What do you know? Profits in RIM

What do you know?

Do you think you know all you need to know to conduct a successful business? If you said, "yes," then you probably know what your customers think about your business. If you said, "no," then you need to find out what your customers are thinking. Organizations that fail to hear the voice of their customers are in a "knowledge disconnect" and this can seriously hurt their bottom line.

But is the customer always right? Yes, but to a degree. Let's face it: Sometimes customers can be off the mark with their complaints, but organizations and leaders owe it to themselves to investigate the validity of every customer complaint and respond appropriately. If the complaint directly relates to poor products and services, you'd better listen and act on that complaint because you're in business to serve your customer. However, you also need to balance the need to respond to every customer complaint with the need to improve your relationship with your best customers, instead of focusing on responding to the needs of your worst customers. The loudest voices aren't always the most representative of your products and services.

Seth Godin says that "letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game, because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win." Listening to the voice of your customer is one thing, but allowing that voice to dictate your standards is another. If the majority of your customers want your product or service to act a certain way, that doesn't mean that your customer is setting your standards. Your customer is giving you information that you can use to improve your existing standards, where it makes sense to do so. The final decision is yours.

Leaders who understand the importance of listening to the voice of their customer know that customer complaints should be heard and acted upon, know that suggestion boxes are not only for employees, know that closed door meetings are passé, and know that sharing information with stakeholders and customers is the way to ensure a profitable business. If you're a leader in an organization that's struggling with poor profit margins or poor performance, go talk to your customers. You may be surprised at what you don't know. 

Profits in RIM

Sharing information with your employees and customers is important to maintaining good relationships. And knowing where to find information when you need it is even more important. If your organization's information resources aren't organized in a manner that enables effective decision-making, then you need to improve your records and information management (RIM) practices.

Information has always been and continues to be important. Imagine doing your work or making decisions without information and you'll see what I mean. Unfortunately, some organizations still believe that the management of records is something that is done only by junior administrative staff. Organizations that think this way cannot be more wrong. 

In organizations without records management programs, typically 40 percent of records are not active and 35 percent are useless. This means that only 25 percent of the organization's total records volume is active, providing current information. Organizations without RIM programs generally end up storing all of their records onsite. In these instances, the organizations are spending 75 percent more for records management than necessary. On top of this, employees performing ineffective searches and wasting time looking for information can cost companies up to ten percent in salary expenses. 

Organization-wide RIM programs usually pay for themselves at least once annually in documented savings to the organization. If you and your organization are still making excuses for not implementing RIM programs, you are spending 20 to 30 percent more in annual operating costs than necessary. On top of this, you are continuing to expose your organization to major legal, compliance, and business risks. Why gamble with your organization's money and reputation? A sound RIM program will enable your organization to increase its efficiencies and its bottom line.