Hello 2020! Time for Improvement

 

2020 is here. I don’t know whether to cry or celebrate because the older I get, it appears the years go by faster and faster.

 

2019 was a complete blur.  If that’s an indicator for 2020, it certainly will feel like the endless ‘dirt nap’ is somewhere on the horizon. Life is short, and we must embrace it as it happens. We need to continuously try to improve our quality of life.

 

 

Customer First

 

I try to take that philosophy and apply it to our IT Solutions’ Team. We implement a Customer FIRST mentality which is:

 

 

F: Flexible

I: Invested

R: Responsive

S: Strategic

T: Trusted

 

Zunesis’ Wins

 

While those are all very respectable words, I wanted to highlight some of our wins towards a Customer FIRST approach:

 

Daily summaries on work completed for a client – When we work with our clients, we want to assure them we are in the process or have completed the work we have done for them. At the end of the day, we will provide a complete write-up of the work performed on that day. This allows our clients to trust in our capabilities and be current where the project stands.

Constant communication with client – Similar to the above, sometimes it’s important to gently ‘nudge’ the client.  We may need an important piece of information from them for us to complete our milestone(s) or the overall objective. It also shows we’re organized and invested in exceeding client expectations.

Quick turnaround when clients send an email – Being responsive goes a long way. This is especially true if there’s an escalation. Problem resolution for an Infrastructure is extremely important. It can either save an organization or if not responded to in a timely manner, can cost an organization thousands to even millions of dollars.

Dedication to Detail – Do it right the first time. Budget the work accordingly (based on what has been learned with similar historical projects). Spell it out on a Kickoff Call with the client. Assign & schedule the correct resources. Document (and document some more for reference purposes). Continuously keep the client updated. This type of process will reduce the amount of rework, recognize scope and scope ‘creep’. It allows for additional opportunities with a client based on our reputation for being so thorough.

Internal brainstorming – Sometimes it’s possible to get stumped on one or more of the project’s process, attributes, resources, etc. Therefore, it’s so important that an engineering team meeting occurs. A uniformed type of cadence will be developed to discuss project status and introduce opportunities for solutions. We use these internal brainstorming sessions to think outside the box. There’s more than one way to par/birdie a hole on the golf course!

 

Opportunities

 

Now, some areas of opportunities for continuous wins:

Continue to implement our approach listed above – Each action item becomes more and more efficient and beneficial to the client as the practices above increase with repetition.

Keep internal stakeholders current – Your Project Manager can be the glue to the entire project. This is usually done without a hitch. It can be embarrassing to contact the client about an issue that’s already been resolved because the necessary stakeholders weren’t on all the applicable correspondences.

Identify areas of opportunity for your client to succeed – While knee-deep in a client’s infrastructure, there’s a distinct possibility our engineers may uncover a proverbial ticking time bomb. This could delay production or operations for your client far sooner than that Storage upgrade.

Infrastructure Assessments – This is almost in tangent with client success. Equipment may be running out of support from the manufacturer.  This is why it’s so important for an organization to have a firm grip on their overall environment. This is just one example of a continued trusted partnership with a client.

Life is short. Implementing these type attributes and actions will allow your organization to spend less time in a datacenter. It will allow you to spend more time with the people and activities you enjoy the most.

 

Zunesis Solution Services Team

 

As Gene Hackman says in Hoosiers, “This is your Team!”

James Hughes – Vice President of Engineering and Services / Engineer

Michael Gosselin – Chief Technology Officer / Engineer

Garrett Law – Networking / Engineer

Adam Gosselin – Network Administrator / Engineer

Joe Tressler – Microsoft / Engineer

James Burke – Networking, Compute / Engineer

Pete Knoblock – Project Management

 

Contact Zunesis to see how we can help improve your organization’s IT Solutions for 2020.

In my last blog, we explored the Customer Service Pillar of being Invested, emphasizing the importance of focus and being great in only a few things. I discussed how clients expect greatness on the very first engagement and how leveraging professional partnerships to broaden our ability to serve clients is critical in today’s rapidly changing IT landscape. As a reminder, I am writing from a customer service roadmap called CustomerFIRST where the word FIRST is an acrostic.
 

This week I am addressing the 3rd pillar of successful customer service – being Responsive.
 

Only a few years ago, being responsive as an IT Solution Provider was all about getting quotes delivered to a client within a reasonable amount of time. In most cases, getting quotes delivered in 2-3 days was the norm. Major investments in online ordering and configuration systems have upped the ante; and getting quotes is now measured in minutes and hours, not days. In fact, if a customer already knows what he wants to buy, IT solution providers and Value Added Resellers (VARs) likely won’t be in a business very long if they can’t respond with a same-day quote and precise information on the availability of the product. I believe this level of responsiveness is considered “table stakes” by customers today.
 

More complex solutions involving sizing, engineering, demonstrations, testing, proof-of-concepts, etc., are different; and clients understand that these non-commodity solutions require time and additional layers of expertise. What is fascinating is that these “value solutions” are viewed by clients as being a smaller and smaller percentage of their IT buying experience. To make matters more challenging, larger clients are also interested in their IT partners being able to ship product the same or next day to meet real-time demands and changing business requirements. If a vendor is able to provide this near real-time service, the client is able to respond even faster to the business needs. It is clear that both speed and expectations continue to increase.
 

Because we are focused in this discussion around building and maintaining the highest levels of customer service, I would argue that operating at hyper-responsiveness is required to have a seat at the table; but it doesn’t necessarily buy loyalty. Instead, I believe that responsiveness is most valuable when a client needs immediate technical support or help. This help may take the form of a system or application being down, a service that is operating too slowly, or a project that must be completed by a certain date. Being able to pull a client out of the fire creates the most lasting and meaningful relationship opportunities. While none of us hope for our clients to have emergencies, most of us have been in the IT game long enough to know that emergencies will happen; it is just a matter of when.
 

The reality today is that clients demand operational speed and agility from IT vendors who hope to even have seat at the table, but true relationship and loyalty is earned by stepping up when the chips are down. These are the moments that clients remember and hold on to when loyalty is called into question. To do this requires more than an online ordering or configuration system. Indeed, this type of responsiveness is provided through technical experts who are ready and willing to jump into the fire. I would further argue that the organization providing the “jumpers” must also align with this philosophy because there is often insufficient time to put in place another contract or a Statement of Work (SOW). In most cases, the paperwork is done after the emergency has passed. While these words are likely heresy to many CEOs, COOs, and especially CFOs, it is the price (I believe) that is required to earn that coveted position of a true partner in the eyes of our clients.
 

Assuming this is all true, how do we, as leaders, ensure that our organizations are ready to respond when our clients really need our help? How do we guarantee that we are responsive in the way that our clients need us to be? I suppose those are questions that each of us must answer for ourselves, but the challenge and the opportunity exist to be a difference maker by being responsive.
 

Next week we will explore the importance of being Strategic with our clients and the priority of seeking first to understand before we attempt to solve.
 

Until we meet again, I wish you the very best in your efforts to serve customers in the ways they wish to be served.