customer service

Principles of Information Technology 1 of 5

This video bog begins a series of five about Martin Ramsay's five principles of Business Information Technology Deployment.

The first principle is that "the Business Information Technology System must model the business it serves." In this brief video Martin discusses why this simple concept is so foundational to understanding and effectively deploying any technology system. Organizations routinely violate this principle, either by poorly modeling the business in the information system, and/or by failing to recognize that the information technology system must serve the organization (and not the other way around).



Be sure and check out Martin's previous blog entries.

Sponsored by CEATH Company.

Three Ways to Think Like a Consultant

Opportunities to "think like a consultant" abound. Using an example from a family reunion, Martin Ramsay discusses the three keys to thinking like a consultant:

1. Observe the client's pain
2. Identify the tool(s) that will help
3. Offer your service

Everyone should think like a consultant, even in unexpected places like a family reunion.



Be sure and check out Martin's previous blog entries.

Sponsored by CEATH Company.

Check Your Customer Attitude

How do you view your customers? Do you see them as intelligent and informed, as people who you want to help make the right purchasing decision for them? Or do you view them with veiled distain, hoping to push them into purchasing something they may or may not want to buy?

The availability of information on the internet about our products and services is viewed by many with alarm: our customers know too much! But that point of view reveals how poorly we view our customers. In this video blog, Martin Ramsay uses the example of a small arts and crafts retailer to dig into the issue of our attitude toward our customers.



Be sure and check out Martin's previous blog entries.

Sponsored by CEATH Company.

Build Internal Capabilities

One of CEATH Company's dozen or so basic operating principles involves "building internal capabilities." We want to see our clients better able to solve their own problems after an engagement with us than they were before we came. If we fail in that regard, then we have failed as consultants.

So many consultants don't understand this principle. They prefer to build a culture of dependency, one in which it becomes necessary for the client to call the consultant back, again and again. That may be good for business in the short term, but it is not good for the health of the client nor for the overall relationship in the long term.

The same thinking could be applied to companies and customers, governments and citizens, therapists and patients, and more. Watch this week's video blog to get Martin Ramsay's thoughts on building internal capability.



Be sure and check out Martin's previous blog entries.

Sponsored by CEATH Company.

Paying More Than Expected

Martin Ramsay discusses a recent experience in which he ended up having to pay more than he expected. Even though he asked and was given a clear answer about the cost of a service, that proved incorrect and he had to pay more. Martin considers the processes behind the scenes that must be broken in order for this to have happened.



The fact that the service was a medical procedure and the fact that it cost more than expected will probably come as no surprise. What this experience tells us about how the healthcare delivery system works can provide lessons for any industry in which we offer services to customers.

Be sure and check out earlier blog entries from the list on the right.

Sponsored by CEATH Company.