TSI News Articles and Blog Posts

Planning for a Better 2018

Dan Feely — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 16:29:37 +0000

What’s on your project horizon?

Please give a warm welcome to Senior Managing Director, Alan Goeke, as he joins the TSI team!

Al comes to TSI with over 35 years of experience with three leading software vendors and ran Operations, including IT for multiple fast-growing, for-profit companies. Mr. Goeke will help TSI’s clients to make the best, business-centric and technology-savvy decisions to help their organization continue to scale. Al will be wearing both a business development and a client-solution delivery hat at TSI, with a focus on growing TSI, as well as our client organizations in 2018 and beyond.

Visit our website to read more about Al, and the rest of The Experienced TSI Team, or reach him directly at agoeke@transforming.com, or by phone at (847) 705-0960 x205!

Planning for 2018?

We understand both the financial and operational pressures that come to life around the end of the year. It’s important to not only plan your projects for 2018, but know who’s going to help you drive results. What are you planning for 2018, and how can we help?

Check out our Service Offerings, and connect with TSI’s President and Managing Partner, Dan Feely, at dfeely@transforming.com to schedule a call!

TSI’s Fantastic Finds – articles and content we want to share with you!

The holiday season is upon us; where did 2017 go!? Whether you’re planning 2018’s most challenging projects, or predicting your next BIG change, here are some interesting reads we’ve found lately that you might benefit from. See below, and contact us via tsi@transforming.com if you enjoy this content!

On reinvention, redirection, and determining your their next move, read – How Intuit Reinvents Itself;

“Since its founding, Intuit has done what every company today must learn to do,

disrupting itself continuously, reinventing its products and its business model before

any competitor can beat it to it.” (Colvin, 2017)

Editor’s Pick – Why Memory Is Your Most Powerful Tool For Building Customer Relationships – Forbes’ Contributor, My Say

Some Quick Hits on what to consider when retaining interactions and data from customers

and prospects:

What data sources are you putting into memory?
How quickly is that data available for processing?
How well do you connect those things to create a single view of the customer?

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TSI Service Offering Announcement & Customer Experience (CX) Training Updates

Dan Feely — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:25:36 +0000

“Raise the BAR” with TSI’s Business Advisory Retainer Services (BAR)

What would you do with one free day of expert consulting assistance?

What if you had immediate access to top notch external business and technical talent? What would you have them do? Would you have them…

Conduct a health check on a key project?
Facilitate a process improvement session to address nagging performance issues?
Perform a walk through at a site or store to identify opportunities for improvement?
Interview customers, suppliers or employees to obtain critical feedback?
Analyze working capital or operating expenses for cash flow improvement opportunities?
Facilitate a key meeting or session?
Test internal controls?
Cycle count inventory?
Gather independent research to support a product launch or key business strategy?
Participate on a special project?

TSI has developed its Business Advisory Retainer Services (BAR) to assist organizations like yours, especially start-ups and high-growth companies, get the talent and help they need for a fraction of the cost of full time resources. To request a free day of assistance* and learn more about how you can “Raise the BAR,” visit our Business Advisory Retainer Services page, or contact TSI at tsi@transforming.com.

*Free day of assistance subject to capacity and availability of TSI resources

Customer

Experience

Madness

(A Customer Experience (CX) Update) from Dan Feely

TSI held its first CX Training workshop of 2017 on February 15th, downtown Chicago, with some highly-engaged senior leaders from financial services, high technology, construction services and higher education sectors. The diversity of participants added to the discussions as we had a chance to learn new CX analysis tools, and apply these tools in a manner that will have an impact on each of these organizations.

Here are some interesting takeaways from our day together:

Many organizations confuse CX with simply having some type of a rewards or loyalty program
At times, too much emphasis is placed on the digital aspect of a CX (or looking only at the UX – user experience when using a website or application)
Organizations see real value and benefit in pursuing CX in a very intentional manner; in fact, many feel that this can be a significant differentiator in their industry
Participants do NOT feel that this is a trend that only pertains to retail or hospitality
Some have some done some rudimentary journey mapping; others are using TSI’s tools as their first attempt at CX improvement
Most on concerned with the impact this work will have on their culture and how culture may need to change to enable a better CX.

According to Gartner, CX Management is “Customer experience management is the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions.” Beyond TSI’s research and training workshop, we continue to monitor a variety of good sources of research for updates in this area. Here are a few for you to check out:

“Do You Really Want to Create a Frictionless Customer Experience?” By Adrian Swinscoe
“Customers Don’t Buy Products and Services – They Buy Experiences” By Ross Beard

If you have come across some insightful research or whitepapers, please share them with us and we will include it in our next newsletter.

Lastly, back to CX training, TSI plans to hold our One-day CX training workshop every three months. If you are interested in one of our upcoming workshops in May, August or November, please contact us at TSI@transforming.com, or visit our Customer Experience and Process Improvement page for more information.

Here Come the Digital Employees – 5 Things you Should Know About Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA has created quite a stir recently in terms of the potential impact on real people and their jobs. McKinsey estimates that 49% of time spent on work activities, or the equivalent of 1.1 billion jobs, could be automated using current technology. Forrester predicts that by 2019, “one-quarter of all job tasks will be offloaded to software robots, physical robots, or customer self-service automation.”

What does this all mean for workers and companies who want to thrive and stay competitive?

Visit our website to read more about Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

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TSI’s Latest Updates – Customer Experience Updates and More!

Dan Feely — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 18:30:28 +0000

New and Improved (and discounted) Customer Experience (CX) Training

Improving your customer’s experience is one of the best improvements you can make this year. You’ve probably read some of the recent research (see below).

We’ve been generating our own buzz lately around our CX Training Workshop that we’ve made some of our own improvements to.

TSI will be leading a full-day Customer Experience (CX) training workshop on February 15, 2017.

You will leave this work session:

1. Thinking differently about your customers/students/constituents;

2. Understanding what your customers go through;

3. Knowing how to use a tool to define the current customer experience

4. Analyzing the Moments that Matter

5. Creating an experience that gives your organization an “unfair advantage”

If you are in an industry where the experience that a customer has when they receive a quote or proposal, make an order, receive that order, or pay for the order occasionally requires “customer service”, this workshop is for you.

We have reduced our price from $525 per ticket to $375. This is now our standard ticket price, but you can also take advantage of a promotional discount (referenced below) if you have multiple people from your organization you’d like to attend.

Click here to sign up

Promotion: If you, or someone from your organization would like send 2 or more team members to our fantastic event, be sure to reach out to us at tsi@transforming.com, and we will give you a discount code in return!

We hope to see you there and we are certain you will become a CX zealot!

Related (and Updated) Customer Experience (CX) Articles

Whether you provide products or services to your customers, it is critical to spend time evaluating the experiences your customers go through when working with your organization. We call these “Moments That Matter”.

It is more important than ever to understand what bottom line value that a great CX can mean for an organization. But ask yourself, how prevalent is this thought process in your department? What about your company in general? Is it part of your culture?

See the short list below for a few of TSI’s recent article finds, which we think you’ll benefit from perusing:

Our first article comes from all the way back in 2014, (I know, that seems like ages ago) when Forbes contributor, Martin Zwilling, published an article titled: ‘Customer Experience’ Is Today’s Business Benchmark.

Our favorite tips from Mr. Zwilling are:

Listen to the individual customer.
Exploit your product and service differences.
Demonstrate the value of your offering.
Show your passion and creativity in every solution.
Demonstrate your personal commitment.

Much more recently, however, another Forbes contributor, Blake Morgan, wrote an article titled: Five Trends Shaping The Future of Customer Experience In 2017. Morgan took a different, more modernized approach at looking at customer experience. The five trends “shaping the future” in her eyes are:

A whole lot of IoT.
Machine learning can improve most customer experience.
Data defines your customer experience.
Smart diagnostics.
Mobile everything.

Our point is not to say that either of these lists is the “correct” list, but rather to demonstrate the ever-evolving realm of customer experience. From our work in Customer Experience, here are a few of our trends:

Far more people are simply talking about CX, rather than actually doing something about it.
Organizations seem to be taking a piecemeal approach to CX.
Some are simply addressing this in Customer Services as opposed to looking at processes on the business development side of the organization.

Lastly, we also wanted to bring to your attention an article written by Dan Feely, TSI’s Founder and President, who recently published a CX focused article titled: Why a Positively Memorable Customer Experience (CX) Matters.

If you enjoy reading insights like these from TSI, please consider following our website and Social media accounts for more updates in 2017 and beyond.

Transforming in 2017: What’s on Your Horizon?

TSI’s expert consultants have authored a number of Whitepapers, tailored around our service offerings, to help our customers and clients assess their organization’s needs.

Before diving into what we have available, ask yourself the following critical questions around your current or planned technology initiatives/implementations:

Are you undergoing any major technology or process focused changes in your organization?
Are your technology platforms (e.g., ERP, CRM, other) still serving their intended, and value-added purpose?
Are you striving to improve your own CX or efficiency?
Do you have complex projects or programs with an important change management dimension?

Opportunities like these are TSI’s “sweet spot”. Our experienced consultants, utilizing our proven methodologies, help our client’s project tremendously.

If any (or all) of these questions seemed to hit home with you, you can read more of TSI’s insights through our Whitepapers page, or Contact Us to speak with a member of the TSI team.

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TSI Insights – All About Customer Experience and Change Readiness

Dan Feely — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 15:38:03 +0000

Trending Customer Experience (CX) Articles

Recently, there have been some amazing articles highlighting the value of taking a fresh look at what YOUR customers experience when working with your company and what bottom line value that a great CX can mean for an organization.

See the short list below for a few of our recent favorites:

TSI’s Founder and Managing Partner, Dan Feely, recently published a CX focused article titled: Why a Positively Memorable Customer Experience (CX) Matters
Late last month, Forbes published an insightful article involving 2017 trends in customer experience and service, titled: Millennial Customers Will Dominate In 2017. Is Your Customer Service Experience Ready For Them?
Another great article focused on customer experience, with excellent info from Forbes contributor Shep Hyken, titled: Ten Customer Service And Customer Experience Trends For 2017

New, Improved (and discounted) Customer Experience (CX) Training

As we have been announcing our CX training workshop (that we are completely excited about), rather than splitting this up across 2 days, we have consolidated this to one full day and have discounted the price for this.

If you (or someone at your organization) is wondering “what is all the buzz about CX?,” or you feel like you need to learn how to take a fresh look at your organization and how you can differentiate your company by defining an amazing customer experience, THIS IS FOR YOU.

The workshop will be held at Tech Nexus, which is located at 20 N. Upper Wacker Dr. in Chicago, IL in Suite 1200, in Conference Rooms C & D.

Click Here to visit our Eventbrite page, and sign up to guarantee your attendance at this great event.

Specific event details can be found in TSI’s latest blog, as well as on our Customer Experience Training page. If you have any further questions, you can reach Dan directly at dfeely@transforming.com or (847) 705-0960 x202.

2017 Change Readiness – Free Survey

With new programs and change initiatives getting launched, perhaps it is time to see how ready your team or organization is to change.

Although change is part of the process to any one of TSI’s projects, effective change management requires understanding your organization’s needs and resources to meet your business objectives.

TSI’s Free Change Readiness Assessment is one of our most popular links. You can use it (and share the results amongst your team) to see how ready you really are to make organizational changes stick.

Click here to take our Change Readiness Assessment. You can also schedule an appointment to discuss your results, or business needs with one of TSI’s expert consultants, by e-mailing us at tsi@transforming.com.

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TSI Newsletter – Upcoming Customer Experience Training, Creating an Unfair Advantage, and Project and Portfolio Management

Dan Feely — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:11:08 +0000

Upcoming Events – Customer Experience (CX) Training Workshops:

Are you curious about:

Where are you having customer retention problems?
In what scenarios are you dissatisfying customers? Why is this occurring?
Is there a pattern when you are wowing your customers?

Join TSI – Transforming Solutions, Inc. for our upcoming Customer Experience (CX) training seminar and workshop in Chicago!

This workshop is broken down into 2 parts, described below. You will benefit the most by attending both of these (and we’ve discounted the price of the second workshop to entire you to attend both).

Each workshop will provide an outstanding basis for you to take an objective look at what your customers, clients and/or accounts experience when they work with your organization. And, you will learn key fundamentals to create an experience that provides a differentiated experience that builds loyalty and satisfaction with your customers.

The workshop will allocate time to begin using the tools and apply what you’ve learned to your organization.

Event Details:

Session 1 – Understanding and Analyzing Your Current Customer Experience –

Click Here to sign up for our first upcoming event on Jan. 18, 2017!

Session 2 – Designing and Implementing a Customer Experience that Creates a Competitive Advantage –

Click Here to sign up for our second upcoming event on Feb. 15, 2017!

Important – This is the 2nd of TSI’s Two Sessions. It is essential to complete TSI’s 1st Session on January, 18, 2017.

Each event has a limit of 25 participants, so sign up before time runs out!

What is YOUR Organizations Unfair Advantage? Where Do You Begin?

Regardless of what your position is in your industry, or what industry you operate in, every organization needs to craft and refine their unfair advantage. In order to maintain a competitive edge, as well as attract (and retain) as many customers as possible, there has to be a reason as to why customers would choose your product or service over that of your competitors… Click here to read more

Project and Portfolio Management – The Evolution

Early on, I was conditioned to learn project management independently and in its most simplistic form; to ensure delivery of a project(s) on-time, under budget, and within quality levels satisfactory of its stakeholders and sponsors…

Click here to read more

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June 1 – Idea Sharing – TSIs 2016 Newsletter

Admin Account — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 15:37:45 +0000

TSI is About You – Our Clients, to help you achieve your most important, strategic goals.

Greetings!

We hope your summer is off to a strong start and you are preparing for a stellar third quarter. In this newsletter to keep you aware of the range of our projects and expertise of our consulting teams, we thought we would share some information about a handful of the projects we are currently engaged in:

1. Fast-Growing Life Sciences Company – This startup is setting a land speed record as they had a successful IPO earlier this year. They asked TSI to assist them to select a new enterprise system that will cover Finance, Operations, Quality and Manufacturing. In under 13 weeks, TSI helped them

to define and prioritize their requirements, determine and screen feasible vendors, issue an RFI, facilitate a structured vendor

demonstration and select a finalist. TSI is alsopreparing the implementation approach and will serve as a Program Manager that manages the complexities of multiple vendors, change management, new processes, roles and many other dimensions.

2. Complex Medical School and Clinic – TSI is working with this Medical School to develop a culture of continuous improvement. To achieve this, TSI first improved 3 key processes using TSI’s 6 step process improvement methodology and addressed targeted tactical issues with our rapid process/problem analysis methodology. Currently, TSI is teaching our process and problem assessment methodology to staff that is hand-picked from our client to serve as future continuous improvement leaders. TSI is also leading and assisting with the development of the future continuous improvement governance roles and communication planning.

3. Growth-oriented Telecommunications/Solution Provider – TSI as selected to help this Inc Magazine Fastest 1000 company to define its current processes so, together with our client, we could analyze the processes for ways to make them more client-focused and efficient. Next, we defined future processes that will leverage technology to differentiate this organization from its competitors with how it provides quotes, takes orders and delivers service to its clients and works with its partners.

4. NetSuite Implementations – TSI is currently helping one company implement NetSuite’s OneWorld product and has taken over the implementation for another project where the original implementation partner did not perform as they promised. We continue to have an excellent streak of on time implementations.

Please CLICK HERE for the rest of the June 2016 newsletter.

Also, if you did not receive June’s Newsletter, CLICK HERE to sign up!

Thanks,

The TSI Team

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