Overcoming the “But We’ve Always Done it that Way” Obstacle

When I think about all of the different reasons I’ve heard for not wanting to change or use a new Asset Management solution, they really fall into two categories.

These “excuses” usually form part of an exasperated emotional response from our customers:

• “But we’ve always done it that way”
• “It’s just too overwhelming”

Deciding to change anything really takes a “leap of faith” moment where you entrust a new process or person to help take you from a current state to a hopefully better future state. And anytime you’re asking someone to change something that is ingrained into their DNA by constant repetition, it seems to evoke a very reptilian-brained “fight or flight” response.

So how do we overcome these sentiments and sometimes very legitimate fears?

As with all things WBM, I believe that it all starts, evolves, and ends with people and relationships.

At WBM, and especially with my Asset Management team, the most important thing to remember is that there is always a larger outcome that we’re trying to achieve, people’s work lives are typically affected by what we do, and our ultimately our job is to make our client’s lives better!

Fortunately, our team of experienced Asset Managers care deeply about people and process, and share an unbridled passion for managing assets (yes, seriously!!). It’s not that we’re weird, we just view managing assets – or bringing order from chaos – as an integral part of what makes our clients tick properly. And, invariably, “better management of x” is always an outcome that our customers are looking for.

But just because we care and have passion doesn’t mean that a client will want to adopt our solutions. I believe that our biggest asset is that we genuinely want to build long and lasting relationships with our clients with the ultimate goal of making their lives better.

And relationships aren’t always love at first sight. The best relationships take time to cultivate, and only thrive when there is great two-way communication and respect. We view it as our daily goal to earn our customer’s respect by communicating effectively, listening intently, and understanding intimately what they are trying to achieve.

So, how do we overcome the “it’s just too overwhelming” and “but we’ve always done it that way” obstacles? Simple, we build relationships!

Tammy Fleming

Tammy Fleming is the Director of Asset Management and Customer Experience and is responsible to ensure the delivery of a great experience at every interaction, execute operational excellence, and deliver a best-in-class ITAM program along with accurate financial billing for WBM Customers.

Tammy joined WBM in 2012 and quickly began to align her passion for Customer service into the work her team was focused on. This has resulted in an asset management program driven by People, Processes, and Technology that aligns her team with their Customers. She believes that although the definition of world-class customer service can have many different meanings, it is her mission to first confirm that definition to ensure clarity and success in service delivery.

Tammy has worked for 20 plus years in the areas of customer service and policy management. She holds CHAMP and CSAM certifications as recognized by the International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers. Tammy has excelled as a leader in business and the community. She won the Saskatoon YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Athletics in 2013 as a result of her involvement in the sport of Triathlon and volunteer work with the Saskatoon Health Region.