Strategies for Successful Implementations: What's Critical Beyond Technology with Deluxe

(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Treasury Update Podcast, presented by Strategic Treasurer, your source for interesting Treasury news, analysis, and insights. In your car, at the gym, or wherever you decide to do it. (upbeat music) - Welcome to the Treasury Update Podcast. I'm Craig Jeffrey, your host today. I'm joined by Gary Capers from Deluxe, and our episode today is titled Strategies for Successful Implementation. What's critical beyond technology? Gary, welcome to the podcast. - Hey, thank you, Craig. Happy to be here. - I'm so looking forward to this discussion, prepping for it was fun talking through some of these elements. But let's get started with the first question is about implementations. There's implementations have so many changes. There's a tremendous amount of change. And we picked this title. Why did we pick this title for this episode? - It's a great question. In the past couple of days, ironically, we had a customer advisory group, and actually spent some pretty good time talking about this, which I think reinforces, or substantiates, really the concept that we'll be describing, or talking through, very often the assumptions made that the technology is the most important part of the implementation. And I'd say it's a very important part, but really, and this was, again, consistent with what we heard from our customers. It goes beyond the technology to thinking about people and process and even context. And a lot of that being sort of bottled up in the overall, maybe theme of change management, but understanding that the technology is important, very important. But if you're taking a bad process, and then implementing that in technology, guess what, you still have a bad process. If you have people who ultimately aren't both prepared for the transformation that ultimately is being done through the implementation, and/or really considered on the back end to understand whether or not it was successful, i.e. has the experience improved. Have you seen the overall adoption rate occur, et cetera? You've implemented technology, but you actually haven't solved a problem. So really thinking about the implementation is more than just the technology is very critical, includes people, process, context, and make me sure that all of those are aligned to truly understand what is success. That sounds like really important on the process side, and you mentioned people, and people. It always comes in my mind, change management. Yeah, it's not just about technology. So I wanted to get your thoughts on that. The people part of change management, or the change management can include process changes, I would imagine, as well, as you define it. How would you describe that? And how those intersect or play off of technological and process changes together? How do we think about those altogether? Yeah, I'd never actually heard anyone say this, meaning over the last couple of days, but it was something I thought about this morning, as truly an inference from the conversations. And when you think about implementation, the worst scenario is when people think it's happening to them. It works best when it's actually happening with them. And so this is where you truly need to have an understanding of why the implementation is occurring, i.e. what is intended to be the outcome? Why are we actually engaging in this change? We need to understand the baseline going into the implementation. How is the company actually performing? What are the tasks being done by the people? How much time is it taking? What are the number of errors occurring so that we can measure then the outcome and use that to drive, if you will, a further adoption. And I'll say, even potentially evangelists, who ultimately are seeing the biggest positive impact to what they're doing. And from an organizational perspective, when you think about implementation, the whole point of doing it is to drive a different outcome, whether it be in a very small way or across the organization. And so the real way to measure that is going to be through the people impact. And so really without having them come along for the ride, you're destined for failure. And again, if they feel like it's happening to them and not happening with them, and that includes not just the overall, I'll call it buy-in, but candidly, in the way that you have to do everything from the planning to the execution, people are a very important part of it. And ultimately, if not, you're not going to be successful. And this is not just true. In a context of deluxe, and in a context of treasury management and receivables or anything of that nature, candidly as a former consultant, it's true in any industry and any type of function that you might be ultimately looking to drive improvements. I like that. I have a general comment, and then I have a question. So the comment, I really like that quote, if it's happening to them, like that whole, are you moving the cheesers, is your chees being moved, right? That whole, if you participate, it's a little bit easier. I like the way you phrase that. The other question I had is, people are making, they want to do something to make a change. And I just wanted to hear what you thought. Why do people make changes? I know they make it for to be more efficient, to have better controls, to improve on visibility, to help with working capital. I mean, I'm listening to a lot of things, more than I was planning on saying it with that question. Are there other things that people are doing, they're making changes to accomplish besides a couple of those? Sure. When you're making or considering the implementation of a solution, it's typically not just a solve or improve the situation that is current state, is intended to be longer lasting and enduring in its impact, and to bring that to a more specific answer or response to your question, sometimes it's thinking about literally the changing dynamic of the work. You might be implementing a new solution because candidly, the talent pool that ultimately is doing the work may be quickly changing or even, if you will, dwindling. That's happening at a number of spaces right now. I think candidly, a number of the places in which we have been very successful at Deluxe is in those areas where the nature of the work is changing. And it has been changing. And companies are now looking to position themselves for the future, so recognizing that they're going to be fewer people available to do the work. Realizing that the customers that they're trying to engage with are extending well beyond the, I'll call it the quote unquote borders that they served in the past. All of these different dynamics are key in understanding why you want to drive a change. But also, again, making sure that you understand then what you're measuring to ensure there's actual success in the outcome. But the talent piece-- and again, I just keep going back to people intentionally-- that is something that is going to be very dynamic. And so whether it is changing skill sets, changing population, whatever it might be, a lot of this is intended to help with where, if you will, the puck is going and not just solving for the current day situation. Excellent. So as you've talked through these things, and you've obviously given us a lot of thought, are you hearing certain things from clients that support this or expand what you've already said on it? You know, one of the things that you have to think about is implementation starts-- forgive me. Because sometimes I'd love to use the analogy of like hammers and nails or screwdrivers and screws. I know technology is not that. But if you equated to that, the implementation starts well before the first hammer hits the nail. It actually goes into the actual sales process itself, ensuring that there's alignment on the intended outcome, making sure that there's an appreciation and an understanding on both sides as to whether both parties, both the implementer and the company that is implementing a new solution or receiving a new solution, are both, I'll say, equit to do so. One of the asks that we're seeing right now is bringing more technical sales into the sales process to help the client understand the implications, the impact, the requirements around the actual implementation itself, and then once moving into implementation, bringing a resource, if you will, from the vendor side-- and I use the word vendor, but truly, it needs to be a partnership-- but from the solution provider side, bringing forth resources that can then sit on the client side. And that's really to help them do a few things. One, of course, putting that resource on that side, you're providing them with an expert who actually knows the vendor or the partner's process. So able to do everything from, if you will, translating Lingo into something that the customer can understand, helping them understand how to sort of meter and govern a process so that it can adhere to a successful timeline. Basically, putting, if you will, the sort of secret sauce, if you will, on the client side as much as it is, definitely something that the vendor benefits from. Putting that resource on the client side also ensures that they're skinning a game from both parties. I mean, this might sound a bit trite, but if the clients actually pay for that resource, they have a lot of incentive to make sure that they are as driven to completion as the vendor or the partner on the other side. So hearing a lot about putting resources more technical both in the sales process, but also then implementing, or if you will, inserting that same subject matter expertise, again, from a different functional view, but from the partner or the vendor side onto the client side during the implementation itself. And then of course, being able to understand it after the go live, after the solution has been implemented, they're still additional work to do, to completely harm it, not completely, but I'll say to successfully harmonize the new solution into the client's environment, to help with ongoing training, support, et cetera. Because at the end of the day, the best outcome, both for the client and for the vendor, and therefore for both partners, is a successful solution, one in which the client is seeing the true benefit and hopefully even more than was originally intended. And then for the provider or the partner, now having an evangelist who can really tout the success, tout the, if you will, the virtues and the benefits of the model itself, and allow for if you will, the next customer, though sometimes a competitor, but still, to benefit from that same, if you will, successful outcome. So I think those are some of the things we're hearing very strongly, bringing those resources in that actually help the customer bridge the gap to what the vendor or the partner, the supplier, is ultimately providing and executing. We're also seeing customers who are, and I'd say the customer and we are both very interested in how we might be able to use AI and automation to really drive a more seamless, a more efficient process from an implementation perspective as well. So rather than requiring people to gather inputs and requirements, how can we use automation to do that? Very often when you're talking about implementations, and sometimes this goes into migrations as well, there's a need to map data from one system to another. How might you be able to interrogate that in a more automated or digital fashion and gather that input? So it allows for, if you will, a quicker path to execute some of these tasks, it takes the variability, if you will, out of the outcome, IE having humans involved that may or may not sort of miss certain things and create some challenges. But candidly as well, I think also then, continues the education, the scaling, the adoption of AI and automation, which very often are in the actual solution being delivered, but also necessary for the teams that candidly are doing everything from the implementation to the ongoing servicing of that solution, the support of that solution to continue to, if you will, leverage those same types of tools. So automation, which might sound countered to the idea of bringing in people, but the combination of those two things, I think, is what we're hearing, much more interest around and candidly where I think the greatest value can be unlocked on both sides of the equation, the vendor supplier as well as in the customer. That's awesome. Automation to support the implementation of automation, that makes a lot of sense. I know in a lot of podcasts, people do the whole what company you work for, what you're remit, your business. We stick it somewhere in the middle. I'd love it if you would tell everybody a little bit about deluxe just to the quick overview of deluxe and about Gary and what your role is at deluxe. - Sure. Now this year, we're proudly celebrating 110 years in business first starting as a check printer, but since then, moving into additional spaces like merchant processing, digitizing payables and receivables for all kinds of institutions in the marketing and data business as well. So doing a number of things, and specifically for me, I am currently leading operations at Deluxe, which spans a number of different functions, but I think about it as truly being supportive and servicing our external customers, helping them with onboarding, service support, those sorts of things, but doing the same for our internal customers as well. - To the topic at hand, we think about managing implementations or strategies for successful implementation. What do you think are the core activities or core actions that really needed to make sure that implementations are successful? You started on some of your discussions have included some of that already, but I wonder if you could spend a little bit more time on that. What do you, how do you look at that? What do you look at? - I am someone that loves to use sports analogies, and so I will describe implementation as the same thing. Very often, people think it's been a lot of time on the implementation itself, i.e. the game being played, but you actually need a very good game plan if you actually want to win the game and the same is true for implementation. And so what I would say there is it's very critical to spend the necessary time up front, and be very clear around again, what is the scope of what you're trying to solve? What is the current baseline that you will use to measure the successful outcome? What are the key requirements? How do you ensure that everything is set for the plan that then is executed by the folks, if you will, on the field using a sports analogy? So a lot of what I would really coach everyone on doing is being very thoughtful about that up front plan, which makes the actual execution of the implementation much easier and ensures that the outcome then is actually getting the, I'll use the sports analogy, the ball over the goal line. - Yeah, whether it's a sports analogy or the hardware analogy used before with the hammer and the nails, but I think those are great. You know, when you talk about having a plan, let's dig a little deeper into that. What's necessary for that plan? How broad, how deep, how wide? How do you know that you're meeting that plan as you go through the process? What are some of the essentials there? - So first let me start with the idea that you must have top-down support and ownership. You've got to have someone that can truly articulate why this is a priority for the organization, which therefore then drives the allocation, if you will, and securing of capacity and attention to the project. A number of projects that actually fail occur because you don't have that top-down support and therefore the buy-in from the organization actually make it successful. It's important up front to then have realistic expectations around the time that it will take and candidly to build in a buffer. We would love things to happen just as we put them on paper. I always described it when I was consulting every strategy was perfect until you actually had to execute it. So the very same is true for an implementation. You want to have an understanding of how much time it's going to take, how many resources are involved, and it's sure that those are allocated with a buffer and that you're not, if you will, putting yourself in a position where you fail because of any slight mistake. I think you also have to appreciate and treat it as a learning process. Very often, this will be the first time for a number of persons and/or even the organization. And through this, you want to build a muscle so that on subsequent, if you will, projects or engagements, you get better and better. Those are things that you want to think about up front. So in some ways, complement the idea that I'm looking to take out a certain amount of cost or I'm looking to accelerate a process by X amount. It actually, if you will, has some softer benefits to it, but things that I would argue sometimes longer lasting or the very least broader reaching into an organization. But those are some of the things that I would really stress as important and an upfront planning process. So Gary, it's part of the planning process and taking a look at this in details and having that top end support. Is there anything else that is helpful for people to know, maybe limited to a particular situation? I'll give an example or two. Maybe this isn't as common, but sometimes, there's a lot of projects going on and everyone's competing for resources. And sometimes, even if things are managed by executive sponsors, there's a lot of demand for it. And there's other challenges, right? There's other activities that may bump something or lend itself to not being successful. Any other things that would be helpful for the audience to hear and think about as they plan and move towards change? I would say don't consider it or don't treat it just as a big bang, meaning it is a project. And it's only at the end that you measure the outcome. It's only at the end that you're actually confirming that the organization is, again, building that muscle and knowledge bank throughout. It's the case that just as you build a product and you think about a product having sort of a life cycle where you're building it and there's an alpha version, there's a beta version, you know, you get that most basic product, if you will, minimal, a viable product out to market. And then you get feedback and you sort of improve from there. I would actually build the implementation plan much the same way. How do you actually test along the way, the milestones that you're on track and that the initial hypothesis and assumptions around what you would realize are going to be true? How do you ensure that there's actually something that can be tested and tested? I'll say in a very strenuous way before actually putting, if you will, the final polish on the solution. So I think if you can treat the implementation in a much the same way as you build a product and appreciate that they're both just projects and build in those sort of milestones and truth points along the way, both doing it from a technical and operational and a change management perspective. You're going to have a higher probability of success in the end and candidly some of that might be that you have a deviation from what you initially thought. But by testing it and actually seeing the real world implications, seeing how people are able to adapt or not adapt, you're able then to make sure that the final outcome is actually the best solution for your organization and for the problem being solved versus being so adamant that the initial vision or assumption needs to be proven out. Yeah, thanks for that, Gary. As you described it, that was helpful. I was also wondering, what does success look like? How do you say this project was a success? Is it just, it's not just the end point as a part of the process? How do you guide people into saying this is what success looks like? The great question because I think the very natural assumption and candidly, what we often measure and report on, are very, I'll say, quantifiable outcomes. So was it done within budget? Was it done within the timeline that was expected? Again, are we there for seeing the benefit whether it be efficiency, whether it be the acceleration of a process, all those things should be measured. And they do, in fact, feed into the answer. But in many ways, maybe there should be a survey or something done to assess the experience of the user at the beginning of the project. And then how do you actually then test that at the end of the project? You want to understand for those who are the beneficiaries or those who are actually experiencing the direct impact of what has been implemented, are they experiencing a benefit, whether it be less service calls coming in, whether it be simply a shorter process and therefore someone that feels as if there's benefit because they're getting time back, what are those things that you want to measure as well? And then I think personally, you almost want to think about it as an NPS type assessment as well. For those who were involved, getting feedback on the things that worked well, the things that need to change. Again, realizing that this is probably not the last implementation being done. And you want to continue to improve on that over time. So I think there's a bit of qualitative and quantitative. But instead of just thinking about those things that very often say, did I do it? And it costs the amount that I initially assumed. I also want to make sure I've been thinking through are the benefits to the users being realized. And then for the organization itself, has it, if you will, continue to scale the experience curve that will allow us to be even better, faster, more effective the next time that we're implementing a solution? Thanks for that. As part of the implementation, there's always professional services used to implement that. I know you have certain views on how you leverage your internal resources on those, your internal professional services. How does Deluxe take a look at professional services? So professional services just to maybe put into the context. Very often, I thought about as the-- I'm just going to say, the billable resources that are being assigned to help with the full integration of the solution, Allah, helping with things like training, and also helping with some of the change management activities. But if we're going to be honest, again, those things extend beyond just the implementation itself so that we are looking at it and saying, when you think about the profile of someone from a professional services perspective, sometimes they carry the title of value engineer or something of that nature and other organizations. We're bringing them earlier and earlier into the process. So pre-implementation, to make sure that what's sold can be implemented effectively and actually does achieve the outcome that the customer is looking for. So how do we use them in the sales process? Any implementation itself? How do we help them with gathering the requirements, helping the customer interpret our process and how they have to then align to our process? But also looking at the customer's process and saying, are there improvements based upon our experience with other customers, whether it be in the same domain or others, who've actually implemented a solution in knowing some of the improvements that should be made from a process perspective to ensure that the actual implementation of the technology is successful? And then, again, helping through that process from a project management perspective, essentially being, again, the advocate on the customer side that can really be the translator or the Rosetta Stone back to us. And then equally important is then on the back end, continuing to make sure that we think about further optimization after the solution has been implemented. How do we think about, again, continued enhancements? And sometimes I will say this, it's really a symbiotic outcome where we're finding new opportunities because we realize that there are additional processes that were adjacent to what we solved that can benefit from additional solutions, but also then bringing it back to us and making sure that we're presenting the right solution given the customer's environment. So that professional services resource definitely helps us be more efficient, more exact with what we deliver, but really becomes a help to the client as well, to sort of be the bridge from their organization to ours, but also be very aware of the things that we can continue to do to maximize the value being received or realized from the existing solution, but also helping identify where that next opportunity is on behalf of both the client and us. - Well, thanks so much, Gary. You've been very generous with your time. I wanted to give you an opportunity for any final thoughts, any key takeaways that you wanted to leave with everybody. - Yeah, I think I've generalized a lot of the responses, but I do want to acknowledge and appreciate the audience here. Well, you think about the treasury function. It is one of the most critical. If you own a county major from undergrad and we would always say the most important financial statement is a cash flow statement. It literally determines whether or not the business will exist, can it pay its bills? The ability therefore to operate on the receivable side and make sure that an organization's receiving the funds that it expects, that it can be applied as appropriate, that is reflecting both the intention of the customer and the organization. Don't want to, in any way, underappreciate the role of the treasurer and how critical it is, therefore to implement those solutions appropriately. But that's why I've spent so much time talking about not just the technical implementation, but all of the work that has to go on up front to make sure that you're understanding the different pathways through which the company is receiving its funds, that you understand how the general ledger is set up and the nuances around how cash needs to be applied, but equally important that you're taking away the burden, the challenge for the organization to do that effectively. So that's really what, if you will, our solutions are about and more importantly and specific to this conversation, how do you want to think about the implementation? It's achieving that outcome for the customer, helping them more easily apply cash, understand who is outstanding with any kinds of receivables, shortening the days, outstanding, and receiving those things. It's really helping the organization again in the most important aspect of running a business, which is making sure that you're receiving the cash and being able to use that effectively to operate your business. Excellent, Kerry. Thank you so much for your time and comments. We really appreciate it. Well, thank you. (upbeat music) - You've reached the end of another episode of the Treasury Update Podcast. Be sure to follow Strategic Treasurer on LinkedIn, just search for Strategic Treasurer. This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and statements made by Strategic Treasurer LLC on this podcast are not intended as legal, business, consulting, or tax advice. For more information, visit and bookmark strategictreasurer.com.