Case Studies
Taylor McKenzie Representative Engagements
Taylor McKenzie engagements span a broad spectrum, from start-ups formulating initial plans to well-established firms needing business transformation and turnaround programs. We develop business, market, customer and technology strategies aimed at improving the way an organization responds to market needs, competitors and customer requirements. The following Taylor McKenzie client engagements are representative of our areas of expertise.
International Telecommunications Service Provider
Client Challenge: This global telecommunications service provider, owned by a large conglomerate, faced cost cutbacks and needed to allocate its scarce global marketing and sales resources in a direction that made sense. Of immediate concern was how to tackle the emerging Asian marketplace.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie developed an Asian telecommunications market strategy, including a county-by-country opportunity assessment. Taylor McKenzie developed market selection criteria and prioritized target markets reflecting regulatory, economic and competitive factors. The project also included a detailed market segmentation analysis that displayed market size potential and barriers to market entry, which provided the practical framework for sales plan development and implementation. The client adopted the approach and used Taylor McKenzie-developed tools to manage its efforts in the region.
Telecommunications Carrier
Client Challenge: The primary carrier in this international market for residential and business customers desired to upgrade its legacy systems, processes and organizational structure to prepare for increasing growth and competition, and to strip costs out of the operation by reducing rework and redundant processes. Network management, billing and support systems were in also need of modernization.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie worked with client teams to redesign the entire book-to-bill process. We identified and resolved bottlenecks and rework to both streamline the work, get customers into billing faster and importantly, increase customer satisfaction. Taylor McKenzie also delivered a fraud management system to the client, using a third party vendor’s hardware and software and a Taylor McKenzie-designed reporting capability. The results of the new fraud control system were dramatic; $30 million in fraud was identified and stopped as a result of the newly implemented system.
Telecommunications Service Organization
Client Challenge: This large telecommunications organization desired to upgrade its customer relationship management infrastructure to become more competitive. They desired to capture significant operating efficiencies while improving the customer experience.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie was retained by this client to rebuild customer service operations, including the selection of state-of-the-art information technology and telephone systems. Taylor McKenzie developed written requirements, specifications and requests for proposal; and we evaluated vendor proposals and guided the client in vendor selection. Taylor McKenzie conducted workflow analysis and redesigned major business processes, and provided productivity improvement tools for first-line managers, providing a complete restructuring in the client’s US-based customer operations.
Major Telecommunications Carrier/Systems Integrator
Client Challenge: The client needed to manage a large migration program to convert a large mainframe legacy system hosting a major airline carrier’s reservations and ticketing systems to a new IT infrastructure environment The technology was provided by a third company, which combined modernization and state-of-the-art computing power to the airline’s ongoing operations. The migration needed to be seamless to avoid any service interruptions.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie provided the overall project and program management for the program, including the rollout, installation and cutover of over 400 airports, reservations centers and offices. Taylor McKenzie managed the resources of 40+ professionals from all three organizations and delivered the project at 25% under planned budget.
Telecommunications Carrier
Client Challenge: Faced with intensified cross-border competition from large telecommunications players, the client needed to completely revamp its approach to marketing, sales and customer service. It also needed to develop a more proactive customer-centric culture.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie delivered several large programs to the client’s CEO and senior management team. The first was leading a team of product developers to formulate product strategies to respond to the hotly competitive environment. Taylor McKenzie conducted product and financial analyses, including competitive analyses and formulated product plans, which were immediately implemented. Taylor McKenzie also delivered a customer service renovation program geared to transform the client’s former administratively oriented customer service to a first-class proactive, customer-oriented organization. We also developed new incentive compensation programs for senior sales and marketing executives, sales and service personnel.
Commercial Banking Organization
Client Challenge: A large countrywide commercial banking organization, which owned its own telecommunications network, desired to launch enhanced banking services for both its business and personal banking markets. Company leadership felt that current telecommunications and information technology infrastructure were inadequate to the task. Taylor McKenzie was engaged to address the basic business questions of whether to retain and upgrade its network or sell the network asset to an outside operator and purchase needed capabilities from multiple vendors.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie conducted the business analyses to determine whether it made financial sense to retain or sell the client’s network. Through our work, the client decided to offer its network asset for sale. Taylor McKenzie then wrote the tender offer and evaluation criteria for prospective buyer proposals and guided the client through the process of selecting a buyer organization. Taylor McKenzie then designed the technical migration plans, redesigned the business processes and assisted in the restructuring of the client’s organization, together with developing service level agreements for the bank to use with the new network provider. The changes allowed the client to offer such enhanced services as check truncation, online banking, expanded ATM network and expanded branch banking network.
Electronic Commerce Initiative
Client Challenge: The client was a new organization in the commercial insurance brokering space. The business challenge was a growing threat of disintermediation, where very large commercial risks were being self-insured or syndicated among insurance carriers without the benefit of broker involvement. A significant industry issue was the labor and paper intensity of risk syndication, with a requirement for electronic documentation and authentication to become part of the syndication package. Stripping operating costs out of the industry was of paramount importance in order to be competitive.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie was engaged to conduct the strategic planning, product development, sales and service strategies, and to assist in the redevelopment of the regulatory framework for an enhanced electronic commerce capability. The new organization had just been formed, and Taylor McKenzie was tasked with building the operation from the ground up in order to support the high level plan developed by the board of directors, which was comprised of the CEOs of the owner brokering organizations.
Taylor McKenzie also developed technical requirements and worked with global carrier organizations to design a global network approach to support the initiative. We also conducted surveys and process analyses with major insurance carrier organizations to accommodate specific service needs to ensure successful implementation of the new e-commerce capability in each member organization. We also worked with industry regulatory organizations to rewrite the rules of doing business. The system revolutionized the way work is done in that industry and met the client’s objectives of stripping out cost and collapsing timeframes.
Retail Grocery Chain
Client Challenge: The client is the second largest grocery retailer in its geographic market. Its information technology infrastructure was outdated, fragmented and lacking the ability to manage logistics and inventory control. They were losing market share to the number one competitor due to their inability to keep special items in stock to serve the unique needs of each store’s geographic market.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Partnering with an IT design company, Taylor McKenzie worked on the client’s supply chain issues, including warehousing, logistics and point-of-sale technology. Taylor McKenzie also designed and implemented a service center operation to support all information technology functions throughout the company. Taylor McKenzie worked with senior management, field operations and teams of users to design a state-of-the-art center, built the operation, selected and installed all hardware and software for the operation, hired and trained help desk staff, and turned the fully functional operation over to the client.
Softswitch Startup
Client Challenge: This start-up organization needed capital and customers. Their softswitch capability was unique in the marketplace and generated enthusiasm among early customers, but the company needed financial muscle and a significant client base to meet its objectives.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie developed a detailed three-year business and operational plan including market segmentation and sizing, sales proposition development, competitive analysis, capture rate by segment, revenue forecast by segment, staffing and operations cost by each functional area, and a revenue/profit forecast. Analyses included trial marketing of the sales proposition with both business and technical senior management of over 20 prospects representing all target market segments. Taylor McKenzie also guided the client through the process of securing funding from two private equity firms.
Interexchange Carrier
Client Challenge: Two US-based telecommunications carriers merged, and the newly merged organization needed assistance in managing the migration of the networks into one.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: The client engaged Taylor McKenzie to implement a network performance validation system to assist in merging the two large networks. Using network measurement hardware and software, Taylor McKenzie devised a comprehensive testing strategy to assure achievement of customer and market expectations. The client’s new testing program plans include competitive testing and analysis of competing carriers. Taylor McKenzie has delivered similar projects to other communications carrier clients in the US.
Long Distance Carrier
Client Challenge: The client was alarmed by increasing costs in its large US-based customer service operations. Call holding times were increasing, customer satisfaction measurements were declining, and costs across the board were increasing.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie conducted analyses and direct observations of the work content of customer service operations in the business markets centers in four major cities in the US. The project included analysis of call talk and post-call work times by call center, call type, day of week, time of day and other metrics. Calls were evaluated to determine customer service levels and sales efficiencies, with quantification and prioritization of significant call productivity and effectiveness issues. We discovered numerous upstream process problems in circuit design, implementation and billing. Taylor McKenzie recommended improvement opportunities in the areas of management actions, training, business processes and systems. Taylor McKenzie also conducted a similar project for the client’s customer relations organization. The projects yielded significant increases in personnel productivity and reduced operating costs, as well as objectively measured customer satisfaction levels.
Telecommunications Organization
Client Challenge: This international telecommunications organization lacked the knowledge and technical resources to adequately assess performance of its satellite operations.
Taylor McKenzie Approach and Outcome: Taylor McKenzie performed an audit of the capabilities, performance and reliability for a recently installed VSAT network. We recommended changes in the service structure, consisting of one hundred sites around the world at secure locations, utilizing four different satellites for the transmission of secure voice and data from headquarters. The outcome of the study resulted in the total replacement of the VSAT system with an integrated voice and data VSAT system. A follow on contract was executed for the independent validation and verification of the new system.