Great Service is always defined by the person receiving it. The best efforts of any company can fall short of what the Customer expects. But, there are basic characteristics of a business that contribute to providing a Customer experience that they might describe as “Great Service”. Any company would like to think they have these characteristics. At 1PointUSA, we begin by training each employee to be sure they have the knowledge, and ability to adhere to the following characteristics...and be sure they have the willingness to do so. Below is a list of 10 traits we are careful to follow.
Responsiveness can simply be thought of as providing a timely response to a request. What is more important is the type of response provided, based on the type of request a Customer makes. When a Customer needs “action” in our market, whether it's an answer to a technical question, remote computing, or a physical service response, it’s important that the appropriate response be provided on a timely basis. Call centers are good at “getting the right person to contact you later”, but our goal is to have your initial contact to be a person who can actually help when we answer the call. In our opinion, getting a “call center” response isn’t acceptable; therefore, 1PointUSA doesn’t use a call center.
Competency to work in the building security market is critical to a successful relationship between Customers and the business. It’s a broad market that includes Access Controls, Security video, Data security, and Audio/Video, many brands, and applications. A business may choose to pick a narrow portion of the market, but companies who support the broader market with competency are much fewer in number. With years of experience in the market and a willingness to work with different brands and various scenarios in a variety of applications, 1PointUSA is best equipped to handle Customer requests without being tied to a “one size fits all” solution. We are often able to offer different options to a Customer, rather than trying to make one solution “work” for their application. This broad experience has also allowed 1PointUSA to gain competency with many product brands. This has allowed us to work effectively in buildings that utilize different brands and vintages of systems.
Courtesy is easy when everything is going well, but maintaining courtesy during stressful times can be a bit more challenging. The goal of every employee of 1PointUSA is to be courteous in every situation. In fact; it isn’t just a goal, it’s a core philosophy in our company. We make it a point to offer the same courteous professionalism no matter the situation.
Communication A Customer shouldn’t have to worry that after scheduling service, there’s been a delay and the business didn’t communicate it to them. Despite everyone’s best efforts delays can happen, but there should be immediate and complete communication from the business to the Customer. This seems like a normal course of doing business, but at 1PointUSA we know good communication isn’t to be taken for granted.
Credibility is something that is earned over time...from a first encounter, to the most recent. There are few things that can be won or lost more readily than a company’s credibility with a Customer. Fortunately, maintaining credibility is easy with regard to Business to Customer relationships. Being ethical and truthful are foundational to building and maintaining credibility.
"Secure” and “Security” are words used a lot these days. While our primary business is providing building security systems for Customers, there are areas of security peripheral to that provided by Access Controls or Video Surveillance equipment. At 1PointUSA we understand that we are working with sensitive and proprietary information in secure areas. It’s something we take very seriously, providing instructional training to each employee.
Short-term support - From the first contact with 1PointUSA a Customer should feel that they are communicating with a person within our company who isn’t just “responding”, but working toward a solution to whatever they need, or desire for their facility. It can be a tendency of companies to listen to a few words and determine what they “think” a Customer needs based on their particular product and skill-set. At 1PointUSA we train our employees to actively listen to discover what we can do based on a broader experience, and offer a Customer the best possible solution for their need for the short...and long term.
Long-term support - Changing technologies, and methodologies for serving the building security market have provided many benefits...and some pitfalls. “Technology” – No doubt new equipment has enhanced security and flexibility over its predecessors. For example; security cameras provide vastly improved images, and forensic review capabilities than in years past. The working environment for this equipment is ever changing with regard security. Updates are essential to keeping up with these changes. We help our Customers develop the best strategy to keep their systems up to date over the longer term. We are also careful to choose vendors with products that offer longevity, over those who demonstrate a pattern of discontinuing products or support after a short time.
Adaptability - Because of external and internal change, it’s more important than ever for a business to be adaptable. But, this adaptation requires the business to keep its Customers’ interests in mind. Whether it’s in regard to products, quoting or billing procedures, preferences for communication, security concerns, or work environment, it’s imperative that a company’s Customers still receive “Great Service”...as determined by the Customer.
Consistency with a Customer is measured from the first encounter, to the latest one. There will be changes based on market demands “external change”, and a number of internal changes in a company over time, but there should always be a consistent behavior toward the Customers. Of course, good change toward the Customer is great, but the change must be good for the Customer as determined by the Customer. Even though consistency seems to be; by its definition, doing the same thing over time, it actually requires an ongoing effort to maintain consistent behavior toward Customers in light of the changes that take place both in the market and within a company.
1PointUSA is grateful to have maintained many long-term Customer relationships for years. Building Security is a business that requires trust. We work to maintain the trust from our Customers that we will demonstrate the characteristics listed here, and provide what our Customer describe as “Great Service”.