Craig Kruckeberg
Spray Control Systems Inc.:
507.583.2112
craig@minimizer.com
www.minimzer.com
Tom Salonek
Intertech:
651.454.0013
tsalonek@intertech.com
www.intertech.com
Dorreen Schmidt
The Latitude Group:
952.767.6802
dschmidt@latitude-group.com
www.latitude-group.com
Michael Vinje
Trissential:
952.595.7970
mvinje@trissential.com
www.trissential.com
Todd Vojta
Paragon Solutions Group Inc.:
763.463.3600
todd.vojta@paragon.net
www.paragon.net
Finalists detail five
smart ways to reach customers
by Sarah Brouillard
NO TWO COMPANIES offer the same product or service, but the finalists for Best Practices in Customer Relations share a common belief that customer service is a cornerstone for success.
Customer rewards
Tom Salonek, founder of Intertech, an Eagan-based software development and training company, likes to try new marketing initiatives. One of his most recent has been the Elite Rewards Training Excellence Program, to which the company has attributed a steady increase in training sales.
Customers gain membership to the program with an investment of $20,000 or more. In return, they receive a discount on certificates they can redeem to send students for Intertech classes; advance invitations to Intertech events; preferential placement for classes; and an exclusive newsletter. They also get the benefit of a simplified payment process: instead of being invoiced for multiple students, members need only contend with a single purchase order.
Getting first dibs on training classes provides perhaps the greatest advantage to members. Intertech offers three technical seminars, which typically fill up fast, says Salonek. But Lead Rewards customers receive a two-day notice before those classes become available to the public.
Even if they lose a coveted spot, the program increases the odds of getting in.
“Much like an airline, if a class is full, people who are customers can ask to have somebody bumped so that their student can be in that class,” says Salonek. Those students who agree to give up their place are compensated for their cooperation.
The program presents many benefits to Intertech as well. Receiving more customers’ money upfront increases cash flow and aids in budgeting. And enrolling customers in the program helps the company “block out” competitors, says Salonek.
“Our customers can say” to competitors, “‘we’ve already got a pretty significant investment with Intertech, we have some credits on the books, so we’re going to send our folks to them, at least for this year,'” he says.
Many of Intertech’s largest clients are participants, helping the company to have its best year ever. Revenue is on track to reach $8 million, up from $6.3 million in 2007.
Defining skill sets
The Latitude Group has had its share of challenges. Its field is a crowded one, and the IT and technical staffing-solutions provider often finds itself competing with more than 400 local companies, among them large national firms that can wield a small army of recruiters, says Dorreen Schmidt, CEO.
Most of the time, Latitude and its competitors are all working withthe same group of available talent at any given time. To differentiateitself and compete with all the Goliaths, the Edina-based companydeveloped a proactive recruiting model for identifying the majority ofongoing, repeatable skill-set needs of its customers. The company thenprovides qualified candidates within minutes of a new position comingopen.
“We decided we needed to become better, faster and stronger,” she says.
Besides agility, the company conducts its quality assurance upfront.All candidates are met in person and undergo reference checks as astandard course of business.
“Most hiring managers might consider that a typical process, but wehave found many other firms do not meet their candidates,” she says.
“Our customers certainly enjoy having a way to fill their needsquickly,” while some competitors disappoint by needing to take a day ortwo.
The aggressive recruiting model “has worked well for us,” she says,helping increase revenue 500 percent from 2005 to 2008. The company hasalso earned plaudits from the likes of Carlson Cos., which namedLatitude Group “Supplier of the Year” for two years running.
Vendors are customers, too
Paragon Solutions Group Inc., an IT security provider based inCorcoran, prides itself on its customer service, which it has woveninto all parts of its business.
“We believe that everyone we touch throughout the day or week, andthroughout our lives, is our customer and should be listened to andtreated with respect,” says
Todd Vojta, CEO. “It’s a lot of fun, because this commitment andpassion is infectious, and soon becomes the fabric of yourorganization.”
Vendors are treated in a similar fashion at Paragon. It’s the rightthing to do, says Vojta, but a good rapport with these partners alsopays off for customers in the long run. When dealing with fast-movingtechnology, “you can utilize them for additional support,” he says, andthere’s “the added benefit that you get thousands of additional supportpeople without having them on your payroll.”
Like many other companies in its field, Paragon offers education andtraining to customers and prospects. One of its most successfulseminars has been IP Security Lunch & Learn. The two-hour sessions,coupled with a luncheon, are typically hosted at the James J. HillHouse. Attendees learn about the technology they are interested in, andget some hands-on time in front of the actual product.
“They also get to interact with other people that have alreadyimplemented these technologies on some level
We are absolutelyconvinced that the better educated a client is, the clearer and moreobvious the decision to go with Paragon becomes.”
Each seminar averages 50 attendees and six to seven qualifiedprospects. Though the company began operations less than a year ago, itexpects to achieve $2.8 million in revenue, and anticipates 200 percentgrowth in 2009.
Best customers
For 24years, Blooming Prairie-based Spray Control Systems has been amanufacturer of plastic fenders and accessories for trucks. About 10years ago, CEO Craig Kruckeberg had an epiphany about his customerservice practices.
It all started when he gradually realized that he hadn’t heard fromhis first and biggest customer. A quick check showed that the companyhadn’t placed a new order in more than six months. To his dismay, hediscovered that he had lost that customer to a competitor.
“We got so big to the point that that customer just went off our radar,” he says.
“We completely missed it, didn’t see it.”
Determined to not let that happen again, Kruckeberg introduced a newphilosophy for connecting with customers. “I said, ‘We’re going to loveour customer, we’re going to touch our customer, we’re going to holdour customer, we’re going to talk to our customer, we’re going to seeour customer all the time.”
He put his words into action by investing $75,000 incustomer-relationship management software though not a standardpackage out of the box. (“The only good thing out of the box is cereal,and it still needs milk,” he says.”)
Employees keep notes on conversations they’ve had with customers,and track random biographical data, such as anniversary dates andbirthdays. Truck drivers, in particular, love to chit chat, he says.
Spray Control then turns all that random information into touchpoints with customers, whether that means sending a card or thank-younote, or making some other gesture.
“We can track and retain every move our customer makes, every itemthey purchase and every dollar they spend and every penny of profit wemake off of them,” he says. “We can track any issues that a customermay have, and it also allows us to make massive amounts of follow-upcalls.”
Low-tech approach
Trissential, a management consulting firm based in Minnetonka, takes adecidedly low-tech approach to customer relations, though it wasn’talways that way.
Five years ago, Principal Michael Vinje and his Milwaukee-basedbusiness partner went into the market each day wearing suits anddelivering PowerPoint presentations “with a big, complicated message,”says Vinje. “We did it because we felt like we had to compete with theBig Four,” such as IBM, Accenture, and other national consultancies.
After a while, the duo realized the corporate look just didn’t,well, suit them. Instead, they started looking at what their “trueself” was. They came to the conclusion that that meant an informal,even folksy approach, with client meetings held over coffee mugsinstead of at a conference table, and notes written on napkins.
The emphasis isn’t on dispensing advice, but on listening. “Thepurpose the very foundation of Trissential is to help our clientsand ourselves improve. The key to ensuring our success in thisimprovement process is our ability to truly listen and understand theissues our customers are dealing with in today’s economic environment.”
That attitude is even represented in the clothes which now lookmuch different than before. Employees wear fleece (“a nicer, moreupscale version of flannel,” explains Vinje) emblazoned with thecompany logo.
“‘Put your flannel on’ started as a term that we used to symbolizeour approach to improved communications,” he says. “It has now becomeour best practice in fostering new clients and strengtheningrelationships with current clients
I think that endears us to thembecause we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
The tacticsappear to be working. The company has gained 10 new clients this year,and revenue is anticipated to double over last year’s.
