Software creates change, or else prevents it. We’ve talked before about democratic software,
and the empowerment of customer-facing and problem-solving agents.
We’ve said that software, as with all institutional protocols, can be
an enslaving dictatorship, in fact here’s a quote from us:
“Of course it’s a lot easier to say that a company
should remember the fundamentals than it is to put this into practice,
especially as the technology of the times imposes its own dictatorship
on the business processes of the enterprise.” Customer Support Saves the Day Again
Oracle makes a very good point about management control:
“You have to empower your employees to continuously
improve how you do business and you have to enable your business to be
responsive to the many changes and opportunities that come your way
[...] From a management standpoint, it’s nearly impossible to review
processes often enough to ensure they incorporate your best ideas.” Attaining true market leadership in a customer-driven age
The modern enterprise is striving to become
“conscious” throughout the whole of its corporate being, using tools
and policies that include knowledge management, business intelligence,
and end-to-end software integration. All this is done through a
combination of directives from the top down and initiatives from the
bottom up, in a myriad iterations of challenge and response. Much of it
happens through software of some kind, and most of it happens in words.
Knowledge is key.
“For what we call unknown problems (problems about
which there is little general knowledge) the main focus is on
collaboration: working together to define solutions to the
organization’s problems. For companies that are mainly faced with known
problems the issue is one of sharing this information effectively.” Optimal Knowledge Management
This is a good point to share a scenario we’ve seen repeated consistently whenever we install a significant suite of Dovetail CRM
applications in a department that until then had used only Clarify™
applications to access the legacy Clarify database. We see an
energizing of the entire department so striking and predictable that we
now cite it in our descriptive literature.
What happens is
that agents come to work one day and find a thin-client, browser-based
interface that looks identical to the fat-client interface that was
installed in their computer. The difference is that this new interface
has an abundance of new features that previously weren’t available:
simple things like right-context menus during procedures, and the
ability to invoke multiple application windows without closing others.
Agents
find that they can build custom queries from pull-down menus, and
retrieve case knowledge on the fly. They discover they can append
information and even file attachments to case documentation, and send
selected cuts or the whole file by email, straight out of the case
window. As they discover these things, they share them with their
colleagues, in impromptu collaborations in break rooms, and around
cubicle walls, and in messaging and emails. A buzz builds throughout
the department, as workflows suddenly become more streamlined and
logical, and agents find they can punch their way through to better
resolutions in real time, while in direct conversation with their
customers.
Customers, stakeholders, and other departments
notice as agents provide faster and better answers, close cases, and
convert problems to repeat business. All this comes from access to
knowledge that always existed but couldn’t be retrieved, and the
empowerment to forward newly processed data to other agents – as in
cases moving from support to sales with satisfied customers interested
in additional offerings.
Software liberates or enslaves. We like the kind we create (the liberating kind).
