Neeta Lachmandas-Sakellariou 
STAY RELEVANT TO STAY PROFITABLE [EPUB ebook] 
Service Transformation Strategies to Grow Your Customers in Unprecedented Times

Service transformation is about ensuring that you stay relevant to your consumers. The world is seeing unprecedented change and your customers are also changing alongside this. How do you stay relevant to them so that they stay loyal to you?

Whether it is technological disruption or the Covid-19 pandemic that has engulfed communities across the globe, businesses are being forced to take a closer look at how they survive, thrive, and generate new value. If history has taught us anything, it is that discontinuity is a part and parcel of the business cycle.

The first part of the book provides a macro perspective. What are the trends that are going to have significant impact on consumption in the years to come? In tandem, it explores concepts like customer satisfaction and using data.

The second part of the book is about zooming in and details putting transformation initiatives in place through a framework (Explore, Engage and Expand) that looks at the key components of embarking on transformation. For example, understanding customers and their service journeys. How do you write the brief in a way that allows fresh ideas? How do you test ideas before investing capital in production? What are some of the considerations before you can roll out or scale your new idea.

Finally, the third part of the book focuses on the core of creating a strong and sustainable business. This includes understanding customer’s expectations, ensuring you deliver what is promised, understanding where the service processes fail and the role that leadership and culture play in building a business that is able to change with adapt to changing times.

Contents:

• Foreword


• Praise for the Book


• Acknowledgements


• Preface


• The Times They Are A-Changing:
  
  
  
  • Why Service Transformation Now?
  
  
  • Managing through the Age of Technological Change
  
  
  • Stay Relevant…
  
  


• Zooming Out The Macro Perspective:
  
  
  
  • The Acceleration of Trends:
    
    
    
    • Digital Transformation
    
    
    • The Migration of Enterprise Value
    
    
    • Conscious Consumption & Sustainability
    
    
    • Connected Retail
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • Your Customers Are Your Lifeline. Do You Know If They Are Satisfied?:
    
    
    
    • Why Customer Satisfaction Matters
    
    
    • Keeping Customers Satisfied is Good for Your Business
    
    
    • How to Measure Customer Satisfaction
    
    
    • Comparing Customer Satisfaction Score and Net Promoter Score
    
    
    • The Impact Analysis
    
    
    • The Value of Negative Customer Feedback
    
    
    • The Service Recovery Paradox
    
    
    • The True Non-Complaint Rate
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • Make Evidence-Based Customer-Focused Decisions:
    
    
    
    • Data: The New Goldmine
    
    
    • What Is Data Analytics?
    
    
    • From Data to Consumer Insights
    
    
    • Data Personalisation and the Delicate Balance
    
    
    • But Remember…
    
    
    • Even Small Businesses Can Benefit from Big Data
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  


• Zooming In Implementing Service Transformation Projects:
  
  
  
  • Customer-Centric Service Transformation:
    
    
    
    • Service Transformation is a Journey
    
    
    • Punctuated Equilibrium
    
    
    • The Double Diamond Process
    
    
    • Divergent Phase
    
    
    • Convergent Phase
    
    
    • The Importance of Divergence and Convergence
    
    
    • Triple E Transformation Framework
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • The Explore Phase:
    
    
    
    • Step 1 — What Has Changed?
    
    
    • Two Key Business Threats
    
    
    • Four Trajectories of Industry Change
    
    
    • Is Your Company Ready for Change?
    
    
    • Understanding Your Customers
    
    
    • Using Market Research versus Design Research
    
    
    • Customer Journey Mapping
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • The Engage Phase:
    
    
    
    • Designing Ideas
    
    
    • Why Testing Prototypes is Important
    
    
    • I like, I Wish, What If
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • The Expand Phase — From Innovation to Implementation:
    
    
    
    • Feasibility
    
    
    • Commercial Viability
    
    
    • Pilot Your Project
    
    
    • Scaling Your Innovation
    
    
    • Why is There a Chasm?
    
    
    • How to Overcome the Chasm
    
    
    • Scaling Bottlenecks
    
    
    • Conclusion
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  


• STRATEGIC CORE Leadership, Brand and Culture:
  
  
  
  • Live Up To Your Customer (and Brand) Promise:
    
    
    
    • Are You What You Say You Are?
    
    
    • Understanding Customer Expectations
    
    
    • The Gap Model of Service Quality
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  
  • Transformational Leadership:
    
    
    
    • The Importance of Leadership in Service Transformation
    
    
    • If You Want Satisfied Customers, Focus On Your Internal Company Culture
    
    
    • Breaking Down Silos — Building a Culture of Collaboration
    
    
    • Building Trust
    
    
    • The Three Pillars of Trust
    
    
    • Focus on Service Excellence
    
    
    • A Model for Service Excellence
    
    
    • The Service Profit Chain
    
    
    • Leading for Agility
    
    
    • Stay Relevant…
    
    
  
  


• Conclusion


• About the Author

Readership: Business owners, practitioners, leaders of organizations or service excellence teams, business schools teaching courses on customer service/marketing/management.

‘Based on over 20 years of experience and deep knowledge of service delivery in both the private and public sectors, Neeta has skillfully integrated a wide range of concepts, frameworks and practices. This book provides a consumer centered and common-sense perspective and approach to service design and customer experience. A thought provoking, human and insightful read for anyone mulling service transformation in their organization, why they must do it and how to get a running start.’ – Professor Gerry George Senior Global Fellow, The Lauder Institute Tamsen & Michael Brown Family Chair Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Mc Donough School of Business, Georgetown University Senior Advisor, TPGGroup Managing Director, International Medical University

‘Neeta Lachmandas has worn varying hats in her career as a practitioner, consultant and educator. She is able to see things from multiple perspectives and has an excellent sense making ability of how trends are impacting businesses. In the age of digital transformation, big data and data analytics, this becomes even more important. This book connects the dots for the readers on the areas that are going to be important for businesses to stay relevant even as things around them change.’ – Sapna Nemani Chief Product & Solutions Officer, APACPublicis Groupe Worldwide

‘How do businesses grow and stay relevant in the face of competition and ever-changing trends? This book provides a well-researched cradle to grave approach to service transformation. Thought provoking and educational. A must read for anyone to appreciate and stay nimble to face change. It provides clear and easy insights into the areas that business owners need when looking at service transformation.’ – Benedict Soh Chairman Kingsmen Creatives Limited The Kingsmen Experience

‘Many organisations constantly talk about being customer centric and putting customers at the front of their strategies. Few however truly succeed to achieve this simple, yet difficult ambition. There are many reasons for this starting with leadership, developing the right go-to-market strategies, organisation structure, the right processes, tools and infrastructure, and down to people and their empowerment. In this book, Neeta has clearly discerned these issues and provides the necessary guide to organisations to (hopefully) better achieve this challenging ambition. She also provides a common language and taxonomy, critical in rallying the organisation around customer centricity.’ – Dr John Lee Country Chief Executive Officer & Chief Executive Officer Maybank Singapore Limited Maybank Group

‘Amidst unprecedented disruption, rapidly advancing technology, and ever-evolving customer and employee needs, Neeta’s engaging book highlights the urgent imperative for businesses to transform. Whether in the private, public or not for profit sectors. As a young market researcher in the early 90s, I could only dream of the vast opportunities presented in this age of Big Data. However, the old adage of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ still holds true and Neeta skillfully addresses the process of discerning the information that really matters. What truly resonates is her unwavering focus on placing the customer and their service experience at the heart of transformation, rightfully recognizing their paramount importance. I also applaud Neeta’s emphasis on Leadership and Culture as key ingredients for relevance. Neeta’s compelling insights, accompanied by real-world examples, are indispensable reading for all organisations seeking to thrive in this dynamic landscape.’ – Patricia Driver Chairperson of the Board Bondeko Refugee Livelihood Centre Kampala, Uganda

‘Neeta Lachmandas’ book ‘Stay Relevant to Stay Profitable’ expresses what any of us who is a reasonable customer wishes for – to feel understood and engaged with as human beings with human needs to be honoured, whatever the product or service. So simple and so complex! For those in business, Neeta offers her deep experience and curated frameworks to guide organisations, big or small, on what they can do to be the holistic customer-centric businesses which customers wish for, to stay relevant … and profitable.’ – Susan de Silva Life and Executive Coach The Silva Coach

Key Features:

• Whilst digital transformation has been a major topic for many books, there is actually less discussion on the implication on the impact of this on how an organization delivers service. With more digitalization, consumers are also changing, their consumption habits are changing and their expectations for service are also changing. This book adopts a customer centric approach to service transformation


• Whilst many practitioners know that they need to look at service transformation, they often don’t know where and how to start. This book provides them with a framework for approaching service transformation. Whilst meant for practitioners, it does draw on several academic concepts and makes these concepts simple for practitioners to understand


• The Covid-19 pandemic threw many businesses, who were caught off guard, into a state of flux. We can also expect that more and more business discontinuities will happen in the future. This book also discusses how to build a strong and sustainable core for your business that can thrive during these fast-changing times