“Cycling shorts and helmet instead of jacket and tie”. That was the motto of our colleague Lukas’ somewhat different consulting trip. Because a sporty customer needs a sporty consultant, Lukas set off on his bike and a train ticket to ‘Hectors-Welt’ in Sinsheim and made the visit as sustainable as possible (as a bike nerd, Lukas would certainly be the whole way too rode his bike if only he had more time).
Hectors-Welt is a partnership-based, long-term structured solution network of highly competent and specialized companies in the areas of fitness studios, baths & spas as well as for specialist providers
After two appointments, we and the Zendesk customer ‘Hectors-Welt’ realized that it is not always done with a (digital) consultation.
It became clear that due to the numerous integrated areas of the company and the complex processes, a workshop to jointly design the structure and processes would make sense.
Goals of the workshop:
- Assessment of the status quo and expansion of the existing Zendesk solution
- Optimal integration of the system landscape and company processes
- Creation of a “customer lifetime” phase model which takes the core processes, interfaces and systems into account.
Day 1: Warm-up
The trip began on Berlin’s East-Train-Station. With breakfast, coffee, backpack and a fully packed bike, I took the ICE towards Mannheim.
The obligatory “spontaneously changed and not told train sequence” sprint over the entire length of the train (bike compartments are usually in car 1 at the front of the ICE) was a good warm-up program and got the circulation going.
My preferred way of transport is the train, because I can use the travel time for preparations and administrative work. “Productive Quality Time” if you will. After a short change into a regional train, I cycled the last few kilometers from Sinsheim to the hotel.
I had already planned a small exploration route in order to get to know the way from the hotel to the customer and to explore the surrounding area for a little more than 20 kilometers. For a Berlin / Brandenburg flatland rider like me, the regular climbs in the region were a small performance test, but also a welcome change. Cheese spaetzle and a cool drink were a perfect way to end the day.
Day 2: Workshop Day 1
After arriving at the customer and a brief introduction, we went straight to work. The goal of the 2 workshop days was, among other things, to evaluate whether and how the existing Zendesk solution can be expanded and ideally integrated into the company processes and the existing (and future) system landscape. We never lost sight of the potential for optimization in processes, systems and the organization.
After evaluating the status quo with all relevant core processes, involved interfaces and systems, a clear “customer lifetime”-phase-model slowly developed and we also worked more and more intensively with personas (greetings to Klaus ;)), which will remain an integral part of the conceptual planning in the future.
At the end of the first day, Siegfried invited me to visit one of his self-operated sports clubs in Sinsheim, to get to know the solutions live and in color.
The highly digitized concept for operating a fitness club with just one person was impressively thought out. Full transparency for the customer in a dedicated app as well as flexible self-service options (regardless of whether it is about booking a personal trainer, a coffee or shake subscription or the choice between 4 TV channels that can be connected to your own Bluetooth headphones via App) form an attractive package for all members. Apps for the concierge as well as the club operator who always has his most important KPIs visible complemented the concept.
Day 3: Workshop Day 2
We started the second day of the workshop with a short review of the results from day 1 and discussed the slides on the process and system landscape that were created the evening before. Subsequently, in 2 groups, the focus was placed on the 2 most important customer lifetime phases, detailed sub-processes and optimization potentials were developed.
On this basis, the work packages were defined in the afternoon, and milestones and timelines were set.
To achieve sustainable results and to not lose sight of the topics, digital meetings were planned for support, accompaniment and discussion before we meet again live in a good 7 weeks to work out the first elaborations, further steps and concepts together.
After 2 intense workshop days there was another small “mountain stage” to sort through all my thoughts after the intensive discussions and to enjoy the wonderful weather.
Almost 60 kilometers were covered by bike and the journey was made as sustainable as possible.
We thank Hector’s world for the trust in our experience and we are looking forward to our further cooperation.
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