The 7 pillars of ‘Customer First’

Hyland’s customer-first culture contributes greatly to our customers’ experiences with our company, solutions and people. As part of Customer Appreciation Week, we’ve created seven pillars of customer service, which showcase how we approach our core corporate value of making customers our partners.

The 7 pillars of customer service

1. Align around our brand promise

“We enable organizations and their employees to achieve their full potential.” This is our brand promise — a promise that we extend to every customer on behalf of every Hyland employee. This promise, though seemingly humble at first glance, is actually pretty big; it’s the acting framework that guides the work of all Hyland employees and their interactions with customers. We want to push everyone to think beyond our stated brand promise and customer-first culture, though, and more strategically consider exactly what kind of experiences they aim to provide customers throughout their relationships.

2. Honor and manage customers as assets

We understand that our customers’ business, and even more so their loyalty, is something we earn — it’s not expected. In order to gain customers’ business and loyalty, we know we need to deliver on the solutions, services, and expectations that we’ve set for ourselves.

3. Use open channels for customer feedback

Providing our customers with reliable channels so they can voice what they love about their experiences with OnBase and Hyland, in addition to what they think could use some improving, is the key to having engaged customers. And even more important than those channels and the feedback itself is what we do with this information as a company. We listen to the feedback we receive and facilitate conversations with our customers to help find solutions to the challenges they’re facing. Our surveys are just one example of these feedback channels Hyland has in place; vertical OnBase group user experts, industry panels, the OnBase Beta Program, Customer Health Checks, the UX Team, customer software change requests — the list goes on, and all are available to our customers to make sure they can talk to us, so we can listen and respond.

4. Be reliable

Answering questions in a timely manner, delivering on promised results, clearly expressing organizational goals — these are all the responsibilities of our customer-first culture to ensure our customers are having positive experiences and are well taken care of. Hyland makes sure its communications and actions with customers are reliable and looks for potential weak points to remedy.
Our employees feel a sense of accountability for customers and any issues they share with us, which is why we follow up both internally and externally until we find the resolution those customers need. Our commitment to our customers and their success plays a large part in the loyalty and advocacy we see from our customers.

5. Get personal

Engaging with our customers doesn’t simply begin and end with facilitating dialogue — here at Hyland, that’s just cracking the surface. We understand that every customer is unique, not just in the challenges they may be facing, but in their personal preferences, as well. That’s why we take the time to learn what our customers’ preferences are and what types of interactions they benefit from the most. Conversations with customers also consist of more than just ‘business.’ We want to hear about their upcoming birthdays and anniversaries, and how their kids are enrolling in kindergarten or graduating from college.
At Hyland, we understand that lasting and meaningful customer relationships go far and beyond the fact that we listen to our customers — we also remember what they share with us. Making personal connections and understanding our customers as people and not just as a business goes a long way.

6. Be your customer’s cheerleader

Our customers promote both Hyland and our solutions to other organizations and industry peers, and we return that loyal gesture by advocating for them internally, too. Both professionally and personally, we cheer for our customers — whether that means congratulating them on the launch of a new product, or finding time to assist with an event they’re hosting.
By listening to our customers and supporting them in their professional and personal endeavors, we become better acquainted with their businesses and develop a stronger aptitude to make decisions that are truly in their best interest as the relationships evolve.

7. Be delighted

What’s the secret to delighting customers? Delighted employees! Employees who feel empowered, trusted, and capable in the eyes of their employer will go out of their way and act on their own initiative to support their customers.

Hyland genuinely wants to support its employees, both professionally and personally, and measures to promote this are in full play. We’ve created an environment that embraces constructive dialogue, which makes facilitating a conversation about professional goals and development a more approachable action to take. And, if anonymity is a concern, the option to provide feedback through anonymous employee surveys also exists.

There you go. Our seven secrets to success, which now aren’t so secret anymore.

That’s OK, if you’re an organization trying to copy them, you’ll quickly learn how much dedication it takes to keep these customer service pillars standing tall.