Career Lessons

OK, I admit it…I have a major hang-up with voicemail in offices as the primary mode of daily operations. I think it is diametrically opposed to superb client service for a services company. I don’t know how long voicemail has existed, but its appropriate usage has progressed over time from bad—to terrible—to miserable. Let’s admit it, voicemail is primarily there for the convenience of the one for which the automated voicemail message was generated, at the detriment of the sender of that message. The recorded message is indirectly saying, “My time is more important than yours, and I’ll get back to you when it is convenient for me. If necessary, I don’t care if we play phone tag for a week.” Is this what a good client service company is about, really?

When I say the voicemail conundrum has only gotten worse, I am referring to central computer-generated “receptionists” that force you to go through the electronic menu of: “If you know the extension of the person you are dialing, dial it now. If not, type in the first three letters of their last name” process. I have noticed the numbers on a phone are big, but letters are small—leaving me to struggle to find my glasses while response time runs out and I need to call again. It infuriates me. Everyone has experienced the systems for so-called great utility, insurance and banking companies that require you to wade through a series of push button access prompts. “If you want your balance, press 1, if you want to transfer funds, press 2, if you want to…” and on and on. I experienced one company that had eight different sequences in their automated “general directory.” Finally, as […]

A colleague, who was 15 years my senior, provided me with the best client service advice I ever received. I always admired the quality of his business relationships. Although his clients seemed to have a tendency to be demanding, they were also his personal friends who were loyal and negotiated winning contracts. One day, I asked him how he did it, and the answer stuck with me.

His advice: Always work to get your client promoted to a higher job level. Study what their bosses’ or organization’s values are and then help your client deliver them. Initially, don’t divulge this goal to your clients, but once successful progress has been achieved, let them know your objective. I have never had a client say; “Oh no, don’t do that!”

At first glance, one might say this concept is no different than delivering the scope of work on time, on budget and with the best quality. But these goals should be a “given,” whereas this promotion theory goes much farther. Over the years, I’ve found my clients could get credit by solving issues or enhancing an idea outside the scope of work. Finding the necessary characteristics to your client’s success takes work. You cannot initially be so direct as to ask, but by building a relationship and studying the way others attained promotion, you can better understand the values of the individuals within the organization who are responsible for those promotions.

For example, one project I worked on was relatively straightforward in scope, but I realized that my client’s boss wanted to be recognized in the industry for innovation. As a result, I wrote a technical paper on the project and convinced my client to submit a paper, co-authored by […]

Over my career, I have witnessed two types of cultures in service-based companies when it comes to how they think and relate to ex-employees. This particular cultural attribute makes the difference between good and bad company reputations. Many of my friends talk about their children having a “half-full” or “half-empty” attitude toward life. The same is true of companies in how they deal with past employees.

In service companies, the culture relative to handling of ex-employees is very important and noticeable, because the whole inventory and asset factory of these companies is people who go home at the end of every day. Service company reputations are built on how they handle people. The attitudes can span generations of employees and set their engrained personalities. They either end up being positive and appreciative for past contributions of other colleagues, or negative and critical for anyone not regarded as a future contributor. As easily as reputations are built, they can be quickly destroyed.

Great companies celebrate and honor past contributions of present and past employees. They realize that previous generations and past performance have built the company and client base for which the current management and employee populations are now beneficiaries. These companies have alumni connections, encourage future participation, celebrate departures, offer alumni websites, plan reunions, write reference letters and create links long after they have left the firm. They don’t just do it because of concern that a past employee could become a client, but because they are a real, caring and appreciative community. They see the glass as half full, and really care about people other than themselves.

In these excellent companies, when a person leaves for another job, they fully realize that this individual contributed to their […]