Since the industrial revolution, processes have continually changed to better serve a business in the provision of goods or services that a customer wants in the timescales that are expected in the most cost-effective manner. While all businesses have processes, those that have better knowledge and control, combined with the ability to easily change them, are the ones that are consistently more successful.
Technology change over the past 10 years has fundamentally altered how a customer wants to interact with a company. Customers are now more likely to use a Web site, mobile app, e-mail or social networking site than send a letter.
This choice also means that a single channel is unlikely to satisfy all customer expectations, and companies need to be able to seamlessly switch in response to that. The expectation of customer requests being satisfied correctly first time still remains. This shift is requiring companies to reconsider how they best manage customer interactions and move away from the document-centric model that has served them well in the past.
Business process management (BPM) enabled applications are a solution to this challenge. Irrespective of how a customer tries to engage in the process, the organisation can be certain that the work will be given to staff in the order of priority that is most important.
Service level agreements should be more than a measurement reported at the end of the month. A BPM-enabled application actively manages the work tasks and required service levels to meet both customer expectations and to achieve business goals.
Jarrod Poynton is the Head of Solutions at DST Global Solutions. AWD, the company's BPM-enabled application, supports more than 220 000 users in many of the world's biggest financial services institutions.
Share
Editorial contacts