Building the Business Case for Change– Show Me the Money!

Co-presenters:  Rodney Jarrett- Principal Consultant for the new Value Management Practice and Laura Lawrence- Solution Consultant, Technical Management Practice

This conference represents the formal debut of DST Technologies’ Value Management Practice.  It’s a new complimentary service and helps our clients improve their chances of achieving project success and making the funding cut–thus demonstrating ROI! What exactly is “Value Management”?  It is applying value analysis tools and techniques for improved process effectiveness, efficiency and governance of operational processes.

So, what are your challenges in getting projects approved?  According to audience members polled, a key challenge is demonstrating ROI to chief decision makers (aka those pulling the purse strings) and avoiding what might be referred to as “paralysis through analysis”.   Enter the Project Justification conversation/process – where we help you work through pros and cons, establish justification value, and finally approach the executive suite.  We understand that it all boils down to “show me the money” because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

What about project success? Traditionally, organizations have looked at success through the lenses of cutting costs, efficiency, technology; but they must look at customer experience as part of success.  Companies should view Customer Experience as an afterthought at their own peril because customers ultimately hold the keys to success of long-term business value.  Many businesses are getting it right:  Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Amazon have mastered the art of listening and learning what customers need and adapting skills and processes accordingly.  Amazon is the #1 trusted brand in America for a reason.

Project success relies heavily on process excellence, as it helps you understand what customers want and need AND helps deliver it with less complexity, less time, improved products and happier customers.  This is best accomplished through a transformational approach – look at business through new lens, starting with customer (creating successful experience) then move to business outcomes (sustainable and profitable value delivery) then to process (how to get it done).

Laura Lawrence offered The Change Challenge – how many of you measure customer experience when determining value through a client review or survey? Do you routinely measure the experience of customers you’ve lost? Does customer experience data get incorporated into process improvement efforts?  Consider this–there is a measurable link between customer experience, process optimization and revenue – both positive and negative.

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