How to prevent the "Them and Us" syndrome

As a BPO company, our success is not just dependant on providing World Class Customer service to our Clients’ customers but hinges largely on building strong client relationships, that will last for years.

At 60K, exceptional client service constitutes the core value for our business, and we always aim to become a trusted and transparent partner of our clients, rather than viewing ourselves as just a service provider. Hopefully and we believe so, our Clients see us just as that.

We continue to try to differentiate ourselves from our competition through strong relationships, and we believe that our level of service is one of the very reasons our clients continue to work with us.

So what steps do we take to become a trusted partner?

·       Be patient in building new relationships.Relationships take time. Clients will always be nervous at the beginning, they don’t know you, it takes time to build trust and there will always be a tendency to try and micro-manage until they are comfortable with you. So you have to take the time to get to know your client and for them to get to know you. Most importantly, remember that your work for your client is paramount in building a relationship. They need to be confident that you can perform to their expectations.

·       Get to know their industry and company. Keep up with your client’s company as well as their industry. See what their competitors are doing, be proactive and give them not only their customers’ feedback but solutions to problems that are occurring or may occur. Remember the interaction your staff have with your Clients’ customers’ acts as a barometer for their businesses.

·       Go the extra mile. Embrace new customer communication channels, developments in software and look for best practice to tailor your offerings to your Clients’ existing and future needs to cement your relationships further. The benefits of new offerings are two-fold: 1) clients remember the times you came through for them and 2) it may open up additional revenue streams and new product offerings you had not previously considered.

·       Treat every client as your most important one. Satisfied clients are more likely to make referrals. We have often won business through Clients’ staff who have moved on to other businesses and have recommended us to their new companies as the service provider of choice. Whether they are a Client with a requirement for 10 seats or 500 their business is just as important to you. Remember, that today’s small companies could be the big companies of tomorrow.

·       Respond promptly. When a client contacts you, respond as quickly as possible, even if you do not have the answer they are looking for. Make sure that someone is contactable 24x7 and you have a fully working escalation tree from first contact to CEO. Remember a problem with their business is a problem for yours.

·       Always summarise next steps. No matter how quick or trivial a client contact seems, always advise them with next steps you will take, and the actions that they will. Seeking agreement is key to a successful relationship and documenting everything so that nothing falls through the cracks.

·       Be Transparent. This is probably the most important point of all. At 60K we pride ourselves on being open and honest with our Clients. If we cannot deliver something on time and to their level of satisfaction we tell them so. If they want to know why our service costs a certain amount, we give them a full breakdown, even including our cost model with margins. As is said “Honesty is always the best policy”.