Presentation Handout Goals

Provide both:– companies seeking to become omnichannel– software vendors providing the enterprise tools to

facilitate omnichannel cultureWith an introduction including:– Perspectives– Understanding– Tools to ensure successful implementation of an

Omnichannel Culture.

Quick About Me

• CEO of Collin Group, Inc.• Specialize in Value Creation for Companies,

Customers and Careers• Approach and systems originally designed for:• life-affecting ultra-mission-critical situations• making one of the largest technological transitions

and changing processes across diverse and complex organizations globally.

Quick About Me• Based on my research on the Stanford

University campus as a Senior Research Fellow of a specialized think tank

• Innovated, updated, refined and tested over almost 20 years

• Chronicled/cited in 450+ books in multiple languages*; taught in top university courses

• Implemented at myriad companies, SMB through global enterprises. Source: Google Books

Customer CommitmentSo why Omnichannel?

• Omnichannel should not be considered a means to “surprise” or “delight”

• Today it’s simply expected by customers• An omnichannel culture helps build strong

customer commitment• Don’t have it? It’ll appear to customers as a

gaping hole in your customer experience.

Why Omnichannel is Critical for You

• Ours is a social and connected world• Customer success is your successes• Purchases (both product and buying

experience) that don’t go well are broadcast to the world

• ... even by one of the buyer’s employees.

Challenges to Omnichannel

Part I

Is Tech the Core Challenge?

• Omnichannel requires new software and hardware technologies

• Tech facilitates omnichannel, but also introduces new challenges

• But the tech challenges are not what put companies into disarray in this process

• It’s the human challenges that will be the most significant.

The “Human” Challenge

Omnichannel=

Omni-ChangeAlmost everyone is impacted.

The “Human” Challenge

The hardest thing for:• Markets• Industries• Companies• Divisions• Groups, teams and people

to do is CHANGE.

Omnichannel requires just about every employee to think, interact

and execute differently.

Some Omnichannel Required Changes

• Company Culture (!)• Team communication, interaction, sharing and

learning• How employees view customers• Tools like software solutions• Processes, from department to individual.

Why Change is Hard

• People spend about as much awake time at work than in their personal lives

• Changing work means changing your life – and how easy is that?

• Often very intimidating• Harder the longer you’ve done something

(processes) a certain way.

Simply mandating it won’t make it successful.

“Make it so!”

Copyright Paramount Pictures

Building Success

Part II

Omnichannel requires more than project managers to ensure success, because omnichannel is more than just procedural implementation.

It’s Not Just Process

Ways to CreateOmnichannel Culture

The Power of theCultural Middleware™ Approach

Cultural Middleware is a trademark of Collin Group, Inc.

What is theCultural Middleware™ Approach?• Comprised of internal people throughout your

organization that understand your company’s many internal subtleties

• They understand:– Processes– Concerns– Communications issues and the connectionsrequired to achieve omnichannel culture.

What is theCultural Middleware™ Approach?• They build the necessary connections

between:– People– Current systems and processes– Omnichannel thinking and operations

• They’re connectors, counselors and enablers• They ensure the project becomes a

sustainable, profitable reality.

Basic Qualifications for theCultural Middleware Approach

To be a member, they must:• be a member of your workforce• be culturally- and process-savvy to the

“coverage areas” they’re responsible for• not be recent new hires, transferees or interns• Accept being culture and process facilitators,

counselors, problem solvers, friction reducers.

Basic Qualities for Members of theCultural Middleware Approach

• Knowledgeable: about what needs to be done• Understanding: of their coverage areas’

people, processes and concerns• Compassion: for the challenges of a “rethink”• Sharp Eyes and Ears: for spotting active,

passive, or unintentional push-back• Engagement, Connection, Problem Solving,

Enthusiasm and Energy.

The Roles of theCultural Middleware Approach

• Make the change to omnichannel culture smooth• Address the human stresses involved with change• Work with key, or if small enough, all members of

their coverage area making the change• Decide on best approach to work with project

managers and coverage area members• Empathetically listen, understand, appreciate and

address all concerns of the coverage group.

The Roles of theCultural Middleware Approach

• Ensure training is appropriate for specific coverage area

• Create bridges and connections – “smart seams” to other groups via other Cultural Middleware Approach members

• Request guidance and other resources as needed

• Prevent “drop and plop”.

Give Them the Tools They Need

• Understanding of the overall changes to take place, top-down:– Concept– Company– Coverage Area– Individual

• Must be presented:– Strategically– Operationally– Processes

Give Them the Tools They Need

From software providers:• Their best effort at determining in general,

how and which processes, specialties, and teams will be impacted

• Software companies can’t know all the cultural and process changes that will be required

• Every company is different.

Keep members connected to:

• Company experts on the changes• Their fellow Cultural Middleware Approach

members in other coverage areas across the company

• Software vendor contacts (internal/external)• The highest-level executive involved in the

omnichannel conversion process.

Tools for Connection:

TEDxNASA video for connecting specialists:

bcln.us/tedxnasa

Wrap-Up

• Customers connect with omnichannel companies both via technology and people

• Everyone and everything must be:– connected, cooperative, cohesive, contiguous– congenial, confident, convenient and committed

• It’s what customers demand, and what you must deliver

• With the Cultural Middleware Approach, you can.

barry@collingroup.com @barrycollinblog: barrycollin.com company: collingroup.com