Surrey based IT solutions provider ramsac, have established themselves as a people driven, business orientated IT business. For the first 10 years of ramsac’s life there was very much a family feeling with no more than 10 people on the team. Everyone knew each other, the office was small so everyone tended to know exactly what each person was working on, and all customer interactions had at least one director’s involvement. With such a small number of employees they knew that each personified exactly what ramsac was about and delivered the service they were meant to.
As they began achieving some great successes, the need to increase the size of the team became apparent. Around three years ago, when writing the 5 year business plan they realised that by the end of it, they’d be expecting to be a team of 50+ IT professionals.
Managing Director Robert May explains “We knew we wanted to grow the business. However, for many organisations, sudden growth causes loss of their core DNA. From gathering customer opinion, we learnt that it was great service that enabled us to stand out against the competition. We decided we needed to create a culture that would see us through growth and allow staff to instinctively know how to deliver the service that made ramsac special.”
Before growing the business, they decided to cement what the DNA was, working with the whole team and consulting with customers, they agreed on 7 core customer service values:
- Communicate clearly & professionally
- Keep the client informed
- Pay attention to the detail
- Have a ‘can do’ attitude
- Go the extra mile
- Deliver on your promises
- Plan your work
- Ask for help when you need it
Combined together, the “Power of One” was born, recognising that great service isn’t just about the big things, but that in fact it just takes one different, one exceptional or one memorable action to leave a positive mark on someone.
They set about planning a launch event for the team, overnight rebranding the entire office with Power of One messages. When staff arrived in the office on launch day, each found a gift bag on their desks containing a doughnut, and a message from Robert.
‘Take this doughnut – it’s just a little thing, but I bet it made you smile. And that’s what we want for our customers. That moment when they think to themselves, ‘Hey, ramsac actually do care.’ Why do we want this? Well not only is the power of one small action important for the business, it’s also good for you.’
As Robert explained, “Each team brainstormed how their part of the business could embrace the 7 pillars of ramsac culture, what could they each commit to doing differently? Whether in front line tech support, or back office finance admin, how could they ensure that customers felt great about their daily interactions with ramsac?”
To ensure this wasn’t just seen as a gimmick and was embraced as the complete culture of ramsac they wrote their Personal Development Programme around it. This meant that every three months, when colleagues had a PDR meeting with their line managers, they discussed their own performance in line with the Power of One principals. They rewrote interview selection criteria, to ensure service values were with every potential employee.
They also launched a monthly Power of One reward scheme, inviting customers to give feedback on staff performance at every interaction, and then rewarding positive feedback with Amazon gift vouchers.
ramsac’s Operations Director, Sally Cooper explains, “We can now say with pride that we have a team of nearly 50 staff who, without pause, could recite you our 7 core service values. Better than that though, they act on these; frequently around the office you will hear conversations discussing how we could ’go the extra mile’ for a client or colleague, or one support member helping another work out how they can communicate the changes they are making to a client’s network in the most clear and simple way for a non-techie without being condescending or causing customer confusion.”
Continuing to grow the business year on year, increasing turnover, profit and the number of people employed, ramsac invests in training, apprenticeships, and new premises. Through all of this, they pride themselves on the fact that ramsac is still all about what they originally set out to deliver, exceptional customer service and stress-free IT. They make IT simple!
‘The Power of One’ isn’t just a marketer’s attempt at presenting good service, it’s the DNA of their business. It’s the single most important factor in their business’ growth and success.
Dan May
Dan is responsible for the commercial development of ramsac, including the relationships they hold with their suppliers and key partners. Dan also oversees ramsac’s marketing and business development functions and manages internal systems and quality.
Learn more about ramsac at www.ramsac.com
Understand technology for non-techies with ramsac Tech Talks: www.youtube.com/ramsacltd
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Caitlin Gardner/Dan May
01483 412 040
Caitlin.gardner@ramsac.com