When people talk about customer appreciation they are typically referring to a business’s appreciation of their customers. That’s an important topic, but not the one discussed below. This post is about customers and clients appreciating us!
There are several questions that I get asked on a fairly frequent basis that all seek the same answer. The question can be phrased in many ways, but can be summed up as “why do you do what you do?”
Up until recently, I would usually dive into explanations of how I love to solve business problems through technology, how building software is like architecting a bridge that you can admire afterward, or how overcoming challenges is rewarding. That’s still all true, but the real reason is much different. A recent example illuminated this perfectly.
I’ve been working with a small-business client who is suffering from a lack of time. There are several, disparate systems in their landscape including some outside their control, e.g. systems maintained by a state agency. Their system of record is older (I would even call it “antiquated”), doesn’t integrate well, and has several other drawbacks. For now, we’re focusing on reducing manual data entry and duplication of effort in order to free up the staff’s (and especially the owner’s) time for more important activities. Things are going well.
The point of this backstory and of this blog post is what happened next.
From my perspective, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible and what I plan to deliver to this client. From their perspective though, we’ve already changed their world in a big way. Out of the blue and after only a few weeks working together, I got a lengthy Slack message containing phrases like…
“I sit here thinking of how grateful I am for you and your services and passion to help us…”
and…
“You truly have given me hope and a new outlook on life!”
and, my personal favorite…
“I trust you 100%!”
As I read through this entire, humbling message, I realized…this is why I do what I do. To completely transform someone else’s perspective, attitude, and outlook on life, through improving the business processes and technology they rely upon, is an extremely satisfying reward. It almost seems unfair that clients pay for these services too. Almost. :)
Our customers and clients will always be appreciated by us here at Metrics Consulting, but it’s nice to celebrate the win of customers appreciating you back. That feeling can be a little harder to come by in the enterprise arena, but it’s still out there. Those complete systems, or even small enhancements, that you pour your blood, sweat, and tears into delivering can transform someone else’s life.
That is why we do what we do.
Nathan Leach, CEO