So my wife and I were contacted by the Arbitron ratings/audience measurement folks, and asked if we would fill out a log for a week detailing our radio listening habits and patterns. Seemed simple enough, so we agreed.
Then, the calls started.
They called to make sure we really wanted to do it. They called to make sure we'd received the logs in the mail, and understood the instructions included with them. They called almost every day during the week we were tracking our listening, to make sure we were doing so. They called to make sure we wouldn't forget to complete the logs and mail them back. They called to make sure we DIDN'T forget to complete the logs and mail them in. In fact, the only call we haven't gotten yet was the call to acknowledge receipt of our logs.
Now, I'm not a ratings guru or anything – but how much must all of this calling cost? Even if it's being done as inexpensively as possible, it's still got to cost Arbitron at least a few bucks per call. So Arbitron's customers – the radio programming and advertising geniuses who live and die by audience ratings – must be paying a fair amount of overhead for the information they purchase from Arbitron.
Arbitron is in the process of rolling out something it calls the Portable People Meter. The company plans to embed inaudible signals into standard radio broadcasts, and equip selected listeners with monitors of those signals, to eliminate the need for those diaries, and all those follow-up phone calls. Arbitron plans to provide free encoders to radio stations, and to offer additional encoders for high-definition radio and Internet streams at minimal cost. So the infrastructure to collect real-time listener information will be made widely available, and Arbitron should be able to collect more accurate, timely data for far less money than it's spending (or charging) now.
Of course, Arbitron doesn't expect to have PPM rolled out in the top 10 radio markets until July 2008, and expects it to take two to three years to reach the top 50 markets. The company's still exploring different approaches to electronic monitoring and measurement in markets beyond the top 50. So whatever advantages PPM offers Arbitron and its clients may be slow in coming. But on the plus side, such a timetable should give Arbitron enough wiggle room to work out any bugs encountered before the roll-out goes too far.
I think there are several BPM-related observations and recommendations buried in this little tale. Let me try to unearth a few.
1. Make sure that processes are aligned with both business goals and "the big picture." It makes no sense to implement processes for collecting information, for example, without taking a clear, complete look at total costs and unintended consequences. In the Arbitron case, an additional process or two that enabled the company to differentiate more reliable from less reliable information providers would let Arbitron focus its follow-up more tightly, avoiding upset of the most faithful and reliable providers.)
2. Ensure that all outward-facing processes include the ability to monitor and measure reaction of a test group before unleashing them upon the population at large. I can't imagine that Arbitron would be doing the level of follow-up it's doing with everyone who agrees to fill out a diary if it had really tested the processes involved and gotten reaction from a text mix of responders first. (But then again, maybe I'm just being naively optimistic.)
3. Don't boil the ocean, and set expectations realistically. BPM is often like really good barbecue – low and slow is the way to go.
4. Show your work. That is to say, explain to those affected enough about how processes are defined and justified to get and keep them on board with the program.
Those are some of the things I got out of my Arbitron experience, anyway. Let me know if you see anything else worth pointing out to other BPM enthusiasts...or if you've had similar relevant experiences worth sharing...or if you work for Arbitron and can explain how current processes are cost-justified...
Michael Dortch has been an analyst, 'information entrepreneur,' speaker, and writer about IT and 'the real world" for the past 30 years. After almost 10 years at the Robert Frances Group (RFG), Michael begins a new position with Aberdeen Group in September.
Dennis Byron is an analyst with ebizQ, focusing on Open Source Software as well as Business Process Management technologies.
