Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (alias "Dr. Nat" and pronounced, "pet-a-hoff") is a principal consultant with LMR Associates. As a principal consultant, she provides companies mission-critical information to enhance their customer service strategy through inbound call and e-business centers using the latest in telecommunications (voice) and computer (digital) technology.
Dr. Nat specializes in change management, re-engineering and business process mapping. Dr. Nat co-created the SP3M™ and the SPP™ process, which enables companies to measure, market and manage people, process and technology in the ever-changing world of customer contact centers. Using a unique blend of the Successful People Process (SPP™), SP3M™ and her background in technology, Dr. Nat reduces the adoption resistance so often experienced when companies change how service is delivered via technology solutions. Reducing the adoption resistance results in technology implementations that are within budget and within scope leading to a larger return on the investment.
Dr. Nat's background ranges from technology to human resources. She has first hand experience at companies like General Electric, General Motors, Hughes Electronics, Universal Studios as well as Internet start-up companies. She believes that customer call centers are the ambassadors of a company, as they are generally the first customer touch point.
As a former Change Management consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dr. Nat installed call center systems, ERP systems and designed customer access interfaces. Through this front-line experience at companies like Warner Lambert and Sony Pictures Entertainment, she was able see the challenges companies face when implementing new technology solutions and changing workflow processes.
Dr. Nat is currently working on a Human Potential ROI Calculator. This will help companies see the value of training and developing employees, as well as a way to quantify human capital as a corporate asset.
For her outstanding work in technology at Hughes Electronics, Dr. Nat received three awards: 1) the Leadership Achievement Award 2) the Superior Management Award 3) the Peer-Selected Award.
Dr. Nat has co-authored the following books:
In addition she has co-authored ten technical papers in industry journals and the following white papers:
She is a popular speaker as evidence by being asked to speak at company conferences and WITI, the Women and Technology Conference in Santa Clara, California. Additionally, Dr. Nat presents entertaining keynote speeches at technology conferences and company events. Their signature keynote is entitled, "Integrating People and Technology; No People, No Business".
Dr. Nat's formal education is in technology. She was awarded the General Motors Fellowship to complete her Doctorate of Engineering from UCLA where she did her thesis research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Hughes Research Laboratories in Metallurgy and High Energy Particle Physics. She also has a Master's and a Bachelor of Metallurgical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan.