Track 2 - Embracing Value, Innovation and Change
Wednesday, 11/11, 2:00 p.m. - Bringing Value to Your Customers in a New Way
Moderator:
- Bryan Segedi, Americas Vice Chair – Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
Panelists:
- Patricia Hume, Senior Vice President, SAP AG
- William McKiernan, CEO, Cybersource
- Partha Biswas, Vice President and CIO, Joerns Healthcare, Inc.
For companies seeking to deliver value in new and creative ways, nothing beats understanding your customer. Executives at several leading companies were asked how the recent economic downturn had changed their strategies for customer interaction.
Because customer analytics are increasingly important, SAP bought Business Objects, a business intelligence software company. “It lets you see the analytics easily and make quick decisions,” said Patricia Hume, a Senior Vice President at SAP. The company also sells its products through business partners. This is especially effective for small and mid-sized enterprises that may not have a dedicated IT budget and feel more comfortable being referred to SAP by a trusted source.
Companies that focus on personal connections often develop better customer relations than those that don't, said Partha Biswas, Vice President and CIO at Joerns Healthcare, Inc., a provider of healthcare products and services for long-term care. “Large companies have standard operating procedures and sophisticated IT systems, but often lack the human touch. The small companies can sometimes out-compete the larger ones on this basis.”
Biswas says Joerns takes responsibility for its customers' success. For example, while many patients requiring long-term healthcare are elderly, others are younger people recovering from invasive surgery. “We partner with the customer to redesign the care facilities, make it look like a hotel with WiFi, a spa, and so on. By doing that, we help our customers attract high-paying customers and increase their revenues.”
Simply listening to customers can create new lines of business. When William McKiernan founded Cybersource 15 years ago, he planned to sell software online. “People didn't think of the Internet as a sales channel; it was more like an information repository,” he says. But after placing a “Buy” button on its website, Cybersource was approached by companies asking if they could license the e-commerce software – Cybersource's main line of business today.
Panelists advised against price discounting, which turns products into commodities. Biswas summed up the rules for better customer relationships by saying, “It's important to stay close to customer. But it's more important to stay close to your own people. They're the bridge between your company and your customers. They will determine whether you are successful.”
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