our epic journey
This is our own discovery of who the right clients are for our unique offering. We can help you lead your team on a similar EPIC Journey. Let's talk.
CUSTOMER EMPATHY
Active listening is the heart of understanding.Our EPIC Journey started with conversations. We think the best always do. Wellington is a coffee town. So our conversations took place mostly in cafes. Good thing we like coffee, and a wine or two.
We talked to leaders in government, not-for-profit and commercial enterprises and learned that many are having the same thoughts and feelings. We then applied customer Empathy mapping as a deliberate tool to 'get' what business leaders are looking for and how we can help. Here's what we learned:
We talked to leaders in government, not-for-profit and commercial enterprises and learned that many are having the same thoughts and feelings. We then applied customer Empathy mapping as a deliberate tool to 'get' what business leaders are looking for and how we can help. Here's what we learned:
Their organisations' relevance is at stake ... is their own as well?These leaders see other organisations like theirs engaging in customer-centric design programmes, and hear their networks talking about customers differently. It seems like a whole new language of customer is out there and others are speaking it fluently. This makes the leaders we've spoken to regard their own organisation as a bit old-fashioned and they're seeing their best and brightest leave because the old guard seems stuck in paradigms that don't engage customers meaningfully anymore. Some are team leaders who are focused on proving to management their group's relevance to the organisation. If they can't express their team value, they're wondering if their personal relevance and marketability is at stake as well.
Full-bore change programmes are costly ... and maybe a bit over-the-top? Some of our leaders have been through big change programmes and consider them costly and time consuming. They've seen the big firms come in and sweep away heritage and culture. Sometimes, when technological revolutions see entire shifts of customer demand, it's absolutely necessary and to be applauded. But not every organisation or every sector needs sweeping change. The big accounting firms are set up for this kind of overhaul. But there's a price to be paid. Many times, the challenge is more about getting everyone back on the same page. Everybody reports to somebody, even the CEs we've spoken to, and convincing governance at every level that something needs to be done is can also be challenging.
Regardless of magnitude, all leaders acknowledge the risk that staff may be less productive while the leadership teams are figuring it out. Sometimes customers get mixed messages and customer service may drop during change. It's not always good for business or for the public good. Commercial leaders are sensitive to the effect of change on their brand equity and the organisation's relevance to loyal customer bases.
Most leaders want positive change ... maybe just a tweak?Most regard 'who we are and what we're here for' conversations as valuable for galvanising leadership, and ultimately whole organisations toward positive change that improves customer relevance, service and relationships. And frankly, they consider that if they can instigate positive change, they will be recognised for the thought leaders that they are. It's a win-win for the organisation and the professional development of the individual leader. Leaders in sectors that don't need sweeping overhauls are looking for better targeted change programmes that are effective and cost efficient. Even calling it 'change' may derail some governance approval processes. The code word seems to be 'improvement'.
Positioning
We're Positioned to facilitate customer-centric business improvement at less-than-sweeping magnitude.
For public and commercial organisations that want to engage in business improvement but don’t want to afford the ‘big agencies’, Vita Brevis provides EPIC Solutions to align organisations and their products and services with what customers need, want and value.
Call it 'boutique' or some other trendy term. We use 'practical'. Most businesses aren't encountering a revolution. Most New Zealand businesses are a bit bootstrap. And that's to be applauded. So are we. What we're really good at, is helping bootstrap commercial businesses, departmental teams, and small public agencies tell the story of what they do better, align their products and services to meet customer needs better, and give a united sense of collective purpose to every individual's day job.
insight
Our key Insight is that small voices are powerful.Collaborative conversations can galvanise teams and change how individuals think about what they're there to do, resulting in a big, positive impact on customer outcomes. Even in high command-and-control cultures, we have found that when an invitation comes from the leader asking a staff member to participate in a conversation that will shape the future of the organisation, people bring their A-game. The voices from throughout the organisation are a rich perspective that leadership often overlooks in day-to-day operations. Vita Brevis facilitation ensures that the small voices are heard in new ways leading to innovative outlooks and expressions of the organisation's value to customers.
character
We don't sweat the small stuff and how we work with our client leaders and their teams means they don't need to either. We apply the 80/20 rule to almost everything because that's how collaboration works best. We seek Good Practice. Because Best Practice is nearly always too expensive, too time consuming or unachievable consistently.
We model good collaboration so that teams come away with better collaboration skills and with agreement on how they, their product, or service add value to customers' lives in a way that is unique, relevant and defensible.
Honesty and integrity are everything, because they're the hallmark of good collaboration. And simply because it's the right thing to do.
We want to work with organisations that are seeking to improve their performance by aligning their businesses more closely with what customers need, want and value.
We do it through a combination of proven techniques that help organisations Empathise with their customer base, develop Positioning that is unique, relevant and defensible, focused on a key Insight to help create Character that staff can emulate in all the ways they engage with customers.
That's EPIC. And if that can help your business, product, service or team, you're the right client for us. Let's talk.