Framing the requirements for developing a customer-centric approach and service model
The issue
•With a re-focusing of the organization on energy transition and a strategic objective to grow B2C Mobility and Convenience revenue streams, the current, largely B2B, customer care service model was increasingly being asked to meet needs beyond core capabilities and capacity, putting a strain on service and cost to serve
•With limitations on internal capability, business units have chosen to outsource services, leading to a proliferation of suppliers, models and customer experiences
•No cohesive corporate narrative of the customer promise exists and the internal focus was on fixing service failings to reduce the noise within the organisation
•The need for a future-proof operating model that is aligned to the projected steep growth in the B2C customer base was recognized
•Gaining an appreciation of leading external practices in customer care delivery was considered an essential input to framing the right future state operating model
Solution
•Current state assessment of customer care and customer centricity capabilities against a set of standard dimensions to establish current maturity and points of commonality or difference across business groups
•Established current state maturity of each business against an industry reference benchmark
•Developed design criteria to frame a future operating model and as a reference against which to benchmark external leading practices
•Undertook competitor and cross-sector benchmarking to identify areas of Customer Care differentiation, including desktop research, expert input and interviews with Customer leaders within major organisations (both B2B and B2C).
•Defined the priority levers to drive improved customer-centricity and articulated the linkages between the dimensions
•Developed an initial roadmap to outline how the Customer Care capability should evolve
The results
•Mobilised the senior stakeholders to want to move beyond fixing performance failings in Customer Care to evolving a business-wide Customer-centric operating model
•Delivered a customer centric maturity assessment across three representative businesses against a series of capability levers
•Multi-industry, international benchmarking exercise, highlighting customer-centricity maturity and leading practices
•Identification of priority levers to increase customer centricity maturity and approach options to achieve a viable system model
•Development of a roadmap to move beyond operational fixes to a strategically customer centric approach
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Designing and deciding digital CX route-map & the priority omnichannel service investment to realise it
The issue
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Having delivered the ‘brilliant basics’ part of a CX transformation programme, the bank needed to define a digital CX design to deliver a signature, differentiating experience
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A pressure point was that customers’ expectations of doing their banking anywhere/ anytime/on any device were growing, and the ground had been lost on this to digital challenger banks
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The bank was also in sharp cost control mode so it was critical that digital CX investment choices were well evidenced, validated and focussed
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We had to answer the question: where and how to prioritise omnichannel service investment to deliver a competitive digital CX?
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With many competing candidates for digitising customer service across the existing product portfolio, we had to be clear about what omnichannel improvements would realise greatest value from a CX and commercial perspective
What we did
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Reviewed draft digital strategy and developed investment prioritisation criteria to focus CX and omnichannel service design choices
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Defined design principles to guide the development of Omnichannel capability
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Competitor and cross-sector benchmarking to identify key areas of digital CX differentiation
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Evaluated and ranked CX/service design options against agreed prioritisation criteria and ability to leverage existing IT capability and technology roadmap
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Flesh-out of to-be CX/service design with benefit cases supporting the investment priorities identified
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Produced and validated a sequenced digital CX/omnichannel implementation route map
The results
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Delivered new digital CX/omnichannel design with 10 key touchpoint changes, each with benefits ranging from £3.5M to £9M annually in a fully realised state
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Pragmatic, phased change route map adopted, which drove early cost savings and new customer acquisition uplift by addressing highest priority CX pain points, allowing subsidisation of next phases
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80% of the technology capabilities required to deliver the route map were covered by leverage of existing or planned future (and already budgeted) technology assets and upgrades
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2022 MCA Awards finalist
We are delighted to announce that we are a finalist, in the 2022 #MCAAwards @TheMCA_UK, representing the very best of our consulting business.
Established by the Management Consultancies Association, the #MCAAwards demonstrate the transformational work the sector has undertaken during the last challenging twelve months.
This remarkable achievement marks the eighth consecutive year that Curzon Consulting has been a finalist at these prestigious awards.
Commercial Impact: Procurement Transformation Programme with Ramsay Health Care UK
Ramsay Group operates a global network of 530+ healthcare facilities across 11 countries.
The pandemic exposed an over-reliance on a ‘single’ income source. With all elective activity (e.g., joint replacements, cataracts), the primary income source, halted overnight, but a high fixed cost base remained.
As a response, Ramsay UK embarked on an ambitious growth & efficiency programme. Curzon was engaged to design and deliver a Procurement Transformation programme.
Over 9 months, we took a pragmatic, agile and “together” approach to accelerate benefit delivery, particularly in high spend / high complex clinical spend categories.
By assessing the existing PO against a methodical and objective review against 8 dimensions we highlighted several data-driven insights; fundamentally, the PO only managed 44% of total spend; hence lack of PO involvement resulted in suboptimal category /supplier management and savings delivery.
Improvement opportunities were incorporated into the design of the new Procurement Organisation.
Our methodology was specifically adapted to address demand-side cost optimisation levers.
Through a deep dive into orthopaedics, a key benefit delivered in Orthopaedics came from ensuring the Surgeon selected the appropriate implant system (metal or ceramic) to match the patient’s profile (e.g., age, gender).
A well-established norm in Orthopaedics is to routinely implant, high quality, lower-cost metal vs. ceramic hip systems into >70-year-old patients. Our analysis showed Surgeons at Ramsay UK implanted costly ceramic hip systems in 33% of >70-year-old NHS patients. The NHS reimbursement for a complete hip replacement is fixed, so every incremental switch from ceramic to metal impacted the bottom line.
Surgeons had little comprehension of how their hip selection decisions impacted Ramsay UK’s profitability. Our insights directly influenced the Orthopaedic Steering Group’s new policy which required Surgeons to utilise lower-cost metal hip systems in older NHS patients.
Curzon established an open, trusted, and collaborative way of working with the Ramsay team, and by adopting a “one team” approach with the PO we ensured everyone involved with the procurement transformation owned the outcome and maximised the benefits from knowledge transfer during Wave 1.
Fundamentally a key part of the relationship was to ensure recommendations on cost improvement would not compromise clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Wave 1 has delivered £multi-millions in incremental annualised savings. In addition, the savings have translated into several £100 million worth of shareholder value.
Commenting on the success – Ramsay Health’s CFO Peter Allen said:
“Curzon helped us obtain the confidence and operational ‘can-do’ to drive incremental savings sooner than we could have expected, and then to push on to best practice performance.
Their skill was in balancing pace of change and the results imperative with the need to take the organisation with them on the journey. A key achievement was building the necessary collaboration between the many functions that needed to act together to drive benefits in complex clinical spend categories.
Curzon’s strong analytical expertise, and ability help us to take a critical view on the “art of the possible” and bring the team along on the journey to demonstrate benefits delivery was a critical success factor.
The result was a tangible and ongoing commercial win, and a new Procurement Organisation to drive cost leadership, profitability and sustainability going forward”
A massive congratulations to the Curzon Consulting team and Ramsay Health Care UK and the other finalists.
The #MCAAwards will be announced and presented in November, so watch this space!
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Tristan Hollis
Senior Consultant
+44 (0)2074092857
I have a professional background in asset management, multi-disciplinary engineering and construction (including management leadership), across the Transport, Utilities and Financial Services sectors. I have further experience in strategy, operating model design and digital transformation.
I bring a holistic view to a project, combining big-picture strategic thinking with a detailed and practical understanding of real-world situations.
I hold an MBA and a First-Class MEng degree in Civil Engineering. I am highly analytical and enjoy working in fast-paced environments, across critical functions to deliver value for clients. The focus of much of my more recent work has been innovation and sustainability. I thrive when faced with a real challenge.
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Pav Sanghera
Analyst
+44 (0)2074092857
Pav graduated in 2018 with a degree in Economics from the University of Surrey and has worked in audit/accountancy for the past few years, mainly with clients within financial services.
In his free time, he heads to Stamford Bridge to watch his beloved Chelsea FC. As well as playing football himself he also has a very keen interest in astronomy and love watching documentaries about the universe.
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Milo Eadie
Analyst
+44 (0)2074092857
Milo is an Analyst with 2 years’ experience in management consulting, nuclear engineering, and product development. He combines technical expertise in data analysis, applied innovation and implementation, as well as business strategy and operations. His experience includes supporting a world-leading nuclear simulation experiment and starting a circular economy business.
He is a Master of Engineering (MEng, Hons) from the UK’s leading General Engineering course at the University of Bristol, where he developed specialisms in Sustainability, Project Management and Entrepreneurship.
He is now driven by developing innovative solutions and strategies to the diverse cross-sector challenges of consulting.
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Hip & knee implant manufacturers – The value creation opportunity
If hip and knee implant manufacturers want to stay relevant, and “move the needle” on value creation, they need to play big or go home!
An aging (ageing) population is driving absolute sales, but over the past few years, primary hip and knee procedures have become commoditised, which has resulted in margins being squeezed for both hospital providers and implant manufacturers.
Implant manufacturers have an opportunity to transform their business model, away from traditional “box shifting” product selling (driven by monthly sales targets) to a high value add, high margin managed service proposition, where multi-year partnerships are formed with hospital providers. Implant manufacturers need to provide additional services along the value chain, especially as health systems move towards value-based care models.
The Value Creation Opportunity
About the author
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Why renewable energy is fuelling investor interest
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The Future of Work in Financial Services
The last 15 months had seismic impacts on workforces and ways of working
Business leaders had to respond to a wave of 'here & now' imperatives
Today’s focus is on transitioning to new ways of working which will best advantage organisations and colleagues after restrictions end
Visions of the Future of Work vary, and the best solution to many implementation complexities is not yet known
Simplistically, strategies divide between three broad options
But one size won’t fit all
There are multiple work ‘personae’ with different required and desired ways of working:
- e.g. in the wealth management division of a bank, traders may be encouraged back to the office full time…
- where, Ops and Technology colleagues shift to a 1:3:1 week [1 day in the office, 3 at home, 1 flexible]
- while private banking account managers go to fully flexible
Many questions still need working through before the optimised hybrid model is found such as:
- What will the office be used for on return – which tasks and activities need to be conducted there and what changes in office design/functionality will best support those?
- What and how should policies flex to deal with exceptions, e.g. for people with lower comfort levels about returning to office-based or more cautious views of ongoing Covid risks?
- Where and how should front/middle/back-office processes and controls differ between the office and home?
- Where and why should this prompt a reshuffle of roles, interfaces, activities to maximise performance?
- Do certain roles no longer need to be attached to a site/location? E.g. could a UK job be done 100% from home in France?
- How to ensure similarity between home and office experience where it matters to avoid some colleagues feeling disconnected, and to bolster inclusivity?
- To what extent will savings from reduced office space outweigh costs of standardising/upgrading home working equipment, furniture, and technology?
The challenge is now to successfully translate the vision into the new operating and cultural reality… and deliver maximum benefit from it
The Future of Work challenge facing organisations now is how to actually ‘make it happen’
Moving to action is the hard part, and in our view, the effort needs two strongly coordinated legs:
- Piloting the practical changes needed to establish and embed target new ways of working – testing/learning and refining at pace to best effect across the entire business, attuned to the needs of different work personae
- Designing and delivering deeper change that goes beyond just re-configuring office space – to create maximum value by converting the breadth and depth of opportunities opened up by the FoW, so…
- Optimise and flex office access and space in synch with hybrid working needs
- Perfect the work-at-home equipped-ness and experience
- Convert cost-savings from real estate footprint and usage reduction
- Organise across functions and silos for hybrid working effectiveness
- Link WoW changes to delivery of CN0 & cost optimisation goals
- Raise employee engagement as a purpose-based organisation
- Improve management, coaching, motivational techniques and controls to bridge in/out office split
- Skills & behaviours ‘upgrade’ for higher performance and positive culture change
- Enrich diversity and recruit the best talent from a wider geography
- Re-think routine activities for maximum efficiency
- Introduce smarter working processes to boost productivity
- Drive those pandemic customer behaviours (like increased digital payments) which boost productivity and enhance CX
- Adopt best collaboration tools and AI/automation technology to improve work quality, pace, output
- Clear out under-utilised or no longer fit for purpose office collaboration / workflow tools
In delivering holistic change there is a golden opportunity to redefine the employee value proposition and enhance culture
Holistic change approach to the Future of Work
Designing to most compelling EVP for the future
The human and commercial benefits of getting this right are BIG
Banking and insurance have amongst the highest remote working potential of any sector, with around three-quarters of time spent on activities that can be conducted remotely, without the loss of productivity*
Indicate scale benefits of transitioning to 50% remote working are £10M annual savings per 1,000 employees
There are important human capital and reputational /social responsibility benefits to derive from improved employee experience and accelerated reduction in the organisation’s carbon footprint***
* Source McKinsey / What’s Next for Remote Working
** Source Global Workplace Analytics, Amazon, SHRM, Deloitte – average annual savings include the cost of office rent, electricity, water, insurance supplies. Savings based on full-time employees with compatible jobs telecommuting 20 hrs/wk. Assumes 2,000 hour work year and £70/hr labour rate
*** Source Carbon Trust / Homeworking
So… the questions we think you need to be able to answer are…
Strategy
Does your FoW vision and ambition reach far enough?
Is your FoW strategy holistic and clear on what benefits the new ways of working should deliver, in terms of
- human capital
- culture change
- productivity
- operational efficiency
- customer experience
- cost optimisation
- carbon reduction
How robust is the supporting business case and rationale?
Change Design
Do change designs have the necessary sensitivity and granularity at policy, process, controls and performance management levels? Do they have
- defined rules and variability on when in-person presence is required by specific roles, activity mixes and situations
- mitigations of risk of accentuating inequalities and creating new psychological or emotional stresses amongst employees
Test – Learn – Optimise
What will it take to pilot, refine and embed the transition effort successfully and at pace?
Enablement
What needs to be achieved to ensure the organisation and people are ready to adopt the new ways of working?
Have you identified/selected the optimal system, technology and data solutions to enable the hybrid working model?
Benefit Capture
To what degree can you be confident you have the right implementation plans, measures and capabilities to realise the target model and benefits?
We would welcome a discussion to understand where you are in moving from visioning to delivering FoW and which questions matter most to you, and to explore where Curzon’s capabilities may be relevant to your needs
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Abhishek Roy
Consultant
44 (0)7459 047 273
I am a Specialist Physician turned Management Consultant with over 7 years of work experience in the public healthcare sector in India. I have successfully led large teams across geographies amidst highly complex and challenging environments of Covid and paediatric epidemic crises.
I hold a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Clinical Biochemistry from prestigious medical schools in India. I also have an MBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford with concentrations in Strategy, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
Apart from being a physician, I have also juggled as an Entrepreneur and Strategy Consultant to health-tech start-ups in an accelerator programme. Combining my previous experience in healthcare and my newly acquired business skills, my vision is to help solve the most complex problems plaguing the healthcare industry across the world.