Here is a case study from a previous assignment I ran, it’s brief but it explains what is possible with process improvement, that is dramatic improvements in customer quality and significantly reduced costs.
The Bank was under tremendous pressure to be more of a ‘gentle hand’ with customers who were experiencing financial difficulty. A team to help with ‘hardship’ existed, and another who provided financial solutions. Both doing more or less the same thing but generating duplication and getting into each other’s way.
Having been asked by the client to review and improve the two teams, investigations revealed it took 63 days for customers to receive an approval for assistance. Meanwhile the account continued to cycle with out payment, making it ever more difficult for declined customers to catch up.
A complete systems review was carried out, eliminating wasted effort from the process and challenging long held beliefs about ‘how things must be down’ (after all this was a bank).
A concurrent change plan was implemented to help manage such a dramatic change, which included focus groups, regular email communications and status reports.
Resulting in a reduction of time to approval from 63 days to just 3 and an annualised bottom line saving of $300,000.
No related posts.
