XMi Technology

“C” Your Way To Outsourced Value by Paul Van der Voort Within the past 90 days I have had the pleasure of interviewing the clients (both current and lost) of a company that delivers outsourced technology services. During the course of that work, I was surprised by the clarity, consistency and conviction of the answers I received. This reminded me, customers know what they want and expect with no equivocation! Part of my objective was to learn from the voice of the customer exactly what they looked for in an outsourced partner, how they made their decision in choosing an outsourced vendor and what the customer/business owner needed and expected on a both a long-term and short-term basis from their vendor partners. Here is what I heard. In a nutshell, customers want a “*connection” with their partners. This implies than that it’s not just about business but about a relationship. So, I thought it would be enlightening to look at the idea of delivering outsourced value from the perspective of a relationship. In evaluating what I learned and what I would like to share with you, let’s begin with where your customers want to find themselves as a result of your relationship in the future. Clearly your customers are banking on feeling connected, confirmed (in their choice of choosing you as a partner) and in confident control of their business. They look to their outsourced partners to take them there. But how? Interestingly, customers are equally clear about this. Here is what they expect their partners to be, how they expect them to behave and the manner in which they expect guidance to be delivered to achieve the end result I just mentioned. And here, if you are mindful of delivering in the following manner, is where you will clearly be able to “C” your way to outsourced value: CREDIBLE COMMUNICATIVE CREDITABLE COMPREHENDED COMPASSIONATE COMMITTED CAPABLE CONSONANT CONSISTENT CALIBER CALM CONTRIBUTOR These then represent the 12 “C’s” of superior customer satisfaction as expressed by representatives of companies like those you serve every day. Let’s now look at each of these in terms of relationship and what these words really mean to a customer. The first step in any relationship is the introduction. This is followed by a period of nurturing and development until finally, a level of trust is achieved. Only at this point has a vendor earned a position as “trusted advisor” to a business owner. In the initial introduction phase several “C’s” come into play. The first is “credibility” (or character). A customer I spoke with articulated his purpose in hiring the technology company I represented in this way. In his words, that purpose was to make sense of all the sales pitches he was hearing from different “solution” providers because his feeling was that “all vendors overpromise and under-deliver”. I suspect this is a prevalent feeling among many consumers and is a barrier to any vendor’s credibility on the front end. Also, over a third of customers mentioned trustworthiness, integrity or honesty as one of their top two criteria for evaluating the performance of new or current vendor partners. 72% mentioned these characteristics as something of value with the particular vendor I represented. The second “C” that influences success during the introduction phase is “communication”. In all relationships there must be open lines of communication, there must be a meeting of minds attained through effective communication and there must be sensitivity and diplomacy in communication to develop and preserve the budding relationship toward one of trust. The third “C” of critical importance during this early relationship-building process is “credit” or reputation. In many business situations, a vendor comes to the table with the customer knowing something about them. Certainly during the evaluation process of potential vendor options, references are solicited and shared. Even in a less formal process of choosing a potential long-term trusted advisor partner, referrals and reputation are essential. In my research for my client I found that 88% of their customers relied on a referral to make the choice to select them as their vendor. 40% listed “reputation” as one of their top two performance criteria and only 12% of their customer base applied any sort of objective weighted variable analysis for example, to vendor selection. After an initial introductory period, assuming both parties desire to continue working on any relationship, a development and nurturing process takes over. What do we need to “C” to succeed with our partner here? First, “comprehension” comes into play. Our customers and prospects must feel that we understand them, their businesses, their challenges, their employees, their goals, etc. Why would they trust us to advise them if they didn’t feel we had a keen understanding of the world from their point of view? In an open ended question regarding what customers looked for during the vendor selection process, 20% mentioned recognition and knowledge and accommodation of their unique business processes and objectives. Had this been an option to a closed question, I suspect the percentage that would choose this would be two to three times this. One stated very eloquently that they valued someone who “listened well and met their stated needs.” “Compassion” is the next aspect of relationship development that must be perceived if one is to move to a trusted position. Comprehension and understanding is one thing, empathizing with the business owner, the employee, the mission and vision, etc. is another. In fact, I remember learning once that in a study of customer service criteria as communicated by consumers, understanding and empathy were the two most important aspects of the customers perceived sense of superior customer service. Why? It is because they contribute to a sense of connection and trust. Also during this early developmental and growth phase of a relationship, “commitment” becomes a very important indicator of the long term prospect for a trusted role. We can look to define commitment through any number of allegories. Service, responsiveness, ease of interaction, etc. are all frequent measures that represent commitment on the part of the vendor to their customer. In my research, 83% of customers indicated that service was one of their top two criteria for evaluating vendor performance. “Capability” or competence is obviously important from the customer’s perspective. As I expected 43% of customers list this in their top two criteria when left to develop their own list. “Consonance” or agreement is often overlooked in building a trusted relationship. Overlooked? Yes. Logical? Absolutely. Consonance is synonymous with “accord”. Which means that even if we bring credibility to the table, we communicate effectively, we have earned a great reputation, we understand and empathize with the business owner, we are committed and capable, that is not enough. If, at the end of the day, we are not doing those things that our customer wants us to do, if we are not putting his interests front and center, we will not earn the eminent position of trust we seek. Assuming we are doing all of these things well in the eyes of our customer, we are well on our way to earning that position in the relationship we seek: that of confidant, advisor, protector of their interests and valuable member of their team to take them to the results they seek. However, arriving at this point is only half the battle. Staying there is the other half. So, what does it take to maintain the trust we have earned and maintain a partner position over the long-haul? To answer this question, there is still more to “C”. First, “consistency” is key. To stay at the top, you must continue to exhibit the behaviors, helpful attitudes, creative ideas, customer-focus that it took for you to get to that point. You must continually demonstrate all of the “C’s” that I have discussed so far. Beyond that, “caliber” or quality is imperative. 58% of customers mentioned quality as they described what they value most in their vendor. Fortunately from this group of customers, 86% were extremely satisfied with the quality of the service, support and solutions they had received from this particular vendor. Third, a client seeks “calm”.* As part of one’s understanding empathetic approach to delivering consistent quality an outsourced partner should be ever mindful of the potential for disruption that may go along with their advice and improvement efforts. Equally, it is helpful to recall the desire of the business owner for a resulting calm and peace-of-mind that are inextricably tied to the desired result of controlled confidence. What else is there? Of course, the bottom line as in “*contribution*”. We should never forget that we are hired to solve problems for our clients. We are not hired to be friends alone. We are in fact “trusted” to improve our client’s businesses and their results. Interestingly, during my research I again saw consistency and clarity as customers shared their most pressing business issues. These included; staffing, employee productivity, operational efficiency, and customer service. One I thought summed up what all business owners are looking for in terms of value from an outsourced vendor. They wanted someone to help them “convert their vision into reality”. It is critical to remember that this opportunity will never be granted to anyone who has not earned the position of “trusted advisor” first and can clearly “C” what value means in the eyes of their customer. Paul Van der Voort is an organizational improvement advisor and Vice President with XMi Technology, an XMi company, and may be contacted at: (615) 403-0809, xmi.us.com or . XMi Technology 618 Church Street, Suite 220 Nashville, TN, 37219 Phone: 615-373-9499 Fax: 615-373-3868 www.xmitechnology.com

“C” Your Way To Outsourced Value