IT Solutions Blog | Trigon Technology

No Ifs, Ands, or Buts

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As we navigate the waters of our troubled economy, looking and taking advantage of every opportunity to maintain and hopefully improve our ‘feet in the door' of our existing client relationships, I am constantly evaluating my actions and making pseudo mental notes of my results against client expectations all in the hope that my actions are exceeding those client expectations. Until now, every action that I have taken, I have taken with a singular thought in my mind.  That thought: ‘What have I done to ensure that this client's expectations are being met?' Most of the time, I have had not a single doubt in my mind that, through my actions, the client has not only been satisfied with me but with the Company that I am representing. It has only been a few weeks since I realized that, while ensuring client satisfaction is the ultimate goal, I can achieve this same result by loosening the strong ties that I have always had to romancing the client and combining this with an age old process guaranteed to ensure client satisfaction, the Scientific Method.

I was recently reintroduced to this tool which, I am a bit ashamed to admit,  I had long since forgotten about.  Had my view not been so steeped in delivering client satisfaction through the known channels that I have become accustomed to, I would have realized, sooner than later, that the Scientific Method will, beyond the shadow of a doubt, every single time it is implemented, guarantee 100% client satisfaction.  Needless to say, I have since realized not only the value of this tool in a singular instance, but the importance of utilizing its simple approach with the majority of client interactions that I run across. 

Let me shake the cob webs loose in your minds and provide a brief review of the steps of the Scientific Method.  In conjunction with the steps, I have provided a brief interpretation of what I think the core take away/element of the step is.  In light of our recent introduction, I am always in the market for unsolicited feedback - good, bad or indifferent.   

1. State the problem - Be clear and concise.  Make sure that you have gathered enough information from the source, et al. to demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of what the problem is or the rest of this process will fail.
2. Research the problem - By ensuring your understanding of the problem, you will be able to keep the parameters of the research in check at all times.  If you are not clear on a research technique, utilize your resources whether it is a co-worker, a text book, white paper or Google to locate the answer.
3. State the Hypothesis - Clearly define what it is exactly you are trying to accomplish with this round of testing. Do not be general in your hypothesis as generalities will lead to a lack of concrete results which will ultimately negatively impact client satisfaction.
4. Test the Hypothesis - This process should be the easiest to do because you are simply putting in to action steps 1-3.  You have done the research it's time to have some fun by putting you research to the test.
5. Analyze the Results - Now that the testing has been completed, you are left with a pile of results that you need to review, interpret and, based on the interpretation, make your recommendations.  Do not hesitate to solicit the assistance of a subject matter expert to ensure that your results are interpreted accurately.
6. State the conclusion - keep it short and sweet as the results that you reviewed in step 5 will be more than enough to substantiate the conclusion.

In its purest sense, the Scientific Method is the epitome of Customer Service as it leaves nothing to chance and, if carried out properly, provides results that are irrefutable and 100% accurate. What more do you need to ensure that your client is satisfied with the job that you are doing, the troubleshooting that you are performing or the discussion about the product that you are recommending.  I am sure that nay sayers will argue that ensuring client satisfaction includes dinners on the town or tickets to the big game (I know this because I was a nay sayer) but trust me when I say that if you sit down with your client and provide iron clad proof (the results of your testing) that they should choose a particular product or take a specific next set of steps to resolve a problem, you and your client will see the true value of the Scientific Approach to problem solving.