Digital Transformation and the Services Economy

Michael Krigsman: I’m Michael Krigsman, an industry analyst and the host of CxOTalk. I’m in Las Vegas at the FinancialForce user event called Community Live, 2017. And I have the pleasure of speaking with Joe Grover, who is a partner with LiquidHub. Hey, Joe!

Joe Grover: Morning, Michael!

Michael Krigsman: Tell us about LiquidHub!

Joe Grover: LiquidHub is an IT technology company focused on, the way we like to describe it as, “re-engaging with our customers.”

Michael Krigsman: Reimagining engagement. What does that mean?

Joe Grover: It means that we’re focused on the full service of delivery of how you engage with your customer, whether they be internal or external. But, really it’s about changing the way you think.

Michael Krigsman: SO, your clients are building out digital interactions?

Joe Grover: That’s right. Digital interactions. They are… They do it every day. They try to interact with their customers in a way that's effective, efficient and focused on what the customer needs. And we help them do that through research and design activities that result in building something, and possibly operating that through to fruition.

Michael Krigsman: Give us an example of the kind of thing you’re working on.

Joe Grover: The greatest example I can think of, and this may actually pull it together in a couple of ways, as we recently had a project with a company in the healthcare industry. And they were trying to interact with their customers, and this was in the Medicare space and they were trying to build an app. And, they had the strategy of they did their research, all of their customers had smartphones; so they were comfortable with the technology. So, they rolled this app out, and it didn't take. And, we did our research, we went and talked to the customers. And the interesting component… because it was older individuals and they were trying to engage with them is that the app was, we'll call it "heavy" on their phone. Because, to download it, they would have to delete pictures of their grandchildren or their kids or their vacations. They just didn't engage! So then, we reimagined that with them when we built something that was light and was more of a web-based cloud platform-type delivery as opposed to an app on your phone. And it helped them tremendously.

Michael Krigsman: So, there was an adoption issue because they didn’t understand their market; their audience.

Joe Grover: They didn’t have the full picture! Yeah, they didn’t realize that pictures were more important than apps.

Michael Krigsman: So, this is a very service-oriented focus; really using that customer as a reference point.

Joe Grover: It is. The service component of that… It drives to a focus, right? I think my description of that is when I go to my bank and check my account, I like to log in. I like to go right to my checking account and check my balance. That effort for me is focused. I don't necessarily look at all the other things that are there. I just want that service. That service is important to me to get quickly and get it wherever I need it.

Michael Krigsman: You’ve been mentioning the term “service” a few times, and the theme of this conference is the new services economy. And so, how does that view intersect with what you’re doing?

Joe Grover: So, my role in the organization is leading delivery operations. So, I deal every day with all of the customer data that we get and pulling that all together and getting it to an invoicing capability or just getting the customer information they need to be able to consume our services. Having the right data that's easily consumable is why we chose that. It gives us the ability, and our managers and executives the ability, to make decisions on that data. And that's hugely important to us.

Michael Krigsman: So, there’s an issue of efficiency, but it sounds like speed and responsiveness to your customers is a primary facet here as well.

Joe Grover: That is absolutely true, Michael. And I think that's true, not only for us but in the general economy. "Speed and efficiency" is the new mantra. We have to respond to our customers in a way that gives them what they need when they need it effectively. They expect it. They expect it every time.

Michael Krigsman: So, speed is a fundamental component of digital transformation. But, it also, there’s a challenge associated with that because inside a large organization, they need to cross siloes and learn how to collaborate in a different way.

Joe Grover: They do, and I think that's where we bring a difference to the model. We build multidisciplinary teams. You think about the traditional project approach to IT projects, you get your manager, you would get your technology folks, you would get your developers, and you pull them together in a team, and you deliver the technology. Today, what we do is we pull research analysts together with design specialists, along with the technology folks and the project managers to build a full, end-to-end solution in that space.

Michael Krigsman: What advice do you have for large companies who want to undertake this kind of program of transformation themselves?

Joe Grover: The most important advice I think I can give is to be open-minded in your approach. The economy's changed. We have raised our children to expect different things than we do, and that open-minded approach will lead you to places you never imagined you could be.

Michael Krigsman: Great! Joe Grover, thank you very much!

Joe Grover: Thank you!