Quality, Assured
Change is difficult. Very few people would argue with that simple statement -- and almost no businessperson ever would: change is difficult. That’s a fact.
But businesses must change. Business processes must change. Businesses are always under pressure--from competitors, from monetary and economic vicissitudes, from changing technology-- to change…the more nimble or agile the company is with regard to change, the better able they are to survive and advance. But change is so difficult that even agile organizations struggle with it.
You know what else is difficult? Communication. Businesses struggle with communication. Cultural or perceptual differences create noise, which obscures meaning and intent. Things get misinterpreted. The channels of communication are plentiful but each has its own nuances so that messages are lost, sent through the wrong channel to the wrong person, or just dissolved in the clutter. More communication isn’t necessarily better. But that’s exactly what marketing and advertising and social media and multi-channel and omni-channel communication often creates: more, not better, communication.
Customer communication, for example, is SO IMPORTANT. A good customer experience is largely dependent on good, clear, timely customer communication. In business to consumer sectors like financial services, insurance and utilities, clear and welcome customer communication is the cornerstone of a good business model. Without it, consumers find other vendors to serve their needs. A solid customer communication strategy should be foremost in the minds of business leaders.
And yet, and yet, and yet…it often is not. Sadly, it often is not. Business leaders don’t always appreciate the value of their communication vehicles like a bill. Or a statement. What other touchpoint is more regular? What other communication is more often opened and read? What other communication needs to be so clear, concise and well-timed? And yet changing a statement or a bill is incredibly difficult. Making even the smallest change on a statement, for example, can take weeks or even months. Adding a simple barcode is fraught with peril. Bills are timed—they must go out on a regular schedule. The billing cycle is short—and to those in IT, who have to make these changes, the cycle no doubt seems even shorter.