Business Communication Operations Management
Seminar Production
Press Releases and Articles
Service Operating Solutions
Helping you organize your world.
S.O.S – At Your Service
Service Operating Solutions (S.O.S) is poised to take customer relations and operations management to the next level in Barbados and the region.
Raquel Springer-Lloyd is the owner and principal consultant with S.O.S and her mission is to lead, encourage and train business owners and their teams in the two disciplines. Her focus is on reinforcing the importance of building good relations between business owners and their customers across all levels of the organization. Raquel is trained in customer relations, business communications and operations management and has over fifteen years of experience in the field.
From micro businesses to large corporations Lloyd says, “I enjoy analyzing the dynamics between the customer-relationship issues, processes and systems within organizations – I’m inspired when I can work with a client to make a difference in a department or come up with a systems solution that will positively impact the service delivery of the organization.
Businesses cannot exist without customers
To disconnect the customer relations from the operations department is myopic and ultimately crippling to business development. S.O.S has developed a strategic business model that analyzes how the best practices in customer relations and operations inter-relate – the training model is then modified to meet the needs of their respective clients so that it is specialized, integrated and fully functional.
That includes highlighting businesses on the S.O.S website that offer service excellence – so that other businesses can learn from the best practices of their counterparts. Raquel mentions that part of that venture will include writing articles on customer relations and operations management from a Caribbean perspective; and interviewing people in the industry to discuss what their experiences have been and how they handle the correlating service and operations issues and challenges in the workplace.
Lloyd continues, “I’m encouraged when I see the strides that national service associations and agencies have made in bringing the topic to the fore, as well as their efforts to invite local and international CEOs and experts to speak at conferences on these topics. It’s important to get CEOs and business owners supporting these initiatives since they are in the influential positions to ultimately approve the training and support that will be needed for future service development in organizations.”
S.O.S also provides workshops at different levels on various customer relations and operations management topics.
Another component of S.O.S involves giving their services freely to businesses that qualify – Lloyd says, “My aim is to be an innovative contributor in my field, and to encourage business owners to rethink their organizational structures with respect to recognizing the important correlation between creating efficient operations infrastructures that best serve the needs of the customers.”
She also gives tremendous credit to her supportive husband with whom she can share everything – “He’s like my sounding board. I’m also a mother, and my amazing son Nicholas reminds me daily of the awesome responsibility I have in terms of leaving a legacy for him that represents working at what is your passion, and taking the time to give back.”
Which Ideas are Important for Leaders in Customer Driven Organizations?
July 2010
A leader in a customer-driven organization is faced with a difficult challenge to ensure that the company’s vision is executed while at the same time seeing to it that the internal and external customer needs are being met. I mentioned that this is difficult because the larger the company, the more complicated the issues to be addressed - from shareholders, executives , employees, customers and a wider corporate social responsibility that subtly permeates the fabric of running a company. Many of these issues are then prioritized based on the ethical premise that the company stands for; after that the financial muscle of the company can then be flexed to implement change. However, there is no direct correlation between having millions of dollars available for making an organization customer –driven, and having those changes actually take place. The character of the CEO, the power of the core- team, and or the shareholders also heavily weigh on this argument.
The following components including internal authority and Influential leadership that represent charismatic components that are crucial to achieving these goals.
The leader’s role is to ensure that the vision is clearly communicated, outlined through measureable objectives that are facilitated by the executive team who have the authority to implement the necessary procedures to bring about action and change. They also have the authority to ensure that the relevant tools and human resources are available towards accomplishing the overall vision of the company.
A CEO must have systems of transparency and accountability in place to generate an honor code and remove renegade executives who want to do what they want when they want - this helps to create cohesiveness in the organization. CEOs must also recognize their executive and likewise the vice presidents, and in turn filter performance measure through motivation throughout the company.
The leader must be able to empower the team to understand the objectives and be ready ambassadors of the vision so that integrity is seemingly maintained. The leader in essence must be team focused and approach the company as a dynamic organization that requires systems that cater to employees and customers while remaining competitive and generating revenue at the same time.
These qualities are important in affecting effective, strategic, long-term change for a company.
References
Blanchard, K. (2004). Customer mania! It's never too late to build a customer-focused company. New York: Free Press.
Galbraith, J. R. (2005). Designing the customer-centric organization: A guide to strategy, structure and process. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
