We all just finished up closing out 2017. It was a wild ride for most people! Mergers & Acquisitions are at an all-time high, and the economy is moving at a speed that is arguably unprecedented.
As we shift gears to 2018 here at JMARK, we’re doing what a lot of companies are doing—focusing on our clients, our employees, and our company’s overall health. If you’re in the business of delivering B2B services, you’ve seen the expectation of Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) rise, while the commoditization of services drives the expected prices for those services down. How do you deliver world-class services to your clients, provide best in class pay and benefits to your employees, and maintain enough profitability in your company to sustain the business and provide shareholder return?
Seriously. That wasn’t rhetorical. How do you do it?
I don’t claim to have the silver bullet, but I can tell you what we are doing at JMARK.
In 2018, we’re focusing on the client. Wait! Don’t click over to Pinterest! Stick with me here for a second. I know that sounds like a cliché, but give me a chance to explain.
In the services field, it all starts with a client experience. If you cannot deliver a client experience that people crave, then you don’t have a foundation to build from. That doesn’t just mean “doing a good job for your customers”—it means being an invaluable business partner. It means being their most important business vendor.
How do you do this? First you must have buy-in at all levels of the company. In our organization, that buy-in looks like this:
- Marketing: Find the message that resonates with the people you want to do business with. To us that means finding companies that want their technology to drive their business, and don’t look at having computers, email, and software as a “necessary evil.” There are plenty of fish in the sea, as the old adage goes, and not every prospect makes a good client.
- Sales: Focus on nurturing those desirable leads and prospects. Help the ones who understand the benefit of your product see the value, and educate the ones who almost get it so they climb fully on board. At JMARK, we are focusing less on a traditional quota, because it sends the wrong message. We want to bring in business partners, not just “new logos.
- Service Delivery: Not to brag, but at JMARK, “Our Clients Rock!” Knowing this, we have rededicated ourselves to putting the client experience at the heart of our service. The people who rely on your services have made a commitment to you, and you have to honor that commitment by being exceptional—every time. In 2017, average was the expectation. In 2018, EEEE (Everyone Expects Exceptional Experiences). If you aren’t delivering an Exceptional Experience, why did you come to work?
- Operations and Administrative: Support those who support your clients. Everyone at JMARK serves one of two roles—they either support our clients, or they support those who support our clients. Keep the EEEE in mind, and enable the success of those who help your clients.
With this framework, I’m confident that we are set up with a path for success in 2018. The synergy we have between Marketing, Sales, Service Delivery, and Operations is at a level it has never existed at before. Every one of us is singularly focused on our goal, determined to:
Tell the world who we are.
Bring in the right clients.
Provide an Exceptional Experience to our awesome clients.
Support our teammates in new and exciting ways.
What are you doing in your business to make 2018 the best year your company has ever had? For information on how managed I.T. services from JMARK can help you conquer 2018, call us today, or visit JMARK.com.
