Guest post by Ton Dobbe – Chief Inspiration Officer at Value Inspiration

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A story about the value we can create when we regain our ability to have meaningful emotion-rich conversations
An interview with Rana Gujral, CEO Behavioral Signals.

Every week I interview entrepreneurs and experts from around the world to share their big idea about new forms of value creation and the potential we can unlock when technology augments the unique strengths of people to deliver remarkable impact.

Removing limitations

I got inspired by the big idea behind Behavioral Signals; hence I invited CEO Rana Gujral to my podcast. We explore the challenge with today’s voice technology and what has kept it from reaching its true potential. We discuss a variety of use cases that will create transformative experiences and impact when some of the limitations are taken away. Not only for us individuals but also for the level of business and society at large.

The thing that triggered me most from my interview with Rana

“For a particular bank, we created a $300 million upside ($1.5 million per annum, per agent)  […] just by matching clients to people who are on the same wavelength.”

Why did this trigger me? What’s the bigger value here?

It shows the power and importance of communication. Too often we “communicate” with our customers, suppliers, or employees, but we don’t connect. It’s two “one-way” streams of words that have no harmony simply because each side of the table has it’s own agenda, we don’t listen and pay only attention to getting our point across.

Empathy is lacking, and with that so, much energy and productivity are wasted. The problem is: we often simply don’t recognize it. We’re following our process and just think “the other side” is difficult.

As such I applaud for Behavioral Signals insight to not guide people in solving critical problems by following “the right” process, but by matching people that are on the same wavelength. In the end, we all have our own character, principles, and approach to solving problems. So instead of forcing that upon each other and hope for the best, one can also aim to create matches that are more in harmony – and then address the challenge at hand. And see the result: Remarkable.

What’s the more significant question/opportunity that raises?

It makes me wonder what else could be possible if we shift away from the “old” transactional and process-driven approach we often have in service-oriented companies towards an approach that’s more human and empathetic.

Sure, processes are key to scale, and ensure the right level of quality – however – doesn’t that apply more to the product intensive industries? In the service industries, it’s people that make the difference, correct? Aren’t we missing out on the true power of people by only looking at domain experience, domain knowledge, and domain skills?

I’ve been in the enterprise software space all my life. I’ve launched resource planning solutions for mid-sized and some very large professional services business. And the criteria to find “the right resources” were always based on the “hard skills”, not the “soft skills”. And that’s just one example.

So what if we’d paid more attention to that? What if we’d follow Behavioral Signals example to not only match people that are on the same wavelength, but leverage technology to bring out the best part of the human/soft skills we have? Imagine what would happen to our work environment, to the engagement levels, to customer experience, and ultimately to our top- and bottom-line results?

Listen to the big idea behind Behavioral Signals, and why it has the potential to transform our society from being very transactional into very empathetic.