Posts Tagged: customers

A Customer’s View on How Data Dashboards Enhance Decision-Making

Data visualization software can help data analysts more efficiently distill and communicate pertinent information to their customers. Likewise, the customization available in many data visualization packages enables consumers of data to more easily obtain and sort through the information they need. In a previous blog post, I explored how the U.S. General Services Administration isRead… Read more »

Can Innovation Chase the Wrong Things?

Organizations innovate for customers, but customers don’t think about innovation. In a digital world, customers think about ease and convenience, speed, security. Citizens care about receiving what they were promised. And in government, that means many things to many people. So if innovation means doing something different to add value for customers, what does itRead… Read more »

Waste-Free Capitalism — Why Not Waste-Free Government, too?

I just read this excellent article by Lean thinker Michael Balle called “Waste-Free Capitalism.” Most Americans accept that capitalism is the best economic model for allocating scarce resources and maximizing wealth. Most Americans also know that it isn’t perfect. Waste — until recently — has been seen as a “cost of doing business” or usingRead… Read more »

Mapping a Customer’s Journey: An Exercise to Benefit Any Business Selling to Government

As the D.C. business community is dealing with many challenges these days, it is always good to keep all of your customer service capabilities as sharp as possible. With fewer dollars to chase, the competition is getting very stiff and contractors need to embrace new ideas for keeping government customers happy. I recently had theRead… Read more »

All the Cool Kids Are Doing It: 3 Reasons to Read The Hunger Games & Other YA Lit

So you may have heard about that new Hunger Games movie or know a little something a boy named Harry, but honestly, why should you be reading young adult literature (YA Lit)? Isn’t it just for kids? Actually, no, YA Lit is awesome because it can teach some great lessons that you will actually enjoyRead… Read more »

How Customers Can Energize Your Employees

Adam Grant writes in the June 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review that research shows that customers themselves are “surprisingly effective in motivating people to work harder, smarter, and more productively.” I’ve seen this phenomenon at work in government, as well as in private industry. I remember the story of a Virginia state trooper whoRead… Read more »