In this installment of Stories from the Couch, our employees share the unmatched customer experiences they have delivered to their clients.
We take creating unmatched experiences seriously. In fact, we even built a portal that allows consultants and employees to share their stories of creating experiences unmatched by anyone else.
Their stories demonstrate how clients benefit from our deeply experienced and blended global teams, our flexibility, and our focus on your needs, industry, and desired outcomes. We know our clients expect us to go the extra mile and put in the work needed to get every job done on time and within budget — but in the stories collected below, you will meet some of the people committed to delivering unmatched experiences every day.
SHORT STORIES ABOUT DELIVERING UNMATCHED EXPERIENCES
Increasing Data Availability with Innovative Solutions
Our client was experiencing both performance and capacity issues with a Power BI report developed by another consulting firm. The client had made prior attempts to work with the other firm to resolve the issues, but the consultant did not have the technical expertise. The problem continued to get worse, and to keep the report functional, they had to keep reducing the amount of time data was available to end users. The client struggled to meet end users’ requests to expand the time period during which they could access the data.
Centric India’s Abhinav Singh recognized we could quickly convert the Power BI dataset to an Analysis Services cube with little effort. A quick series of tests and data validations proved this approach would resolve the performance issues and allow their data availability time to expand dramatically.
We quickly moved the new solution into production, resolving the performance issues and doubling data availability. We completed this work with the active engagement of the clients’ chief technology officer, providing her a great example of an unmatched experience from a Centric employee.
— Submitted by Darren Touseull, Architect, Indianapolis
Tailoring Work to Meet Clients’ Budgets
Nicole Demetro and Phil Swettenham had recently completed Phase 1 of an Enterprise Change Management project, and the client asked us to propose continued support. We delivered an approach and statement of work (SOW) for Phase 2 that met its goals and objectives.
When our client expressed budget concerns, Phil and Nicole worked together with the client to maintain momentum and crafted a quick response and revised the scope to fit the client’s budget constraints. Coupled with a thoughtful, well-prepared presentation, they successfully received approval to proceed with Phase 2 and have since continued our work with this client.
Working through it as we did – being both timely and considerate of their budget needs as well as program goals – impressed our client and helped cement a reputation that Centric is easy to work with, attentive to their needs and a good partner.
— Submitted by Brad Nellis, Market Development Executive, Cleveland
Flexing to Manage Mother Nature
Early on the morning of October 29, 2020, Tropical Storm Zeta hit Atlanta, Georgia, where Matt Hawkins and his family reside. Matt reached out around 7:30 a.m. to let our team, who was leading a St. Louis client, know he was without power and would be for, possibly, several days.
However, Matt refused to miss a beat and went on with his already packed schedule, “business as usual,” even working from his car for power. One of our clients’ business leaders even tried to give Matt a pass and acknowledged his A++ effort in our first meeting. Then, after dealing with a leaking freezer emergency and who knows what else, he still showed up and facilitated a second, very effective client project meeting that afternoon.
Not even letting a major tropical storm interfere with client obligations – I see that as an unmatched experience for sure! And I’m glad to report that Matt and his family remained safe throughout the storm.
— Submitted by Tammy Graham, Senior Consultant, St. Louis
Staying Diligent
When our client’s critical batch job failed with no alert notification, system inputs stopped processing overnight, bringing transactions key to the business and the client’s customers to a stop. Centric India’s Manish Rai proactively investigated the issue before the start of the business day in the U.S., and he raised the red flag for Centric and client teams about this Priority 1 issue. They quickly created a resolution room in the early morning and manually retriggered the job. Rai saved the client from a crisis that would have been a major issue if gone unnoticed.
In response, our client wrote to Rai: “This is such a critical job, and I know this could have been easily missed because of the high volume of alerts we have been getting recently. This saved the day. Your diligence is very much appreciated!”
— Submitted by Leigh Helsel, Key Account Manager, Columbus
Delivering the Truth, Even When It’s Not Pretty
Our client asked Carrie Butler to do a “quick” assessment of a Microsoft Dynamics implementation. As soon as she started, she realized the environment was extremely challenging and complex. Working over the weekend and putting in extra hours, Carrie continued forward and put a ton of extra effort into summarizing and reviewing her findings with the client.
Although the findings captured a lot of difficult news about the state of the Dynamics implementation, Carrie’s summary was thoughtful and well-prepared. Her professional approach and her ability to share stories about her previous experiences allowed her to deliver the news in such a way that our client listened carefully throughout the entire meeting.
While our client may not have wanted to hear everything Carrie had to say, he walked away with an understanding of what needed to be done. Carrie’s delivery also showed the client that she had the expertise, professional background and our client’s interest in mind.
— Submitted by Debbi Young, Senior Manager, Cincinnati