Saving Lives Is the Best Return on Investment

Speed of Customer Information Saves Lives

In everyday business, the use of CRM and business intelligence can lead to higher revenues and hopefully more profits. A noble pursuit, to be sure. However, when it comes to healthcare, these tools can save lives. What's more important than that?

Integrating systems pays when it comes to serving customers, yet it took a project one of my students is working on to show how dramatically it saves lives as well.

Mention the concept of processes and systems integrated together having the potential to deliver a greater clarity of insight regarding customers, and anyone who has a customer relationship management system or sells, services or develops them will nod in general agreement.

Real Benefits

Yet this concept hit home when one of my students from Indonesia brought in the data set he is going to use for his dissertation.

The data shows the five-year investments by Indonesian hospitals and healthcare and the latest news about healthcare providers in patient information systems, including Software as a Service (SaaS)-based applications that made it possible to track medical histories for patients and their histories of successful and unsuccessful treatment.

In the same data set were disease, accident and HIV/AIDS mortality rates in addition to a series of attitudinal questionnaires completed by patients after recovering.

Speed of Customer Information Saves Lives

We're working with the data set doing regressions and correlations, and the results are fascinating.

Fortunately, we've also got a road map of when specific systems went into place, and what's becoming apparent from the data is that there is less about an eight-week lag time of when the components of patient management systems begin to make a significant impact on disease-based mortality rates, and much faster on emergency room reductions in fatalities due to accidents.

It's clear when you look at the data. Speed of information sharing and collaboration has a direct impact on saving lives in the ER. When the data is graphed in terms of lives saved, ER reductions in fatalities initially spikes way up and then is eventually passed up by reductions in disease-based mortality rates.

Additional findings from the data so far from the analysis show the following:

Within three years, the reduction in disease-related fatalities' correlation to the five-year spending on patient information and case management was 89 percent at the 0.01 level of confidence. Clearly, the consistent spending on patient information systems initially and the continual spending on services to integrate with legacy systems is having a major impact on saving people from life-threatening diseases.

Reduction in ER-related fatalities was initially more immediate and dramatic, yet over time, settled into a pattern with a 78 percent correlation at the 0.01 level of confidence between cumulative spending on patient-facing systems and processes. This was one of the most fascinating findings because it showed how much of an immediate impact having systems integrated together to give ER nurses and doctors the information they needed to save peoples' lives made a difference. The reduction in ER mortality rates needs more analysis, yet it is clear that getting the right medications, if necessary, to the right patient and prescribing the best possible treatment plan was making a big, immediate difference.

Long-term investments in patient-facing processes and systems also led to a reduction in HIV/AIDS fatalities with a correlation of 0.682 at the 0.01 level of confidence. This was completely unforeseen and was attributed to the awareness and prevention programs that the patient systems had begun tracking and reporting on. Another interesting finding emerged from this as well. When the attitudes of patients were measured relative to healthcare materials including AIDS/HIV prevention handouts and videos, those in the age groups 15-21 and 21-28 also wanted to be able to get these confidentially without even going into the healthcare facility, yet could not find them in their nature language online in PDF (Portable Document Format) or even HTML (hypertext markup language) format. Conversely, those in the 41-50 age group (parents of those looking for information) were far more aggressive about getting prevention materials in their native language, registering the highest levels of dissatisfaction across the entire sample. Call it the voice of the angry patient.

TAKEAWAYS

For hospitals and healthcare providers that adopt a more integration-based approach to managing patient information and serving them, the following takeaways emerge:

The history of successful and unsuccessful treatments made a major difference in reducing disease mortality rates. Allegorically speaking, many companies have a cancer brewing in their customer bases of dissatisfied customers; how much more effective would they be to know which experiences gave customers the chance to excel and grow? It's not about curing all that ails your company, it's all about curing what ails your customer—and this study showed that clearly. ER mortality rate drops were immediate and significant because doctors knew in seconds what treatment plan to take. Even in accidents, that information from the patient system made it possible for ER staff to define treatment strategies that had a higher probability of success.

The HIV/AIDS mortality rate reduction shows the power of a patient-facing system being able to educate and treat conditions at the same time.

What this study really shows is that when customer-facing processes and systems are integrated together to enrich and revitalize those they are designed to serve, remarkable results can be achieved.

QUESTION

It just makes one stop and think: Are CRM systems designed to serve the needs of those owning them or those they were created to serve?

Interesting question -- yet in the end the best results in healthcare come from the latter.

By Louise Columbus, Cincom Expert Access

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Social Media Obsessions -- Caveat Emptor

Obsessed and Possessed

Corresponding with the rise in all forms of social media has been a growing fascination to the point of obsession on the part of some Marketing VPs to find their markets' key influencers.

I got to thinking about this after watching the movie "Elf" over the holidays -- the character of Miles Finch, who is supposed to be the key influencer of publishing in the movie, is the picture of a key influencer gone bad. If you haven't seen "Elf" and enjoy Will Ferrell, check it out; if you have kids, they will love it.

Find Me the Key Influencers

I know of a peripheral products company that put one of their best product directors on the task of tracking down key influencers -- this director is Harvard MBA no less -- and he came back with a handful of outside consultants and industry analysts who qualified for the title of key influencer.

This company next began to work with key influencers to provide them tentative product plans, invited them to speak to their resellers at exclusive events, and generally pampered them like superstars whenever they were invited to company events and yes, this included picking them up at the airport in limos. The Marketing VP felt that if they could be won over through pampering and ego-stroking they would sing the praises of the company. Trouble was, the company had serious quality product problems and a product strategy that was a generation behind the industry and only one of the key influencers held her ground and told the truth.

The results were predictable: the key influencers never turned down a paid speaking engagement or the occasional obligatory quote to the media or even in their own publications. The one troublesome key influencer that kept pointing to quality problems and late product roadmaps was never asked to present, never asked in for strategy sessions, and was mostly tolerated as the company had paid for a retainer with her advisory firm. One of the key influencers got so big headed they became the Brittany Spears of the influencer set and would skip calls, meetings, not bothering to phone ahead or send off an e-mail that they would not be there.

What are the lessons learned?

• First, be very careful about who you hand the title key influencer to. That is quite a pedestal to put someone on. Guy Kawasaki, who could certainly qualify as a key influencer, nails it with his http://www.esresearch.com/STVG on the subject. Going after word of mouth, as Guy mentions, is so much better of a use of time.
• Second, never trust anyone who tells you they are a key influencer in your markets. Immediately ask yourself, "So why are they telling me this?" The answer is most likely they seek a consulting gig with you.
• Third, key influencers are by nature disruptive and not affirming. Think about it; all the world's true key influencers are disrupting social, financial and even religious foundations. True thought leaders (and I would consider a key influencer a thought leader) have clear, crisp vision of the way things are and let's face it, have bigger and more expansive plans that just promoting your products.
• Fourth, take your key influencers off their pedestals and ask them to get out and push your company up the hill to its goals too. Too much pedestal polishing will create arrogance in key influencers; better to put them to work and tap their knowledge for how your company can improve. This is especially true of industry analysts; use them as strategy sounding boards and for goodness sake, do not act as if the Red Sea parted when they walked into your building. Set the tone you expect humility and hard work and get something accomplished with them.

Now, back to the scene in "Elf" that triggered these thoughts; it's the one where Miles Finch (played brilliantly by Peter Dinklage) is in the conference room of the book publishing house, just getting ready to share his insights. In bursts Buddy (Will Ferrell) and in total innocence, mistakes Miles Finch for an elf. Here's the clip on YouTube. No one needs a Miles Finch around; everyone needs more brainpower trying to solve problems though.

by Louis Columbus, Cincom Systems Senior Analyst

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Cincom’s Sales Configurator Allows Self-Service Through Improved Web Accessibility

Cincom’s Sales Configurator helps complex manufacturers create effective sales configuration

Worldwide software and services provider Cincom Systems (www.cincom.com) introduces the worldwide availability of Cincom’s Sales ConfiguratorÔ for the Web, an add-on module to its standard Cincom Sales Configurator 8.0 (www.cincom.com/q2o).

The new AJAX-based thin web client makes it easier for manufacturers to provide access to their product configuration and quoting systems to dealers, other sales channel partners, and even customers.

“More and more manufacturing companies that create build-to-order products are looking to see how they can simplify their ability to make a sale,” says Jim Wilson, Product Director for Cincom’s Sales Configurator. “Delivering critical application, product, and pricing information directly to dealers and customers keeps engineers and other factory experts out of the sales process. This makes closing a sale simpler and faster because fewer people are involved.”

Cincom’s Sales Configurator for the Web comes with the ability to customize the “skin” or graphic user interface of the web application. This ensures that the pages adhere to the manufacturers’ brand standards and gives the manufacturer complete control over the experience their customers receive.

Cincom’s web module uses the same database as the Cincom Sales Configurator 8.0. Both can be run simultaneously.

AJAX, an open-source technology framework, improves performance and simplifies deployment for customers using complex, rules-based applications over the web, an intranet, or in HTML-based application portals.

Cincom’s Sales Configurator captures the product, services, and business knowledge needed for guided selling, complex product and sales configuration, and proposal management. It enables complex manufacturers to capture and deliver critical application, product, pricing, and process knowledge to the point of sale – ensuring the optimal fit between manufacturers’ product offerings and customers’ needs.

Manufacturers with engineer-to-order or configure-to-order products have successfully streamlined sales, design, and proposal processes by using Cincom to deliver critical product and sales knowledge to the point of sale and reduce “quote-to-cash” time significantly.

For more information about these products and other Cincom solutions for manufacturers, visit www.cincom.com/manufacturing.

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Outsourcing Contracts: Clause Control

Outsourcing contracts can set you and your provider up for a beautiful friendship or a bad marriage. The performance clauses you put in the contract will determine your degree of happiness.

There are a host of terms in your outsourcing contract that can ensure the competitiveness of the price you pay over time. Here are some of the most important clauses to fight for, along with tips on how to negotiate them:

Benchmarking Clause
This clause stipulates that you will be allowed to compare your outsourcer’s costs with the averages on the open market and negotiate for price reductions if your provider’s costs are higher. For a full explanation of this controversial clause and how to negotiate it, see our special report, “The War on Benchmarking.”

Most Favored Customer
Often requested, but rarely granted, this clause states that charges must be at least as low as the provider’s lowest charges to other similar companies for substantially similar services. Outsourcers loathe it and some outsourcing advisers say it’s impossible to police. “It’s an administrative nightmare,” says George Kimball, a partner with Baker & McKenzie, who represents customers in outsourcing contract negotiations. “Suppliers can’t easily know or compare their rates around the globe, and each contract involves complex, individually negotiated combinations of services and terms.” The state of Texas sought to include “most favored customer” language in its seven-year, $863 million data center services contract with IBM Global Services. The words themselves were dropped in negotiations, says interim CTO Brian Rawson, but the state got the gist of the protection in there.

Cost-Plus Pricing
Some customers are willing to concede any benchmarking rights in exchange for this method of outsourcer pricing. Once a year, the supplier opens its books, reveals its costs and adds a percentage in for profit. Sounds straightforward, but it “removes the motivation for the outsourcer to increase their efficiency because their margins are [always] built in,” says Geraldine Fox, practice lead of global sourcing services for the benchmarking company Compass.

Insourcing/Resourcing Right
Lawyers who represent outsourcing customers are increasingly pushing for provisions that allow the customer to take pieces of work away from the outsourcer without triggering the normal termination fee. It’s a great tool for leverage over pricing in the long term. Vendors will agree—very reluctantly—to grant such rights on larger deals if the customer pushes for it.

Continuous Improvement
Less related to price than service, this states that the vendor will continuously improve its service levels year over year. You’ll need to specify which service levels are subject to annual improvements (some may already be at an acceptable level or may be difficult to raise). A strong clause will specify targeted percentage improvements, though service providers want to limit them.

Mandatory Reference Clause
If you’re going to fight for only one protective clause in an outsourcing contract, says Daniel Masur, who represents outsourcing customers at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, make it the mandatory reference clause. It’s got nothing to do with pricing protection directly. It mandates that the vendor use you as a reference at least a certain number of times a year. “In terms of aligning interests of parties, there is no more powerful clause,” says Masur, than having to put unhappy customers in touch with new prospects. “Do well and you can use me as your greatest cheerleader. If I’m not happy, you’re putting future work at risk.” Others argue that this clause is too easy for vendors to ignore. “It’s not enough of a lever,” says Mark Robinson, executive director of advisory services for outsourcing consultancy EquaTerra.

By Stephanie Overby, CIO

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How Long Should You Talk?

Aberdeen has found a useful insight in its most recent survey: Optimizing Your Workforce/Increasing Contact Center Agent Productivity.

The Best in Class Contact Centers spend more time on the phone with their customers than laggards -- 47% vs. 6%. It was not long ago that "average call duration" was something the best run contact centers worked hard at reducing.

But get this wrinkle!

These same windy contact center agents who spend more time with customers have a 48% customer satisfaction rate compared to short-winded laggards who have a 17% customer satisfaction rate. The good agents take time to know the customer and to work hard at resolving customer issues. They know the value that each customer represents to their company and do their best to retain and motivate these customers.

Many of these best contact centers are also investing in technology to make it easier for agents to deliver a great customer experience -- such as what is known as a unified agent desktop -- a technology that puts the right information about each customer at each agent's fingertips. That means the agent is not wasting time tracking down information, but instead is talking and listening to the customer more attentively.

By Dale Wolf, PerfectCEM

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Expansion in Asia to slow, says IMF

Asia is not likely to escape the impact of the US-led global downturn, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday, although it added that growth was likely to remain high relative to other regions of the world.

The IMF said it had cut its forecast for growth in Asia this year and now projected more moderate expansion of 6.2 per cent — down 1.75 per cent from 2007. It said 2008 would be a “challenging year” and that “the balance of risks remains on the downside” — lower growth — in spite of high inflation.

This view is certain to be controversial, with many economists saying that the main risk to Asian economies is inflation, not low growth, and that policymakers in the region should be concentrating their efforts on fighting price increases.

The IMF said “key activity indicators in recent months suggest that momentum is easing” in Asia, adding that “confidence indicators also point to slowing activity”.

Asian money markets had also been affected by the financial crisis, with falls in equities and increases in the risk spreads on corporate debt.

The IMF said Asia “has not delinked” from the US, and “the US slowdown could have a larger impact” than recent US downturns, in particular on China, given the increased economic integration between the countries.

However, exports were still growing, it acknowledged, in part because of growing exposure to non-traditional markets in the rest of the developed world.

Inflation pressures were rising across Asia. Headline inflation momentum had increased “noticeably” in India and the Association of South-East Asian Nations region in recent months, and had “picked up anew” in China.

“Core inflation has also risen,” the IMF added, with signs of “second round effects” as workers and companies sought to pass on the cost of more expensive food, energy and other commodities in the form of wages and prices.

It said policymakers would face “difficult choices in this environment” with limited room for manoeuvre on monetary policy. It urged them to consider currency appreciation as a way to curb inflation while also switching production to-wards domestic demand.

The IMF also advised Asian countries to prepare contingency plans for a fiscal boost in the event that growth fell sharply — noting that many countries “have considerable scope” to do so, owing to strong public finances.

Courtesy - Business Standard

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The Sales Challenges of Complex Manufacturers'

Streamlining the quote-to-order process improves competitive advantage

One of the first sales tricks you learn during your first fast-food job is the process of “upselling.” Say a customer comes to the counter and orders a soda. If they don’t specify the size, you ask them if they would like a large soda. You never suggest a small soda.

The idea is that if the customer really wanted a medium and you offered a small soda, they might take the small soda. On the other hand, if you offered a large soda and they really had a small in mind, a medium now doesn’t seem so “large.” They’ll take the medium, earning your employer a few cents. Those cents ­multiplied across hundreds of franchises add up to thousands of dollars a year.

In the fast-food business, supply isn’t a problem. Sodas of all varieties are in abundant supply. It’s how much soda you can sell that sets you apart from your competition.

Complex manufacturers by nature move products that are exponentially more difficult to configure than a large diet soda. But the order process for their products should be almost as simple and transparent to a regular customer. It is a cost-savings and relationship-building process that savvy companies are just beginning to explore.

The burden of excessive supply

Ever since Henry Ford first put cars on a conveyor belt, the keyword for complex manufacturers has been efficiency. In the past, American companies were rewarded for getting more products out the door faster to a world eager to consume their goods. As the global economy emerges as a reality - and not just a buzzword - these same companies now find their manufacturing processes highly efficient, but some of their sales processes woefully out of touch.

These sales processes need to be streamlined to reflect a new business model where it’s just as important to move products as to manufacture them. In order to remain competitive, companies must capture more market share by building relationships and being easier to work with than their competitors.

The quote-to-order process is a perfect example of an area that has not had much scrutiny from efficiency experts. In reality, it can be a serious drain not only to productivity and profitability, but it can also harm a customer’s positive perception of your company.

Getting it right the first time

Like kids playing a game of telephone, the quote-to-order process is not always a smooth path. With too many operators in the middle of the action, there is a great potential for miscommunication and error.

Consider the typical quote-to-order process. A sales rep takes the call from a customer and listens as the customer describes what they want.
Even a seasoned sales rep that has complex knowledge of the product and how it is manufactured can easily overlook a customer request that contains incompatible parts or customizations that are no longer available. The result? Customers end up with quotes that are invalid or functionally not optimal.

This situation worsens when invalid quotes are manually turned into orders with invalid configurations, incomplete information, unsatisfied product outcomes, and unforeseen price discrepancies. These can all lead to lower profit margins or even losses on the sale.

With a more controlled quote-to-order process, these problems can be turned into a major competitive advantage that will capture more market share. Instead of letting the customer drive the order conversation, new technologies present sales reps with a list of questions to ask about each order. Each question, when answered by a customer, leads to another set of questions, based upon the specifications established by the manufacturing floor, procurement and engineering.

Since the system is tied to procurement and the manufacturing floor, the sales rep can instantly give the customer a much more accurate projection of when their order can be delivered. If parts or materials are missing, procurement can be instantly (and seamlessly) alerted to the needs of this order as it is being processed.

This new emphasis puts a new spin on the customer-facing process that relies on knowledge management and rules management. What does all that mean? It means that the correct information is gathered - and quoted to the customer - the first time, every time. In a sense, the configuration is the DNA of the order. If you get it right, the results are predictable.

Efficiencies further down the line

The cost-savings of a more advanced quote-to-order system don’t end in the sales office. When implemented correctly, the return on investment can extend across the enterprise.

Many companies employ engineers who are responsible for double-checking sales quotes and orders. These engineers validate the specs in the order, search for information missing from the order and then develop schematics for that specific order.

With an advanced quote-to-order system filling the need, these engineers can use their skills more effectively for new product development. The system validates each quote based upon the rules specified and begins to create schematics for the order based upon existing knowledge. This allows the shop floor to schedule appropriate staff for incoming orders much more accurately.

Changes to orders are an inevitable part of doing business. Most changes, however, should come from customers, not from an inefficient quote-to-order process.

At multiple levels, changes are expensive, requiring time and resources to process the changes through the product lifecycle. The cost of change skyrockets as the order gets closer to delivery when manufacturers are forced to scrap nearly finished products due to misalignment with customers’ needs. This complicates build schedules, engineering, and manufacturing. The total cost of change is seldom recovered with special prices. Most companies never fully recover the costs of change and see their profit margins erode.

Planning for future demand

Focusing on the customer-facing processes within an organization may be the most important initiative a company can leverage.

Imagine how much more accurate forecasts would be if

• Quotes could be generated in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks
• ALL quotes were stored in a centralized database and available for reporting as soon as they are created
• Orders were electronically generated directly from the quotes in the quote database
• Win/loss rates were known and predictable based on the history in the quote database
• Future sales could be predicted with a high degree of accuracy several months in advance (at the time of quote instead of the time of order)

If all of this were possible, imagine the benefits to the company:

• The ability to predict labor requirements - increase or decrease labor pool based on forecasted sales
• The ability to predict inventory requirements, and stock what is most likely to sell
• The ability to negotiate purchases more effectively through more buying leverage
• The ability to offer price incentives to improve business before the end of the quarter
• The ability to provide more accurate guidance to shareholders

Focusing on customer-facing systems may be the most effective way to address the sales challenges of complex manufacturers.

By Jim Hissen, Cincom Systems

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