Client Satisfaction and Increased ROI are not Mutually Exclusive

What defines great service and enthusiastic client satisfaction in the ERP community?  Is it having the most knowledgeable consultants in the industry?  Being the most recognizable name?  What’ the old saying, “no one ever got fired for hiring IBM.”  Is it having the most experience as an overall company?  Is it the lowest price?  Is it all about marketing, buss words, slick proposals, etc?  Is it about Golf?  All of these items factor into the reasons why clients make a decision to choose one company over another, but do these items ultimately equate to overall enthusiastic client satisfaction and a return on investment (ROI)?  Probably not… 

If you currently own an ERP system that does not truly garner a measurable “ROI” then you are probably not enthusiastically satisfied as a client.  In my 17 years of running ERP services companies, it has been my experience that this type of end result is more common than not.  When was the last time you heard a client rave about the ERP consulting company that they used for their install?  It is extremely disappointing because really good consulting companies can have an enormous positive impact on organizations.  But more often than not clients apathetically walk away feeling jaded and disillusioned because they were delivered a mountain of documentation that they will probably never use and was mostly intended to protect the interests of the consulting company that they trusted.  Successful ERP Implementations begin and end with cohesive teams who all share the same goal, to achieve “enthusiastic client satisfaction!”

How do you ensure that you (as an ERP services company) are consistently providing service levels that lead to client satisfaction and measurable ROI?  It starts with leadership.  The person(s) that are leading these organizations really have to understand what it means to provide great service.  They have to be willing to put themselves personally on the lines for a resolve that holds “superior customer service” as their highest ideal.  These leaders need to jump in with both feet regarding a commitment to service.  To start they need look within their own organizations.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard various organizations label a client as a “problem client.”  I don’t believe in problem clients.  Leaders have the responsibility to ensure that there is no room for such internal rhetoric.  That type of poisonous attitude has to be considered completely unacceptable within your organization.  You have to “deep dive” into “where did we fall down with this client, employee, partner, etc?”   Problems are essentially opportunities, so problem clients are essentially opportunity clients. They provide an opportunity for you to showcase your responsiveness, your flexibility, and your follow-through. Companies that take advantage of the opportunities tend to leave their clients highly satisfied which ultimately allows them to outperform their competitors. These are also opportunities to ascertain that you will have a stable business environment that is poised for longevity and success.

Successful organizations often provide an environment that is supportive, consistent, simple (in terms of policy), honest, and elicits buy-in from everyone within the organization.   How do you elicit buy-in?  You have to consistently “walk your talk” – no matter what!  Establish a very simple “Mission Statement”, so everyone within your organization knows what it is and can easily remember it.  It becomes your company mantra.  In our case, it is “enthusiastic client/partner satisfaction via employee satisfaction.”  What’s funny is that these philosophies really work.  It’s the “power of suggestion.”  People tend to “run through walls” for your cause, if they feel you genuinely care about them and their interests.  You instill confidence and integrity in this process by how your actions and words line up day in and day out.  In some ways you have to lead more with your heart instead of your mind.  If you want to create true synergy that has unstoppable momentum, then treat your own people like gold.

How do you start?  Begin by treating your employees as invaluable members of a much greater cause; which in turn establishes satisfaction across the board (i.e. Customers, Partners, and of course your team).  It can be a little on the esoteric, intangible side.  Basically it’s by having a compassionate heart as the driving spirit of your organization.  Create an environment that is open, honest, straightforward, uplifting, empowering, and where all are accountable for the ultimate goal which is enthusiastic client satisfaction!  Remember, satisfied clients and ROI are not mutually exclusive.  The most base-level success, with ERP implementations, comes down to the quality of the consultants that you have on the ground.  If those consultants are not mired with a lot of extra paperwork (unnecessary rules, etc that just weigh them down in a stifling way), then they have much more freedom to create unparalleled ROI outcomes for clients and partners.  Happy consultants that are part of a team that is there to nurture and support them are by far more likely to succeed.    

I once had a conversation with a CIO of a large Federal organization.  We will just call them the “Agency” to be safe.  He was really intrigued by the “Small Giant” of a company that we had created – especially our culture.  As we were talking over a couple of glasses of wine, he asked me why I kept referring to our employees as part of a “family” and not a “team?”  “Because you can’t fire your family”, he said.  I was like “I had better come up with something that sounded really good for the CIO of “The Agency.”  Here is what I came up with, “when you make a professional commitment to our organization you become part of our team, but whenever that commitment becomes of a more personal nature, you become part of the family.”  The answer seemed to suffice.  We closed the deal and the rest is history.  If you want to raise the probability of ERP implementation success then utilize a team that cohesively works together like a family.