At AMS, CIO Mariano's development staff wrote a software program separate from ICE that finds leads on potential loan consolidation candidates in the company's Perkins Loan servicing system, and automatically pushes those leads out to loan servicing personnel. The personnel then use ICE to counsel individual borrowers and families on the types of loans that are best suited to their needs, and to call on candidates identified by the software program Mariano's staff created as ripe for consolidation. Because of ICE, AMS saw a 50 percent increase in loan growth from 2001 to 2002, and a more than 230 percent increase in loan growth from 2002 to 2003.

The cornerstone of Korn/Ferry's Management Assessment System is a database containing information on some 700,000 executives who've taken a management assessment test with Korn/Ferry, and the results of those assessments. Consultants in the management assessment practice use these results and aggregated information on the executives in the database to create best-in-class profiles of different job functions, such as CEO, CFO or vice president of marketing. Employees in the management assessment practice match up individuals' assessments with the best-in-class job profiles to see how each person measures up. Revenue from management assessment engagements increased more than 50 percent in Korn/Ferry's fiscal year 2002 over the previous fiscal year. Because of the Management Assessment System, Korn/Ferry is generating $10 million out of its assessment business and is aiming to generate $50 million in a few years.

And Don't Forget the Human Touch
What unites all of these companiesbesides their successful exploitation of customer and enterprise datais their desire to achieve their business goals by continually honing the service they provide. Nothing works better to convey that commitment to service than a company's customer-facing employees. The winning systems described in this story help employees fulfill their service mission with confidence and ease, but it's important to remember that the customer doesn't see the EDW or the Web-based call servicing system or Management Assessment System. They see the recruiter who's genuinely serious about finding them the best CFO possible; they hear the loan servicing counselor who helps them understand which loans are best for them; they encounter the Ace clerk who's eager to help them select the best paint for their home; they see the flight attendant who offers to help them stow their bags in the overhead compartment. It's ultimately up to the customer-facing employee to make the difference in each and every interactionwith the help of a well-thought-out business strategy bolstered by the appropriate technology. As Continental's Acebo puts it, "If you're flying on a plane and the flight attendant treats you badly, there's no computer system that can make up for that."