This is a true story from the 5th April 2020, just a few days ago...
A first class stamp in the UK costs £0.70p. So, when a UK bank sends a wholly unnecessary letter to somebody it costs them £0.70p plus the cost of the envelope, the paper, the printer ink, the administration time, the computer processing time and so on and so on…
Last week, a couple that shall remain anonymous applied online for a business bank account with a major UK bank. Part of the process includes the bank issuing an application number and sending this out in the post.
This is part of the process that happened before the application is completed online. In this instance, the application was declined during the online application process.
Two days later the couple receive TWO letters, one each to the same address, confirming their application number. This was despite the fact that two days earlier the bank had declined their application. Both letters went straight to the bin, the recycling bin of course.
This is as good an example as possible of why Process Mining is essential for all businesses, large and small. Whether you are a global high street brand, in the case with the bank, or an SME, it is essential that you have total visibility and control of your processes.
As this example highlights, processes cost time and money, as well as having many inefficiencies. Further, in this instance, it just makes your business look plain stupid. Why would I want to open a bank account with a bank that can’t even get the basics right, who knows what they might do with my actual money!
Based on the industry numbers in the UK for business bank account applications, together with approval/decline rates, and market share figures, we can calculate that this process fault costs this bank circa £126,000 per annum on postage alone.
Surely all businesses owe it to themselves to invest in Process Mining right now. Let’s all get our processes in order before we fully open our doors for business again.
Fantastic article!