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Business Intelligence: Using Data You Already Have

Everybody is talking about business intelligence these days -- techniques to identify and analyze business data to drive improvements and increase profit.  After all, the old adage “good data equals good decisions” holds true if you aim to make better business decisions.

But the notion of “business intelligence” is often wrapped up in costly and overly complicated data warehousing technology that can ultimately sidetrack your efforts. A recent report from Gartner found that more than 35 percent of the top 5,000 global companies regularly fail to make insightful decisions about significant changes in their business and markets. Is this because of a lack of data?  Or is it more likely that the systems used to mine that data are so complex that meaningful business decisions are caught in the technical miasma of the system itself?

Our answer is centered on simple, straightforward ways to use the information that you are already gathering. For example, every bank can identify how many incoming checks it must process; this data is already available. And since the cost to process a paper check is more expensive than an electronic transaction the bank may want to focus on programs to move these customers to a debit card.

Real business intelligence is less dependent upon technology than the thoughtfulness that is applied to the strategy. Indeed, straightforward analysis of the data you already have can uncover significant process improvements and improved business practices. In the end, “transpromo” strategies, managed print strategies and other process improvements all depend on the ability to apply intelligence to the data you have collected.

Contact us today to find out how our products, like Statement2Web and Managed Print4U, can easily provide you with data to drive intelligent business decisions that will make a real world, bottom line difference in your operation.

The Impact of Health Care Reform on Member Correspondence Systems

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Podcast Sponsored by OMI, Hosted by Kevin Craine

Whatever the implications of the new legislation, we can be sure that the process to create and produce member correspondence will be greatly impacted. The volume of communications will rise dramatically to respond to the many market changes. Member correspondence requirements will become increasingly demanding as plan structures evolve. Insurers will need to initiate new systems, products and processes to appropriately comply with the new law and the ability to efficiently manage member correspondence associated with legislative changes - and there will be many - will be vitally important. The pressure for cost containment will become intense as insurers react, often rapidly and without a great deal of clarity, to the new demands in the market place.

Companies can respond to these implications in two ways: with great efficiency or with great inefficiency.  Either way, the results could mean the difference between survival and failure. Indeed, how insurers manage their document processes will have a direct bearing on their ability to navigate the transition and how well they will fare in a post-reform market place.

Many health insurance organizations will struggle to respond to health care reform due in large part to the current state of their member correspondence systems. What is needed is greater "document agility."

 

Managed Print Services – Gain Cost & Operational Benefits

There is a problem confronting small and mid-sized businesses today: mis-managed office printing and copying. Pick any department or any business process and you can bet that printers and copiers are essential tools to get the job done. But despite their importance to company performance, printers and copiers are rarely managed as a corporate asset. Often budgeting is fragmented among various departments and resource planning is for the most part based on proposals from incumbent vendors rather than internal strategy. This inevitably results in increased operating costs, sub-optimal performance of the environment, and lost opportunity for process improvement.

Printers and copiers are an environment that is ripe for greater efficiency and cost savings. Analysts estimate that companies in America spend 6% of their annual revenue on work group printers, copiers and scanners. Ironically, despite significant advancements in office technology most companies struggle to control and minimize the costs associated with office documents. As a result, workgroup printing and copying remains an untapped opportunity for savings and improvement in most organizations today.

One way to get your output under control is through Managed Print Services (MPS) – a strategy to analyze and manage document output devices throughout your company with an eye to minimize the costs. Other benefits come from enhanced productivity, increased efficiency and improved environmental sustainability (to name a few).  

The best Managed Print strategies follow this famous adage: Good data equals good decisions. You must first have a clear understanding of a number of benchmarks in order to optimize your environment. Important data points include device usage, service and uptime, supplies and consumables, and peak demand; among many others. Without a good baseline analysis even the best MPS strategy can run off course. But gathering and analyzing “speeds and feeds” is only one part of the MPS equation. You must also purposefully monitor and examine the environment with an eye to constantly adjust machines, features and placements as needed to ensure optimal performance and cost-effectiveness. Organizations often focus their attention on printers and copiers only every few years when it is time to renegotiate a lease agreement. Ongoing management is needed to ensure both your machines and your vendor contracts perform as expected.

Getting the most from MPS requires an independent view. Most copier companies and print equipment suppliers provide “fleet management” as a value-added service, but these vendor supplied resources typically lack the perspective and motivation required to ensure the best results. After all, vendors and suppliers often benefit financially from inefficiencies in your printer and copier environment. An independent and vendor-neutral resource is essential in order to perform unbiased analysis and most effectively manage the ongoing performance of your fleet.  

 
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help through our network of independent and certified Managed Print4U partners.
 
Call 770-814-4284 or email info@outsourcemanagement.com

Transpromo Communication Strategies in the Real World

There has been a lot of buzz about “Transpromo” recently – the concept of customizing bills and statements with personalized messaging aimed at wooing existing customers with additional products and services. By including relevant and personalized marketing content, monthly statements can rise above the din of competitive messages and transform into a beneficial marketing edge. And since they require an action, bills and statements rarely find their way into the trash.

 

Unfortunately, Transpromo is an overused word and an underused technique. As a result, many organizations are missing significant opportunity to build a competitive edge. One reason for this is that most strategies touted by industry pundits and large systems suppliers have been simply too complex and costly for most organizations to consider in the past. But times are changing. Transpromo technologies and concepts have matured, making both the complexity and the price points more manageable. Now is the time to take another look at how transpromo communication strategies can make a difference or otherwise risk being left behind by your competition.  

 

How can you begin to take advantage of transpromo in the real world?  One way is to start with your online customers. After all, if you have already converted a portion of your customers to online statements – through Statement2Web, for example –  you already have a discrete group of customers that are perfect candidates for a transpromo strategy. These customers already interact with you online, plus you have a great deal information about what they read, what they click, and what they buy. This makes it easy to initiate transpromotional marketing for additional products and services -- you have a trusted communications channel with your customer paired with a wealth of information about their interests and account history.  

 

 

Proving the success of your transpromo efforts is easier with your online customers vs. a similar campaign in print. By virtue of being online, it is easy to capture data on what your customer clicks, and what information is read, and then track the response. You can even automate a follow up with an email, direct mail, or a phone call. Ultimately, your online customers can be a great test bed for broader cross-media marketing initiatives; once a campaign or approach has been proven effective in the online environment it can be moved out to other more traditional print-based marketing channels.

 

The bottom line is this: Don’t get left behind when it comes to transpromo. Contact OMI today to learn more about how we can help you make the most of simple strategies that will grow your business and build customer relationships.

 

Call 770-814-4284 or email info@outsourcemanagement.com

The Business of Being Green

 

By: Green T The world is changing. Like the many great empires who came before us, for the first time, we are learning how to cope with having too much. The magazines that used to tell us what to buy now tell us how to de-clutter our lives. Business has also taken a turn. Mail is not received the way it was 50 years ago. In recent years, what used to be a practical and appreciated means of communication has become a burdening clutter. Within merely one year the average person comes in contact with 663 pounds of paper. According to Inform.org "Only about 10% of the paper we consume in a year is preserved in the form of filed documents, photographs, and books or magazines." As our mailing practices change, business must change with it. See How Business is Changing

 

 

Statement2web Sponsors Educational Podcast on TransPromo Market

 

Statement2web sponsors Document Strategy's educational podcast on the current state of industry as it relates to utilizing transactions such as account statements, bills, invoices and other transactional related documents as the primary marketing communication medium to constituent base. The podcast discusses the definition of Trans Promotional communications, recent advances in technology and live reporting from the Trans Promo Summit recently held in Boston.