Obsession with impression, Part 2: The perfect host paradigm

Think about it. Do you know of a company that delivers great products but is difficult to work with because they are disorganized in some other way? Maybe it takes forever to get them on the phone when you have a problem, or perhaps their paperwork is always a mess. Or a restaurant that has great food and service but a sub-optimal restroom. Do any images come to mind? That’s the impression we never want to leave. 

At Clevertech, we like to think of ourselves as hosts at an elegant restaurant. When you come into the restaurant, the maître d' shows you to your place and provides a menu. Your glass is immediately filled, and perhaps some bread and butter are placed on the table. When the server takes your order, they ask about your food sensitivities and how spicy you prefer your food. Everything is arranged for the optimal experience.

In the same way, Clevertech regards the setup for the project as setting the stage for all of the future interactions. We go into depth upfront before we start coding. Showing up on time and properly dressed is a small part of setting up the environment--but they let our clients know we are serious, that we won’t waste their time, and that we make commitments that we keep.

The kickoff also gives the opportunity to set up how we will communicate and establish trust. Asking the right questions, going into detail and telling the truth are demonstrations of trust. Even if there are uncomfortable issues to confront, the client needs to know that we will be open to both receiving and presenting issues along the way.

Thinking back to the restaurant analogy, what do you do if the food is too spicy or too cold? Do you send it back or do you stay silent and decide never to return to the restaurant? A friend once told a story of the best service she’d ever gotten at a restaurant. She ordered the house wine and when it came, it was red. She said, “I ordered white wine.” Without batting an eye, the waiter said “Apologies, madame, my mistake.” He whisked the wine off the table and came back with a white wine. Later, she realized it was her mistake. Yet, the waiter made no fuss whatsoever. That’s a situation in which a customer feels completely cared for and will give honest feedback—and of course, they will return to your restaurant. As we discussed in a recent blog post, quick recovery from mistakes reinforces trust.

As a host, we want our clients to feel absolutely comfortable telling us they are dissatisfied, or that they need a change or adjustment to projects. We want our clients to know they can go right to the source and get an explanation of exactly why a particular design choice was made.

The customer needs to trust that we have every detail right and that if we don’t, they can always talk openly with any of our team members about what needs to be improved. To firmly establish this trust, it makes sense that we maintain a checklist of standards that every employee meets, and we stand by every one of the items on the list.

Taking care of the details and establishing trust are all parts of what we care about the most at Clevertech. We care about caring. Every client we work with should get the care we would want as clients. Putting the client’s interest first is the secret to our success, not just in terms of our financial success, but also in terms of satisfaction. Quality relationships are the foundation to quality of life.

For us, caring isn’t something abstract. Caring shows up in practices such as showing up on time, asking detailed questions, reporting regularly, and giving the client everyone’s direct contact information. It shows up in practices among our staff--such as having impeccable honesty among us, providing proper developer tooling, paying on time, and ongoing training for employees. Everything about the company is a reflection of caring. 

Traditional full-stack developers are important, but for us, the stack also has to include a commitment to an outstanding experience for the customer. Our team members need to be outstanding developers. They need to have trusted relationships with their co-workers. And they need to have a great relationship with the clients for whom they provide the work. The training and tools we provide to our staff boost their skills in all of these areas—meaning that not only do they excel at Clevertech, but they gain valuable skills they take forward throughout their careers and beyond. 


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