The E3 Philosophy

I wanted to share a concept that those of you who have known me for a while have heard me preach over and over! That is, as an IT Solutions Provider, our job is to provide 3 things to our clients. Every solution or service we provide should allow the client to be more Efficient, Effective and Economical. (E3) If we are not accomplishing those things then we are a cost to the client and should not even be there.

So what does it mean when I say Efficient? It means that the solution or service should allow the client to reduce the time and effort it takes for them to accomplish their job. It really doesn’t matter what hardware or tools we suggest it is the end result that matters. Providing a vehicle the client can use to gain real advantage in their business.

Effective? To be effective the solution will need to be usable by all as well as reliable. It should increase the client’s ability to respond to their client’s needs and help deliver on their promises. Help them be more reactive and even proactive in their relationships with their customers.

Economical? Pretty self explanatory. By helping the client be more Efficient and Effective it can not help but drive dollars to the bottom line. Establishing a Life Cycle replacement program and developing realistic budgets that include growth. Basically all the things we talk about providing with our managed/consulting services.

I don’t want to stay on the soap box too long…. However, becoming that trusted advisor requires us to look at what, why and how we do things for our clients. It is no longer about “getting the sale” it is about gaining the trust. And deserving it.

Sometimes you just need to shut up and listen.

I struggle with this one personally. IT owners tend to be problem solvers by nature. Our instinctive response to any issue is to start supplying the solution. The problem with that is that we immediately start thinking about what needs to be done and at that point we have stopped listening. The biggest part of relationship building is allowing the client to feel that someone is finally listening to their problems. A large part is just venting pent up frustration, but the other is the satisfaction they get when you are actively listening to them. Have you ever talked to someone and felt that “Hey this guy really gets what I am saying!” Mostly it is because we did the majority of the talking and they were just listening. Becoming a Trusted Advisor means first understanding what advise to give and that means fully understanding the client’s need. Ask the right questions and really listen to the response. If you are doing an assessment, go through all of the questions and take good notes. Save the problem solving for another appointment.

This is also a great technique for managing your employees. Again I struggle with this one too! They also need to be listened to and know that you are concerned about what is going on with them. If they are struggling with a customer service issue or a technical issue, 90% of the time they just need to vent.

And for good measure this technique works with your spouse as well. I really struggle with that one!!!

The bottom line is you need to gather all of the information and get a feel for the emotion behind the issue before you start to problem solve!!

Good luck with this. And wish me luck too!!