Using the insights we’ve gleaned from conversations with clients and perspectives from industry executives, we have prepared a guide that describes the current state of the energy industry. Use it as a barometer to measure the impact of your own activities and initiatives. How do you compare to your peers? Are you doing the right things? Should you adjust your strategy to remain or become an industry leader?

You can download the guide here or fill out the form below.