Posted On: January 11, 2024
Reflecting on the Need for Business Transformation
A reflection by Angela Chapoy, Vice President and General Manager
In many ways, business feels ‘as usual’ again, and we may notice ourselves back to routine meetings and events, resuming previous behaviors and processes.
While the world around us continues rapid expansion and change, in contrast, we notice some of our tried-and-true tools are being pushed to their limits. Familiar structures and methods that got us here can’t keep pace with the rapidly changing landscapes. We know our customers require us to execute a modern approach in our businesses, and as a result, we must decide which pieces are critical to remain and which must evolve?
When we pause to reflect, we see many aspects of work and life have changed; even something as simple as shopping for groceries is revolutionarily different than recent history. And we don’t just shop from home, we attend religious services, play a game with family member across the world, workout, even have Chat GPT write us a bedtime story to read to a grandchild; we have access to information with tools that continue to evolve and it’s changing how we live and work.
As leaders, we are tasked with prioritizing data and technology improvements; we need to streamline how and what information we gather, and work to interpret the information into meaningful, actionable solutions. Gone are the days of throwing people or headcount at fixing issues. Things are more complex now; we are more complex now, and the right counterbalance is simplicity.
One example is departmental goals, metrics, and status--red, yellow, green. Combined with modern data and visualization tools, these simple scorecards find themselves in a new era. So, what we are doing: setting goals by department and measuring them doesn’t change, and how we build the scorecards and perhaps what we measure does change.
Integrating Customer-Centric Strategies in Business Operations
To find the right things to measure, we center on the customer. It’s easy to find departmental drift away from the customer. Back to simplicity, having all goals tie to eternal, customer results across our companies is key. To accurately select the goals, we ask customers and employees, our key stakeholders. Those closest to the work know what we need.
We will transform into a customer-first culture by having external goals that tie to customers and their satisfaction with us, across all departments. Understanding and optimizing customer needs lets us mutually connect the dots on a much bigger picture, and the outcome is sustained growth; this is how we out-perform our competitors.
At Allied, we are looking in the mirror and asking if we measure the right things. And we are putting in place the people, processes and technology needed to support. Our strategy remains consistent, and it is successful, it’s the “what” of what we do and codified in the Allied Advantage. Now, we are doubling down on the “how” of what we do.
Allied's Approach: People, Processes, and Technology
On your business journey, complexity will continue, and this pushed us to get to the highest rock possible for our teams and take simple steps to ensure we deliver for our customers and employees.
Simple steps to in 2024:
- Invest in People: level up employees through education; hire for attitude, train for talent.
- Overhaul Processes: define processes and tie goals to customers; identify and fix any gaps.
- Embrace Technology: technology propels or restrains; harness the power for your stakeholders.
- Ask Customers: stay close; have a feedback loop and measure customer satisfaction.
We believe a customer charter is the only measure of success, and we’re excited to share it with you in 2024. Currently, it’s still getting feedback for iteration from ... you!
Over the years, Allied has sought feedback from our distributors. You’re aware this has led to the introduction of new products and programs, product design changes, and new innovative ways of doing business together. The input makes our products, people, and processes better.
Looking Ahead: Allied's Commitment to Growth and Innovation
We needed to operationalize this and launched our customer satisfaction, net promoter score surveying in 2023. We are using this data as we modify our scorecards and we are sharing the customer charter with you.
And there’s more. Some of my favorite features on our products are the ones that came from dealers and distributors. Over the last 25 years, we’ve consistently listened and adapted products with customer feedback. In 2024, we will launch our ProXchange Center in Columbia, a place dedicated to this treasured practice. ProXchange is a modernized showroom where we will conduct Red Carpet Tours and product teardowns; a place to point out unique design and quality, and we’re excited to share it with you and your dealers.
Most of you are here because you align with our strategy, and hopefully, you welcome us evolving the “how” we do business. We’ve pushed some systems to the limit, and we know you’ve felt it too. Moving forward, we will be better, stronger, and more aligned than ever to be the leaders of this industry. Our goal is to build a culture of mutual success, and it’s been our experience that building capabilities leads to growth. Know that as we look in the mirror at Allied, we receive your feedback as a gift, and we receive it with grace; and we commit to take decisive actions to achieve goals that are focused on you.