Performance Plus, Inc.– Some Examples from Recent Engagements

All PPI services were aimed at productivity improvement via increases in operational effectiveness and/or efficiency. The engagements involved accomplishing one or more of the following improvement objectives:

Increasing customer value through process improvement
Streamlining costs
Aligning IT more closely with specific operations
Utilizing accountable Performance Metrics
Allocating resources more effectively

Functional Area	Selected Core sub-processes	Examples of Key Performance Metrics Used	Some Results
Sales (CRM Utilization) • Capture leads • Perform outbound follow up calls • Perform up-selling • Coordinate the sales process with other sales roles (e.g. Field sales, Account Management, Brokers, etc.)	• Campaign management • Incoming sales call handling • Outbound sales calling • Up-selling • Referral management • Order processing	• Call-to-sale conversion ratio • Amount of sales leads requiring in-person attention • Correct call disposition • Length of Lead-to-close sales cycle • Qualified leads	• Segmented and restructured key sales processes • Realigned processes with skill sets • Conversion ratio increased 114% • Sales cycle reduction of 38% • Lead capture improvement by 69%
Enrollment/Order Processing (Sales processing) • Evaluate & qualify new orders • Process orders • Resolve inquiries • Create & maintain cases • Perform on-going customer updates	• Order definition • Order processing • Inquiry resolution • Issue escalation • Account management	• Volume based measures for each of the core processes • Speed related metrics • Survey results • "New idea rep. points"	• Increased processing productivity by 42% • Customer satisfaction index increased 12% • Merged departments and implemented process alignment
Fulfillment (Fulfillment consolidation project) • Provide assistance to accelerate the consolidation of several Fulfillment locations. • Project involved assessment and improvement implementation services in connection with the consolidation.	• Order accuracy • Shipment accuracy • IT utilizationBill of Material • Management • Order-to-Fulfillment sub-processes • Inventory management	• Cycle times covering sub-processes impacting Fulfillment • Issue notification metrics • Order-to-fulfillment effectiveness rating • IT support rankings • Manual vs. automated activity scales • BOM value measurements	• Shortened planned consolidation by 2 ½-months • Developed protocols for key Fulfillment processes • Implemented enhanced SLAs • Reduced BOMs by 13% • Increased overall Marketing-to-Fulfillment cycle time by 259% • Improved Inventory turn over 2x
Customer Service (Post-sale support) • Respond to customer questions and issues • Address issues resulting from the enrollment process • Administer contract changes • Manage customer disputes	• Inquiry resolution • Contracts • Enrollment • Appeals and Grievances • Compliance IT alignment	• Amount of calls handled • Amount of calls resolved • Time spent per call • Proper and timely transfer of calls to the correct department or individual • Time required to turn applications into enrollments • Inquiry Management and Problem Resolution (IMPR) speed	• 39% improvement in enrollment cycle time • Abandon rate improvement of 44% • 11% decrease in Complaints/Grievances • Developed 11 new activity-based metrics • Implemented major process improvements with IT-User alignment
Information Technology [IT Project Governance] • Develop processes to collect, evaluate and provide support to end-user requests, • Accumulate information to support ROI analyses • Perform reporting processes to end-users • Participate in budgeting processes	• Request submission process • Business case analysis • Budgeting • Status Reporting	• Year-to-year request volume • "Linkage ratings" – how well project fit with corporate strategic goals • "Responsiveness index" • Budget vs. actual results • Internal customer satisfaction ratings	• Created improved IT Governance processes • Increased Responsiveness index by 22% • Improved Linkage rating by 3 points • Reduced Request-to-Analysis cycle time by 19-days • Increased customer satisfaction by 2 grades
Benefits Administration (Claims-focused functions) • Respond to customer questions and issues • Execute the claims processes • Administer contract changes • Manage customer disputes	• Inquiry resolution • Claims: ° Eligibility ° Review ° Adjudication ° Management • Rules Compliance	• Amount of calls handled • Amount of calls resolved • Time spent per call • Proper and timely transfer of calls to the correct department or individual • Time required to process a claim	• 19% improvement in enrollment cycle time • Abandon rate improvement of 44% • 11% decrease in Complaints/Grievances • Reorganized work group with new metric establishment • Established SLAs with key IT functions
Order-to-Cash (Composite process management) • Manage and accelerate the sub-process work flows, from order entry to cash receipt, e.g. • Customer • Order entry & Fulfillment • Distribution • Finance & accounting	• Marketing management • Order entry • Credit administration • Inventory management • Fulfillment • Invoicing & collections	• Cycle times in the various sub-processes and the end-to-end process • Accuracy %s • % of sub-processes that are manual vs. automated • SLA compliance ratings between departments • Time-based exception management metrics • Service quality satisfaction	• Numerous cycle time improvements covering functional and composite business processes • Customer satisfaction increase of 19% • Reduction in exception handling by 187% • Increase in order accuracy by 72%
Finance & Accounting (Forecasting) • Develop corporate-wide forecasting processes • Develop procedures to embed qualitative information • Gather and analyze information on a quarterly basis • Reconcile major variances with actual results & Annual Plans • Perform selected benchmarking	• Forecasting Governance • Product line segmentation • Financial analysis • Reporting	• Quarterly due date compliance • Start-to-publish forecasting cycle time • Consistency & accuracy of the #s • Cycle time to respond to Senior Mgmt. questions • Senior Management 'Decision-making Rating" [DMR] • Internal customer satisfaction scale	• Decreased Publishing cycle time by 196% • Reduced av. response time by 2-days • Increased DMR by 2-points • Implemented corresponding metrics to coincide with improved processes • Reduced IT applications used by 37%