Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

We’d like to congratulate our strategic partner, NetApp, who were just named the #6 company on Fortune’s 2012 Best Places to Work list. They were also ranked #3 on the Great Place to Work Institutes list of the World’s Best Multinational Places to work in 2011.

Year after year, NetApp has been consistently recognized for their strong global culture and their passion and commitment to what they do every day. This kind of consistently great workplace is a vital part of dealing with the global explosion of data backup and recovery.

A great workplace allows engaged employees to do what they do best every day, with clear communication and without distractions, and NetApp does that over and over again for customers around the world.
We at Entelligence are honored to partner with NetApp to deliver seamless service time after time. We look forward to many more years of delivering more and more Very Satisfied customers.

Don’t forget to check out our available NetApp jobs .

A recent Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about how big players like Apple and Best Buy are making a grab for the growing IT services needs of U.S. startups and small businesses. The financial rewards for success are certainly there, with the use of external IT support among that group exploding and growing at an ever increasing rate. U. S. businesses with less than 500 employees spent over 23 billion on IT services last year, and that number is expected to grow to over 27 billion this year.

So far, this segment has been serviced for the most part by some 300,000 independent and mostly local consultants. Like in most service industries those 300,000 are probably normally distributed over a bell-shaped curve, with a few great ones, a few lousy ones, and a whole lot of average ones. The best of the best have figured out what matters: be affordable, be responsive, and solve the problems in a timely manner. Period.

It will be interesting to see how the small business and startup community accept the new and much bigger players. Best Buy has purchased a company called Mindshift, but doesn’t plan to carve out a space in their stores for them like they have done with The Geek Squad. Apple has formed a partnership with OnForce Services, based out of Lexington, MA which uses a “network of consultants” to deliver services to Apple’s customers.

Is this a good idea?

Since OnForce most often uses a network of independent, unproven, untested resources, how will they deliver the kind of world class customer support that Apple customers are accustomed to at the local Genius Bar?

We have learned that the secret to a great customer experience starts with hiring only ‘A’ players – the people we know and trust and have continually vetted, trained and monitor and manage. Even when we use the occasional independent contractor, we still train them continuously, and give them the support they need to deliver perfection in an environment that changes minute by minute.

Let’s face it: today’s customers are smarter, more demanding than ever and they have very high and completely justified expectations. No one has time for “Be-Backs”. And no one is looking for another “cable guy” experience when it comes to their business networks.

Small business should demand the same big business customer service. Will they find it en masse by having to sort through the resumes of 300,000 independent contractors?

That remains to be seen.

You’ve decided to do some research and find out how satisfied your customers are. Great idea. The findings? Most of your customers are at least a 4 on the 1-5 scale. Great news, right?

Wrong. It turns out that customers who are only a 4 on the scale of 1-5 are not really loyal and are likely to switch to another provider if the right deal comes along. That sets the bar awfully high, doesn’t it? The only really loyal customers who will stay with you through thick and thin are those who give your products and services a 5. Period.

So, what does that mean for how you build a system for delivering what apparently has to be perfect customer service every time? It’s simple. Every piece of the delivery pipeline needs to be flawless. Here’s what we do here at Entelligence: Hire only A Players, put them in exactly the right role, train them continuously, and give them the support they’ll need at every step along the way to deliver perfectly every time.

The result? Over 90% of our clients are 5’s. That tells us that It CAN be done, but it absolutely requires constant attention to detail, and continuous improvement. While our clients are doing what they do bet-building better hardware and software- we are doing what we do best. It’s a good relationship, one where everyone prospers and customers are delighted.

So, you’re building the best product that delivers the most for your customers. But, the demand for more and better products and services continues to expand and grow beyond what you and your team can handle. We see it every day: technology software and hardware manufacturers are under increasing pressure to deliver more and better and the pressure to deliver is only going to grow.

One answer: Branded Services. Allowing someone else who has perfected a system for the delivery and installation of software and hardware to act on your behalf will allow you and your company to do what you do best: invent, build, and design the next piece of in-demand technology. Here at Entelligence we do it every day for the biggest and the best in our industry. Though we are constantly tweaking every aspect of what we do to make it better, over 90% of our clients gives us a VERY SATISFIED rating. And because we are a branded services company, much if not all of that goodwill is showered on the manufacturers we work for every day.

And, that 90% number proves something else: That Branded Services, when executed correctly, is a deeply integrated mutually beneficial relationship that scales a profitable services business and supports the broader mission of selling more products. Blending internal and Branded Services providers can go a long way toward helping your organization achieve the all-important business goals of agility and growth.

All the evidence is in and the findings are crystal clear: Engaged and Very Satisfied customers are different. They tend to buy more, they tolerate the occasional misstep, they are vocal advocates for your brand, and they keep coming back. Those are powerful goals that can be jet fuel for any successful organization. But, how do you develop a system that builds this kind of customer service experience every time with every transaction?

It begins and ends with people. Select the right person, put them in the right role, with the right training and watch what happens next. And training is not limited to teaching them about your products or how they work. It’s also about the “Why” you and your organization do what you do. It’s about creating a sense of mission and belief in the organization and its goals that is so strong that it is constantly in your employee’s mind at every step of the transaction and beyond.

Here at Entelligence we follow this advice, and we are experiencing all of the benefits on a daily basis of having engaged customers and the right people in the right roles doing what they do best. Over 90% of our clients gives us a VERY SATISFIED rating, and they keep coming back.

It’s all about the people.