Being a Customer Advocate Inside the Service Provider

Client/partner relationships in the security industry are most successful when the parties know and trust one another deeply. Services are often provided frequently, sometimes daily. How does the partner maintain the trust of the client, and vice versa, through all the challenges that come from maintaining and expanding the client security systems?

Partner team members must be customer advocates. Client team members must want the partner to be successful.

This means that all parties must be focused on addressing client needs promptly. It sounds easy enough but what does it mean in practice?

• Clear concise communications are done promptly
• Client and partner team members have defined responsibilities
• The workload is shared to ensure no single person defines the relationship encouraging a team approach
• There are multiple layers of skills and experience to call on as needed based on the size or volume of the relationship
• Criticism and praise flow freely amongst all parties in both directions
• A report card is used to gauge the effectiveness of the relationship regularly

Successful partner organizations can scale this model across multiple clients. This requires focusing on developing partner team members to expand their skills and knowledge of clients and their systems. It also means clients support this personnel development whenever possible.

John Maffey

President & CEO