Most of us have become more frugal during the past several years of economic uncertainty. These days, people are spending more money on experiences that build memories than on toys and gadgets. We are thinking longer and harder about what to buy. And service – good service – has never been more important.

Manufacturers and retailers are keenly aware of this shift in spending, and are therefore finding creative ways to connect with customers. Wal-Mart – an Everest customer – responded to the change in consumer spending by marketing experiences such as game boards and other items one would need for home entertainment or “staycations.”

Research shows that strong relationships bring more happiness than having, or even spending, money. What this means for business in the new economy is that we need to be connecting with our customers more than ever.

At Lynk Software, making our customers happy makes us happy. But we are really in the business of helping our customers make their customers happy. Everest is a means to that end. Having easy access to critical information, Everest users are able to show genuine concern by demonstrating that the company cares enough to track customer feedback and make changes as a result.

The changes in consumer spending are likely here to stay, and are positive and healthy for the most part. As mindful consumption continues to replace conspicuous consumption, the opportunity for business lies in building relationships that last.

A Common Scenario
One of the most common reasons for buying Everest is to replace spreadsheets, old software or a paper-based process. Our expertise comes from over 40 years of software application development. We understand the trade-off decisions considering in-house software development vs. buying a commercial off-the-shelf solution such as Everest.

Resource Allocation
One of the key factors to consider is project resource allocation. Significant issues to consider include:

 The internal resources necessary to create the desired functionality
 The talent and resources needed to maintain and update the system
 The effort required to become a subject matter expert
 The responsibility and resources to keep the system tuned with the latest technical advancements

An internal development team may possess the programming skills and even the lengthy development time required, however the extensive ongoing refinement of Everest keeps it consistently ahead of the pack. With Everest, you get the latest technological advancements, feature enhancements and cross-industry best practices bundled into regular releases of the program. Our focus and software expertise are unmatched because of the simple fact that Everest is all we do at Lynk Software.

Reasons for Change
Is your organization still keeping valuable customer data in various Excel™ spreadsheets or a homegrown Access™
database? Everest is a smart choice for many reasons. Consider the following:

 Multiple spreadsheets make consolidated reporting difficult and very time consuming, while inconsistencies can cause numerous errors
 Internally developed databases require regular maintenance and are usually over-dependent on a particular individual for advanced procedures or troubleshooting
 Data analysis is a time consuming, labor intensive process
 Limited functionality and static system design
 No internal support or completely outdated technology
 Results are displayed or categorized wrong due to inconsistent entries into key data fields
 Does not scale well for an expanded scope across multiple departments or multiple locations
 Evolution of the business including sales growth, expansion, merger, acquisition or re-organization
 Regulatory compliance requirements or industry standards for improving quality

• Breathe – Of course you’re breathing, but are you getting enough oxygen? Shallow breathing tells the body that you are stressed and can actually invoke the fight or flight response! The moment you feel stressed, take a deep breath and continue to breathe deeply throughout the day.

• Be Charitable when Making Assumptions – The thing about human nature is that when we don’t know the whole story we fill in the blanks – in other words, we make stuff up to help us feel secure. So instead of assuming that a difficult customer is just plain rude, fill in the blanks with a different story. Maybe the person doesn’t feel well, or perhaps she was just treated poorly by another company and is at her wits end.

• Drink Lots of Water - Dehydration can make you feel lethargic. You may not even be aware that you’re thirsty, but being parched tends to diminish coping skills, making you less able to think clearly and act with patience and understanding.  

If you think about it, when you have enough energy, life is easier – and so are the people we encounter each day. At Lynk Software, we are happy to offer workshops on providing sustainable customer service as part of our commitment to help our customers – and their customers – thrive.

IMMEDIATE RESULTS
ITD selected the Everest software as a replacement for the existing in-house database because it offered the department an opportunity to achieve immediate results.

“The Everest system has already enhanced the efficiency of the department by improving the accuracy of dealership information, streamlining day-to-day processes and providing a central repository of all dealership information,” explained project manager Linda Ford.

 CASE STUDY

IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY
The new Everest system does far more  than addressing public inquiries and concerns about Idaho auto dealers, Ford explained. It tracks enforcement actions against dealers, automates dealer correspondence, streamlines processes and generates reports for management; all with greater efficiency and improved workflow.

Information that previously resided in three or four locations, now will be consolidated into one, easy to access repository.

Source: ITD Transporter News Article by Mel Coulter, published March 12, 2010
http://www.itd.idaho.gov

Everest: Customer Focused Quality – a software solution that captures customer communication and concerns while managing work flow – helps organizations utilize the Balanced Scorecard approach by streamlining internal business processes and creating a customer focused culture.

The four Balanced Scorecard perspectives include: Learning and Growth; Business Process; Customer; and Financial.

The Learning and Growth Perspective Everest promotes a learning and growth culture. Fully utilized, it drives daily activities and reveals opportunities for employee training.
 

The Business Process Perspective

The seamless communication between employees and departments that Everest facilitates optimizes organizational efficiency. This is accomplished by increasing the speed that employees receive information necessary to solve internal and customer problems.

Everest falls into the Baldrige Criteria of a High Performance Work System, which is a technological tool that facilitates productivity in fast paced, high volume environments.

Internal business processes are easily evaluated in Everest by tracking the various categories of internal complaints. This reveals how efficient the organization is running and how well their products and services align to customer requirements.

The Customer Perspective

The core capability of Everest lies within its ability to capture essential customer information, put it into meaningful categories, and visibly display this information to management at any given time.

Email reminders and follow-up prompts provide workflow assistance to employees on both proactive and follow-up communication with customers.
Trending capabilities highlight opportunities for continuous improvement, ensuring that the voice of the customer is being heard and acted upon.

The Financial Perspective

In addition to improving the bottom-line through increased efficiency, enhanced quality and higher customer retention. Everest increases visibility of situations that may require involvement from risk management in order to prevent potential loss.

Designated versus Concurrent Users

With Everest web, any user can log on and report a customer complaint, concern or compliment from any computer. This is a big leap from the days when the software needed to be installed on each computer and assigned to designated users.

Ease of Installation

IT departments appreciate that the days of installing and updating individual computers are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Some organizations take this a step further and choose to have us provide the hosting.

Customers with current support agreements are eligible to upgrade any time. Those with expired support agreements are encouraged to renew and upgrade as well.

Communication strategies geared toward cultivating a positive work environment are also emphasised. According to research by The Best Place To Work Institute, “trust between managers and employees is the primary defining characteristic of the very best workplaces.”

Creating a trusting and energized work environment translates directly to the customer. Happy employees make happy customers, and we feel that’s a goal worth pursuing.

Regards,

Paul Burkhardt
Application Support Analyst – MIS
Velcro USA Inc.

Thank you, Paul. Your compliment was so well received, we wanted to share it with our blog readers. ~Lynk Team

Sorry Works!
In 2005, The Sorry Works! Coalition was founded in an effort to encourage hospitals to communicate with patients and their families about mistakes that are made as soon as the error is discovered. The cause of the error is investigated and procedure changes are intitiated. In some cases, the patient is offered a settlement. The core of this approach lies in the power of an apology. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon – or perhaps it does – to know that apologizing for a mistake you’ve made is the right thing to do.

The University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago experienced this first hand upon implementing a formal apology program in 2006. Since then, the number of claims has declined by 40%. This isn’t just risk management, it’s human decency.

The Everest Healthcare Solution enables a consistent, paperless process for patient complaints and patient grievances. With Everest, the essential relationships between patients and providers are scalable across a large healthcare institution which often includes multiple locations and a network of affiliated group practices.

Once the stacks of patient complaints on paper have been replaced by a paperless, automated complaint resolution system, representatives from patient relations are free to actually visit patients to discuss their concerns, along with more often than not, offering a sincere apology.

The overarching goal, of course, is to improve care and reduce costs.  Duncan Regional Hospital and the five hospital network of  Wellstar Health System capture and track all feedback from patients with the Everest software solution for healthcare. 65% of patient complaints are received by front line employees. It is critical that employees have a way to efficiently document patient concerns in order to promptly resolve them and avoid further escalation.

Making it simple to record customer feedback is the first step. The Everest Healthcare Solution includes a patient feedback portal that is an online form any clinician or staffperson can rapidly fill out at any computer workstation on the Hospital’s intranet. There is no login required for staff to utilize the electronic form so there is no limitation on usage or the volume of submissions. The result is a fast, simple paperless process for capturing all types of patient feedback.  Nurses and other healthcare professionals are busy and need to be able to enter a complaint, concern or service recovery as soon as they walk out of the patient’s room. Once the feedback is in Everest, it can be reviewed by a member of patient relations or the patient advocate to ensure that there is appropriate follow-up and resolution.

Excellent patient care  is the priority for these hospitals, but there are other goals as well. Everest includes real-time reporting and data analysis for ongoing performance improvement, quality management and  identifying systemic issues. Tracking actions with due dates and automatic email reminders is also an important way Everest helps improve accountability and promote full engagement across a large healthcare network especially those who serve patients across multiple locations.

Minimizing litigation risk is also important, and keeping good records is critical when it comes to preventing escalation of an issue.

Finally, management and administration can view this information at any time to monitor trends, view analytics, and discover where to focus hospital resources to achieve the best improvements in patient care.