If you’ve followed our blog or snooped around on our website at all, you know what a powerful tool Pega is. The thing about tools is that they are only as good as the person wielding them. If you can swing around a big hammer like Pega, you have to be careful not to smash anyone’s fingers.
However, we do a lot more than just swing around powerful tools. Every time we work with a client, we want to build something. Sometimes that involves tearing down walls, sometimes it involves putting in new fixtures, but all of it involves collaboration between us and you.
So you know what Pega does. But now we thought we’d talk a little bit about what it’s like working with Pega. After all, you can read about tools all day long, but it’s different when you’re at the site and building. Here are three things we’ve noticed makes the difference when it comes to working with Pega.
It’s tempting at the beginning to get going right away. After all, we’ve worked with a lot of clients that are facing tight deadlines and need quick results. If you talk to any carpenter, though, they’ll tell you to measure twice and cut once.
What they won’t tell you is that if you tick off the carpenter, they’ll just eyeball the whole thing.
All kidding aside, the first thing we try to do when we start working with a client is to get to know them. Pega turns businesses upside down. It breaks down departmental walls, automates functions, and speeds up processes.
That all sounds great–but what we often don’t think about is that this process can be stressful. After all, it’s your business that’s getting leaner, meaner and stronger. As we work together, we need to have built a relationship so you can trust us. Reputations are one thing, but they don’t mean anything if both parties don’t believe in the process.
As a Pega trusted partner, we know our way around our toolset. And we also expect that you know your way around your business. In fact, we think you’re just as good at what you do as we are at what we do.
It’s always difficult when you bring in an outsider to see the business behind the curtain. That holds true even when working with us. Perhaps even more true. The way that most businesses benefit from Pega involves evaluating every part of your operations. That might involve unearthing some skeletons you may prefer to keep buried.
At the end of the day, though, we are the experts in what we do, just like you are the experts in your business. And because you’ve come to us to gain the power of Pega, the only way this works is to trust in us and our experience.
Building a relationship comes first, but shortly after that is preparation. It makes sense. No matter what you’re doing, preparing the right way saves on stress down the road.
Every part of our team prepares before a project. When we start, we’ll ask you for certain things to help us down the line. Pretty standard, right? The thing is, we put time and thought into what we even ask for. We try to anticipate road bumps down the line and set a course to avoid them entirely in this preparation step.
Preparation goes even further than just asking you for things. We also prepare our team. We let them know of special considerations for your business. They get to know your business. It’s basically like dating, but with cheat codes because you tell us what you want.
So much of what makes Pega a powerful tool is that it gives your customers exactly what they want. And so much of what makes us an effective company is that we know exactly how to treat customers.
Starbucks realized that they could turn a cup of coffee into more than just a morning beverage. They could create a lifestyle around it. Drawing on the influences of Italian and French coffeehouses, the leadership at Starbucks decided to make Starbucks a destination and experience. Everything became curated, from the look to the sounds.
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, this is just one part of the equation. The other key to Starbucks’s recent success comes from its smart business automation. The Starbucks app plays a huge part of that. For those who aren’t among Starbucks loyal, the ability to pay in the Starbucks app sets it apart from other competitors. This simple automation and streamlining has made the Starbucks mobile payment option among the most popular of its kinds, easily beating Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and even Apple Pay.
The end result of all of this is a smooth experience for customers and an increase in brand loyalty in a business sector that has little to none. Now that’s a fresh cup of joe!
You’ll read a lot about BPM without ever seeing a good example. That’s because BPM is a broad, yet powerful idea.
Let me define BPM this way: BPM is the tools that take in all the varied and diverse data and processes and translates them into something usable.
BPM is like going from a 1950s switchboard system to an automated calling tree.
BPM has become essential especially in the age of the Internet of Things. Now more than ever, businesses have a wealth of information coming in from all sorts of connected things.
An example: going back to the Starbucks example, the app lets users know about deals in their area using their phones’ location service. The process automatically serves them this deal, hoping to entice them to a morning cup or an afternoon treat.
This is just a simple example, and for companies like Starbucks, they receive countless alerts and customer feedback requiring an equal number of responses. By automating these responses, your business can move faster and do more with less effort.
No matter your business’s size, BPM tools will help you be more agile. And being agile can mean the difference between catching a big break and staying at the forefront of industry trends–or risk becoming irrelevant.
With the right BPM strategy in place, when your business needs to change, it changes in one unified movement.
The reality of digging deep requires extensive effort, resources, and in most cases, dollar bills. And make no mistake, this is a long-term endeavor with short-term goals, but it’s a worthy investment. Think of it like this – if you’ve got a pretty face but are a disaster on the inside, the chances of your brief interaction with your customers becoming a long-term relationship are low.
Hoverstate has worked with companies big and small to help them marry BPM and experience design. We believe that one should not exist without the other, although this happens too frequently. If you’re ready for commitment, Hoverstate can help implement the tools and design strategies to turn your customers into lifelong companions.