GOING UP!
THE SITUATION
Following the merger of two businesses providing complementary product sets the owners realised that some of the internal operations were not operating as smoothly as they might hope.
Whilst customers were pleased with the opportunity to have a ‘one-stop’ shop delivering the quality of service they had always expected was proving illusive for the business. Their products were technical products and services used in a range of sectors, from apartment blocks, offices, police headquarters to hospitals.
THE PROBLEM
The problems revolve around the technical nature of product specification (each customer site is unique) and the technical support needed to ensure a successful installation. With the merger in place there were now
two Sales/Specification depts.
and two teams of engineers providing service to the designers and installers.
Unsurprisingly they were based in different locations.
Following the merger, a level of competitive behaviour grew between the two sites, which didn’t enable knowledge sharing and consequently the ‘one-stop’ service that customers had expected didn’t emerge.
THE SOLUTION
Advent worked with the client to bring the teams together.
Working initially at the process level, method design workshops were put in place. These facilitated discussions created new processes from the best of the two depts’ methods, using the skill and experience from each side. Not only did this create better processes, but the shared workshops brought the teams together to have a common understanding of how they serve their customers.
That teamwork led to more satisfied customers, and at a business level the improved service and market reach that the owners had expected from the merger.
