With holiday goods starting to appear in the stores, I admit, I eagerly await the unique foods, events and traditions that make the last two months of the year so special. But my favorite tradition, perhaps, is the opportunity to make a fresh start in the new year. For me, it’s therapeutic to take stock in 2012 and think about what I’d like to change or do better as 2013 enters with so much fanfare.
While this process may sound a little like its more infamous cousin, the soon-forgotten New Year’s Resolution, I tend to approach my annual review with an eye on the trends. I look at all of the items I have earmarked for change and see if they have a common thread. It’s amazing how many times multiple punch-list items point back to one overarching theme.
So, as a telecom service provider with many challenges to face in the year ahead, I would ask you to conduct this simple exercise, too. Think about all the punch-list items you’re dealing with as a company and look for the trends. For example:
Item #1
Bill runs that cannot be completed the same day, ruining your cash flow and damaging your bottom line.
Item#2
Customers irritated by inaccurate bills and complaints that can’t be resolved on the first call to customer support, resulting in lost business.
Item #3
Yet another manual workaround for regulatory and compliance issues, wasting time and money, and jeopardizing your reputation.
The Common Thread
More than likely, it’s your telecom billing system that’s to blame.
While it’s not much fun to think back on issues and problems that you’d rather forget, it is an important exercise if your business wants to make progress in the year ahead. Now’s the time to take advantage of the opportunity to analyze, critique, evaluate and plan so next holiday season doesn’t find you assembling a new punch-list of challenges – and the same old telecom billing system as the root cause.