Finally! It is possible to find a vendor who is responsive to the client!

Last week I told you about the difficulty I had trying to find an ACT consultant to help us set up a new remote location in our system.  You’ll remember the trouble I had back in September with Lester, and more recently with Colbert who left me in the lurch just one day before our planned ACT changeover.  Well, there I was, one day before the work was to be done and without any technical help!  So I started making some calls.  I phoned three ACT consultants and left short messages, expressing that there was some degree of urgency and I’d really appreciate having a conversation about how they could help us.  In less than two hours, one of them called me back.  Given my last two negative experiences with ACT consultants, not surprisingly my expectations were low, but they needn’t have been.  While I explained what I needed, Sukhi from the Belmar Consulting Group asked me several questions to better understand our issues.  I was comforted by his professionalism, but it was when I told him that this work had originally been planned for the next day that Sukhi really impressed me.

“Well let me talk to one of our technicians, perhaps we can get your changeover started this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?  Really?” I responded, just catching myself before I fell off my chair.

“Yes, sure, let me discuss it with David, and I’ll call you back in about 30 minutes.”

Amazed and pleasantly stunned, I hung up the phone.  Finally, someone who was interested in helping a client achieve her goals!

About 20 minutes later the phone rang again and it was Sukhi.  “I’m putting David on a conference call with us,” he said.  David had a few more questions as we worked out the details of what I needed done.

“I’ll email a contract over in a few minutes, please sign it and fax it back, and we’re good to go,” said Sukhi.

“What about payment?” I asked.

“We’ll get you to fax over your credit card information as well.”

“Actually, I’d prefer to pay by cheque, it’s easier for our accounting,” I said, holding my breath.

“No problem,” we’ll invoice you when we’re done.

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather!  A vendor who was actually in tune with his client’s needs instead of his own!  Finally, someone who understood that being responsive to your client’s needs is a precursor to success in business and leadership!  This is a vendor who is thinking strategically.

The ACT setup and changeover was started that afternoon and was finished the next day.   We ran into some unexpected technical issues and David was not only patient and professional, but gave us frequent updates AND took the time to answer my questions about the source of our problems.  Props and a big shout-out to Sukhi and David at the BelMar Consulting Group!

So here we are: Lester and Colbert (not their real names) who just didn’t get it, and Sukhi and David, who did!  By the way, those other two consultants I phoned, one of them didn’t get back to me till one week later, and the second, well, it’s been two weeks,  and I’m still waiting to hear from him!  Hmmm … clearly there are a lot more people who don’t “get” it, than those who do!  So why is that?  Why are the Sukhis and Davids so hard to find? Your thoughts welcome -– just add your comments below.

Also by the way, if you ever have need of an ACT consultant (and want to be sure to avoid Lester and Colbert), don’t hesitate to contact me for more information about Sukhi and David. I’d be happy to recommend them!