In this installment of Stories from the Couch, our employees share our unique mindset and approach to work that makes your business our business.
We are not just hired hands at Centric. We are dedicated to becoming loyal and committed extensions of your team. In fact, often it’s hard to distinguish us from our clients’ permanent employees.
This mindset allows us to guide everyone — both our consultants and your employees — to do their best work in a fun, collaborative environment. We have, again, drawn on the stories of our unmatched experiences to share these examples of our customer-Centric mindset at work.
SHORT STORIES ABOUT HOW WE MAKE YOUR BUSINESS OUR BUSINESs
Getting Robotic Process Automation Up and Running
Zach Tesler is leading a proof of concept (POC) for a robotic process automation (RPA) project with a client who has little experience with us and who has been unable to get RPA off the ground previously.
Zach took the initiative to host an internal prep session for a kickoff and hosted one of the best client kickoff meetings I have attended at Centric. He did a great job of setting clear expectations for the POC, defining the type of software we’ll need to use, and explaining what success will look like when the POC is complete.
The chief information officer joined the kickoff call, and it is clear he and his team know what we need to do next and how we’ll collaborate through this project. It was a good experience for the client and set a solid tone for the work we’ll do in the coming weeks.
— Submitted by Raquel Richardson, Director, Indianapolis
Gaining Trust at All Levels
Brian Sedor and John Jolley have been supporting a financial services client since December 2021 for a highly visible program spanning across the firm related to cryptocurrencies, blockchain and other cutting-edge offerings for the client’s customers.
And when I say “highly visible,” I mean that they’ve already attended two steering committee meetings with the firm’s chairwoman. Those who’ve worked there know that a conversation, meeting or even a chance encounter with her is very rare.
The client’s program sponsor has been gradually giving Brian and John more responsibilities in preparing for the meetings, culminating with a productive session Brian led with the chairwoman and her direct reports, outlining the testing protocols in place and general updates across the program. Having the chairwoman herself involved is a testament to this financial services company’s trust in us!
— Submitted by Matt Labadia, General Manager, Boston
Overcoming Roadblocks
Bruce Williams was working on a proof of concept (PoC) for our client and found a number of roadblocks out of his control. The main stakeholder needed a lot of information, but it was taking Bruce multiple tries to get the access needed to their client systems. Even after access was granted, there were many surprises and disruptions.
Bruce patiently defined the purpose of the PoC and continued to work with both the client team members and CIO to demonstrate capabilities. He worked through the findings and was able to recommend broader, strategic recommendations about the client’s approach to reporting and analytics.
Bruce reviewed the overall approach from an IT perspective and discussed technical details around roles, design and approach that were much farther reaching than a typical PoC. He then considered options and approaches outside of our original scope to make sure the recommendations were right for the client’s situation.
Bruce’s patience, tenacity, technical knowledge and understanding helped engage and build trust with a CIO who was often difficult to engage.
— Submitted by Debbi Young, Senior Manager, Cincinnati
Treating Our Clients’ Problems as Our Own
Marc Fussell recently took over as the Interim CTO for a client. Shortly thereafter, the client’s legacy system went down. Marc tried working with the vendor, but they were unable to restore stability to the system.
Without being an expert on their system but just using his overall intelligence, experience and grit, Marc worked a large amount of overtime to help another vendor’s offshore team troubleshoot the problem at night while working to manage Centric’s client’s expectations at an executive level during the day.
The ownership and dedication to treating our client’s problem — and also our client’s vendor’s problem — as his own is the core value that Marc Fussell demonstrated and why he is such an important part of Centric St. Louis.
— Submitted by Paul Holway, Practice Lead, St. Louis
Making Our Client’s ‘Snow Problem’ No Problem
Recently, we received this note from our client:
“A heartfelt thank you to the Centric team for the solid performance regarding our applications during our two-week “Snowmageddon” this winter. At a minimum, eight-plus locations were impacted daily during the weather event.
How far the stability of the system has grown deserves recognition for every single person on this team – all the extra hours, extra effort, impact on personal time – was truly amazing. Special recognition to the team for their continued diligence towards the QA processes that have evolved our applications to the stable system they are today.
Again, thank you all.”
— Submitted by Andy Gurd, Practice Lead, Columbus