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Take time, think big, deliver

exceptional outcomes

This premise works just as well for the personal service
delivered when providing an exquisitely packaged bouquet
of flowers, to the launch of a new payment terminal or
service that simplifies the payment experience. Do it well,
and the relationship is strengthened with both parties
better off from the value created and shared.

So again, in a world where we race to the end of the week,
do we create (or allow, for that matter) sufficient time to
think about and invest in how to become better providers?
This is not simply improving or maintaining the quality of
what is delivered, but the continuous appraisal of what is
in play and a challenge to any, or all, of its relevance.

This is a recurring theme in agile methodology, where we
talk about doing what is necessary and efficient. It sounds
By Simon Fairbairn simple, but it requires time to think and take action.
Ingenico, a Worldline company
Challenge what we do
utting aside the challenge presented by COVID
for a few minutes, the pace at which we nor- This challenge is particularly acute with organizations as
mally run to deliver on the ambitions of our they get bigger and the necessary bureaucracy to maintain
P businesses has never been faster. With each order and control kicks in. Bureaucracy invariably grows
passing year, whenever we take a pause and draw breath, from what is necessary into a thing in itself, commanding
we pinch ourselves and reflect on the fact that we can't more oxygen than required and stifling the breathing
maintain this pace and that there is no more gas in the room for reflection, thought and change.
tank to give.
How many times are we asked to provide reporting on the
symptom of a problem we face, with request upon request
Yet, invariably, each year we pick ourselves up and do for data and reports, consuming the very space required
just that—pushing on with our work and keeping our to develop understanding of the cause and the path to
marathon going at the pace of a sprint. resolution? It's a common scenario in many organizations
when times are tough but the opposite perhaps of what is
However, this obsessive pursuit of profit and growth can needed.
be suboptimal, as it leaves little time for the big thoughts
or more radical ideas to ferment. Sure, big organizations This is not a new problem but one that every business
have management and strategy teams whose job it is to wrestles with, and in the payments industry one that is
look forward and consider the vision of what comes next. quite relevant. When everything is driven at a frantic pace,
and the only view we sometimes see is that looking down
When we drop several levels down the organizational tree the road in front of us, we need to slow down a little, lift
and consider the requisite questions to ask ourselves at the our gaze and take a moment to think bigger and challenge
level of one-to-one customer engagement or professional what we do. Only then will we genuinely lay claim to
services delivery, have we left enough space to challenge delivering exceptional outcomes all of the time.
the pervading norms and the settled beliefs of how things
should be done?
Simon Fairbairn is head of professional services/EMEA for Ingenico, a
Become better providers Worldline company. Take a look around the new Payments Landscape
in this Ingenico white paper with a special focus on the impacts to con-
The focus of most customer engagement is to deliver an sumer behavior: www.ingenico.com/payment-landscape-new-normal.
exceptional outcome: something sufficiently valued that
the question of remuneration is moot and the appetite to To reach Simon, please email simon.fairbairn@ingenico.com.
repeat the experience is established.

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