The Insider's Guide to Next-Generation BPM
By Crystal Bedell, ebizQ Contributor , 11/01/2011
Print this article
Email this article
Talk Back!
Write to Editor
With more and more of the world's economy becoming service-based, it's no surprise that companies of every size, in just about every industry, are turning to customer service as a competitive differentiator. The resulting question, of course, is how to provide experiences that exceed customer expectations without breaking the bank.
One increasingly popular answer: enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) with BPM technology and practices.
According to Forrester Research, organizations often struggle to meet customer expectations due to an inability to consistently manage their customer service-related business processes. By adding a layer of process to front-office paths, BPM can make customer service-related actions more predictable, according to Kate Leggett, a Forrester senior analyst.
"The reality is that a customer-service agent has to use, sometimes, tens or hundreds of different tools during the day, hunting and pecking through all the systems to solve a customer's issue. In multi-step processes, agents don't often follow the same process," Leggett says. "Adding BPM is like handholding the agent through the process. It creates reproducibility."
PROCESS STANDARDIZATION
Leggett offers the example of adding a family member to an insurance plan. The service agent might first need to validate the caller's identification, then confirm that no outstanding payments are due, and then finally add the relative to the plan. Each of these sub-processes might require using a different system.
Coupling BPM and CRM can dramatically improve efficiency. "Information and knowledge presented can be pushed to the agents at the right point in the resolution process," which, in turn, helps those agents serve customers faster, Leggett says.
Standardized processes can also improve the service experience for agents and customers alike. By guiding agents through issue-resolution processes, companies ensure a consistent service experience for their customers, Leggett says. That approach also eliminates the need for agents to memorize multiple steps required to solve specific problems, freeing them to focus on the customer's needs. Results: Agents need less training to provide service that makes customers happy.
-1-
Best Practices in Moving Processes to the Clouds
How Can the Cloud Fit Into Your Applications Strategy?
Cloud Data Integration Best Practices
The Economics of Cloud Computing
Data Services Insight: Successful implementation of Canonical Information Models
Measuring the ROI from web experience management 
Prescription for Pain Alleviation: Transaction Path Detection and Management
Business Process Assurance: Ensuring Critical Business Processes Are Executed Without Disruption
Paving the Way for Windows 7 Adoption
How to Empower Your Business Innovators to Make the Most of Business Process Management
March 10, 2011
The sixth annual BPM in Action 2011 Virtual Conference will explore cutting-edge market developments in BPM and describe how to leverage them for improved business operation and performance. More
Date:Apr 07, 2010
Time:13:00 PM
ET- (17:00 GMT)
Date:Apr 07, 2010
Time:12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
In part two of Joe McKendrick's recent podcast with Miko Matsumura, chief strategist for Software AG, they talk about how SOA and IT systems need to change and grow and adapt with the organization around it.
Listen Now
Phil Wainewright interviews David Vap, VP of products at RightNow Technologies, and finds out how sharing best practices can help businesses understand how best to engage with online communities.
Listen Now
Scott Hebner, Vice President of Marketing and Strategy for IBM Rational, discusses a topic on the top of every company's mind today: getting the most from IT investments.
Listen Now
In BI, this tough economy and the increasing role of Web 2.0 and MDM are certainly topics on people's minds today. WiseAnalytics' Lyndsay Wise addresses each of them in this informative podcast.
Listen Now
Deepak Singh, President and CTO of Adeptia, joins ebizQ's Dennis Byron in a podcast that gets its hand around the trend of industry-specific BPM.
Listen NowSmart event processing can help your company run smarter and faster. This comprehensive guide helps you research the basics of complex event processing (CEP) and learn how to get started on the right foot with your CEP project using EDA, RFID, SOA, SCADA and other relevant technologies. Learn More
A lot of people are talking about Enterprise 2.0 as being the business application of Web 2.0 technology. However, there's still some debate on exactly what this technology entails, how it applies to today's business models, and which components bring true value. Some use the term Enterprise 2.0 exclusively to describe the use of social networking technologies in the enterprise, while others use it to describe a web economy platform, or the technological framework behind such a platform. Still others say that Enterprise 2.0 is all of these things. Learn More
|
|
This new publication from our sister site SearchSOA.com explores workflow, business activity monitoring (BAM) and complex event processing (CEP) issues. |
|
|
