Putting Service in Perspective

Traditional methods for establishing the value of a potential solution (ROI, effects on technical debt, etc.) are still essential in the purchasing process. However, the need to pivot and respond to highly volatile environments are expanding the analysis. The McKinsey & Company article Improving the Business to Business Customer Experience highlights how service is becoming an increasingly important factor. “Even though B2B purchases are commonly assumed to stem from rational decisions, in our experience they hardly ever do. Overall total cost of ownership is never the only decision factor,” the article states.

The day to day ongoing support of a critical system has a dramatic cumulative effect over time. “That is why it is critical to vet out the potential partner as much as possible during the discovery period as the overarching goal is to produce a mutually beneficial relationship,” writes Michel Koopman in 10 Steps to Forming Long-Lasting Strategic Partnerships. Looking beyond the transaction and assessing a long term partnership elevates the role of ongoing service to the level it warrants.

What Customers Want from Providers

When an organization is trying to make changes to a critical software solution in order to handle an urgent, dynamic situation, lack of responsiveness from a vendor can be crippling. A Zendesk survey confirms pretty common negative customer service experiences: “Our participants described bad experiences as anything from waiting too long to be helped to dealing with an unpleasant representative to facing challenges with the chosen contact method—or never getting the issue resolved at all.”

While that describes what constitutes poor service, what are the foundations of good service? Forbes contributor Shep Hyken highlights two factors that contribute to better service: consistency and knowledgeable people. “Customers want a predictable, consistent and positive experience. My loyalty formula is as follows: Good customer service plus consistency creates the potential for customer loyalty,” Hyken states.

Origami Risk recognizes this necessity and takes a different approach from the industry when it comes to implementations and ongoing support. Rather than have one team implement clients before handing off ongoing support to an entirely different team, and potentially losing valuable knowledge of client operations, Origami clients are implemented and supported by the same team from start to finish. This provides the consistency Hyken cites, and builds the long term-relationship Koopman describes.

The Origami Model

So what does consistency and placing value on a long-term relationship with clients look like? Take for example, Origami Risk's approach to implementation and ongoing support. Of course, the quality of both are dependent on the people with whom clients work. Origami’s culture promotes a highly collaborative and supportive environment. The results of these efforts can be seen in the awards acknowledging Origami’s standing as one of the risk and insurance industry’s best places to work. It is this type of environment that attracts experienced and talented people—employees like Shawn Carmody, Minda Rossman, and Earne Bentley—who have been recognized for excellence in leadership.

Through a collaborative environment and employee incentives that attract top industry talent, the motivation for the Origami Risk team is not only in providing an award-winning product, but customer service that equates to a true service partner. A sentiment echoed in our latest client survey of 298 clients in 2019, where over 95% rated themselves as “satisfied” with Origami.

Proof of Success

In a previous blog post, we discussed the challenge of trying to sort out competing statements about service excellence. One way to cut through the hype and assess the actual capacity of vendors is to look at third party guides.

The 2020 RMIS Report, produced independently by Redhand Advisors, is a comprehensive guide to the RMIS marketplace that includes a wide-ranging assessment of a number of solution factors as well as a broad survey of user satisfaction. The net promoter score (NPS), indicating whether the user would recommend the system to a friend or colleague and is calculated by a third party organization, provides a widely adopted look into organization’s customer satisfaction and is a metric used by two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies.

Origami’s NPS score in the 2020 RMIS Report came in considerably higher than other independent RMIS providers in the report. With an NPS score five-times higher than the nearest competitor, and 60% higher than the benchmark score for SaaS companies, the 2020 RMIS Report validates the effectiveness of the Origami approach. While an NPS score provides a clear and unbiased third-party look into an organization’s overall customer satisfaction, the report also provides additional valuable insight for companies looking to acquire a RMIS provider that not only hits the mark in terms of service, but functionality, offerings, and more.

As organizations globally continue to grapple with unwavering uncertainty amid COVID-19, the importance of a true service partner is greater now than ever before. As massive change and a continuous need to pivot become a regular occurrence, functional software that “just hits the mark” is no longer sufficient. Rather, the need for a reliable team of experts with third-party insight into their dedication and investment into your organization is now as much of a priority as the software they provide.

Read the full 2020 RMIS Report for further insights into Origami Risk and what it can offer as a partner. To learn more about how Origami can partner with your organization and address its challenges amid COVID-19 and beyond, request a demo here.