It’s Time to Climb out of the Foxholes

By: Dale Graff

According to Gartner (News - Alert), the slump last year in spending on computer hardware, software and services was the worst ever – there was more than a 5 percent decline from 2008. While companies and their IT departments can’t be blamed for hunkering down and riding out the recession by slashing projects and putting new initiatives on hold, now is the time to climb out of the foxholes.

Regardless of your predictions for the shape of economic growth in 2010 there are two very good reasons for climbing out of your foxhole:

Innovation did not take a year off in 2009.

In fact, with the strides made in such technical areas as mobility, cloud computing, virtualization, unified communications and social networking – just to name a few – technology is marching on despite economic issues.

Customer satisfaction counts more than ever.

Customers are being very careful with their expenditures and are expecting more for their limited purchasing power. Anything less than excellent service will drive hard-pressed customers to your competition.

What should you do if your organization is frozen with uncertainty? Here are some steps – and most don’t require major investment:

• with business stakeholders, identify specific goals and measurable indicators of desired trends in customer satisfaction or operational effectiveness;
• conduct an opportunity assessment – identify where the metrics are falling short of objectives;
• put yourself in your customers’ shoes to understand their experiences -- identify pain points and fix them;
• plan steps needed to make improvements – if these use new technology, plan a pilot project to demonstrate ROI;
• measure success continuously and adjust plans if necessary to achieve targets.

Industry-leading companies continuously seek to improve operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction regardless of economic conditions. In fact, rough economic times are precisely when organized and focused enterprises can best improve their positions relative to weakened competitors. IT

Dale Graff is a senior consultant at Vanguard Communications Corp. (www.vanguard.net), a consulting firm specializing in customer experience, contact center processes, operations and technology.

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