See the Company as Client

Our clients are typically large enterprises with a significant number of end consumers who buy the company’s products or services. The main reason enterprises come to a company like ours for a solution is because we have demonstrated that we understand their end customer and that we can put quality processes in place to service that end customer. We try to demonstrate in a number of different ways that we have very solid processes, we have experience, and we have the willingness to listen, adapt, and manage our people in line with our client’s expectations. The biggest selling point is that we understand the value of servicing the end customer well.

How we help our clients maintain and grow relationships with their customers depends on the policies that the clients choose to implement. There are clients that really put an enormous amount of effort into developing relationships with their own end customers. In those cases, our life becomes much simpler because we can focus primarily on implementing the existing policies. We ensure that we provide the proper training to our representatives so that they follow those set policies and practices. If a client is determined to have inconsistent or inadequate policies, we spend a great deal of effort providing feedback to our clients, explaining that what we have been asked to implement will not be in the interest of their customers. We typically provide very specific examples of the challenges that we face both in a qualitative and quantitative manner. We provide clients with statistics that help them understand the issues facing their customers, like long hold times, or high levels of abandoned calls (given the staffing levels they require from us) or that the information that we have to relate to the end customers is not sufficient. These issues can all be put in front of the client, and our goal is to try to demonstrate to the client how, in a cost- effective manner, we can adapt their existing processes to give the end customer a better experience.

For each client, the underlying process is standardized, so we can use proven processes to ensure that we provide a consistent service level to their customers. We usually customize the solution, which allows us to adapt closely to our client’s processes. Every client that we have has a different set of internal processes that they are imparting to us. They have a different set of goals and requirements that they are asking us to follow.

With a new client, I think the most critical step is making sure that we understand their expectations – so that we have not sold them something that we cannot deliver. Thus we spend a great deal of time helping the client understand what we will actually deliver; when our service will be ready for delivery, and how long it will take for the service to meet our client’s expectation. The service doesn’t start on day one at the level that the client ultimately desires, so we want to set that expectation in terms of a timeline – we set up stages along which our service will develop and improve and will eventually meet the client’s expectation levels. We also try very hard to help the client identify communication channels by which our two organizations can interact with each other effectively, including escalation points, timelines according to which communications must be driven, and how we monitor our performance and service levels.

There are some very structured methods that can be used to determine success. The most common way is through a third-party audit. Say, for example, a 100 end customers have called for service, you typically know how to reach them, because the company has a phone number or an e-mail address. So a 3rd party auditing company would call or email them with a questionnaire asking them whether the interaction was useful and successful; through a series of questions they would rate that interaction on a number of levels. At the end of the day or week or whatever the designated frequency, we would sit down and analyze every single one of those surveys to understand which interactions worked well, and which ones needed improvement. We can also determine which existing policies are working, and which policies need to be revised. Whenever a customer service representative has made a certain error in terms of how they’ve handled a customer, it becomes very apparent through the survey. We can use the survey to provide additional training to that agent or, as often happens, a number of agents with the same problems.

Our clients expect us to be very reliable and consistent, and they want us to treat every end customer interaction with the same amount of care and diligence as if we were calling our own customers. That is ultimately the treatment we commit to giving to our clients. When we say that we will enable them to have a solution in place that they can count on they must be able to believe we will make the required effort. We are always cognizant of the fact that the revenue of our clients comes from the customers we talk to, and if the clients don’t make revenue, then we don’t have clients. So these customers are the reason why we have a client.

What we expect from the client is understanding and reasonableness. We want our clients to set realistic expectations of us, and we expect them to give us as much information as possible. We cannot be successful interacting with the end customer if the information from our client is incomplete. We also expect them to give us the basic tools to make us – and them – successful.

Communication and information sharing with the client is extremely important. We have taken great pains to ensure that we as the vendor have all the tools in place to ensure these communications are successful. On our website we have a client portal, which is an area that is restricted to current clients. Each of the clients has a specific section that provides various updates on their account. They can get information about where their business is headed and where our business is headed.

We have also created a monthly newsletter that goes out to all of our clients. This is simply a set of internal company articles about events that happen in the company, in terms of people, projects, and so on, including new launches and information about new clients.

In addition, I visit every client at their business location on a quarterly basis. I fly to their sites and make sure that they know we appreciate their business. We talk about new opportunities and the growth of their existing business. If you are in the business of managing client relationships, you very quickly learn that there is nothing more important than live communication. Although we talk on the phone often enough, it’s a completely different relationship if you are able to meet the person face-to-face and interact on that basis.