The Hunley Way

The Commitment that makes us stand out in this business

1. There are 3 Core Abilities. They are our foundation; they are table stakes to play this game.

a. Availability

1. Respond as quickly and promptly as possible to every client request. It impresses them endlessly and makes you stand out. It is the single most important thing you can do to drive customer loyalty.
2. Never leave your desk at the end of the day with any open requests, voicemails, emails from a client that you have not responded to. Even if your response is limited to, “I got your message; will it be OK if I get you an answer by <tomorrow>,” always respond that day if you couldn’t do so immediately.

b. Affability

1. Be nice.
2. Be pleasant, patient, and understanding. Feel their pain, live their pain, make them feel that you’re solving their pain.
3. Make them say, “you guys are easy to do business with; I like you.” This is the second most important thing to do to secure loyalty.

c. Ability

1. Know your stuff. It’s essential, but it is actually #3 on the list. Never assume that “being good” is, by itself, good enough to delight clients. It isn’t.
2. Be curious. If you hear terms, topics, or questions that you don’t know, flag them and research them. Use judgment as to when you ask the client!
3. Always be adding to your skill base and knowledge level. Never get comfortable. This world moves too fast.

2. A key differentiator for us is our ability to really understand our clients’ businesses.

a. We are consultants first, technologists second.

1. Consultants know what to do and why to do it; technologists only know how.

b. Strive to know their business; understand their business model.

1. Know who their customers are
2. Understand what they sell and what their value proposition is.
3. Know their business objectives – what are they trying to accomplish?
4. Know how they’ve structured their business (sales, marketing, service, etc.)

c. Live process.

1. Define each process. Always be asking. What do they do, who does it, what do they do first-second-third, how does it start, how does it finish?

d. We define deliverables in terms of business objectives and business success.

1. When we write a proposal, it’s written always in terms of “we will automate XYZ such that ABC”. We will never write a SOW in terms of “we will implement 30 fields and 5 automation rules”.

3. Zero failure rate. Period.

a. Our objective is solid competence.

b. We will go to any length to succeed for a client.

1. We will never fail on an assignment.
2. That does NOT imply we’re perfect or that we strive for perfection. That’s too slow, too cautious, and too expensive. However, if we ever stumble – and it happens, no matter how good we are – we will pick ourselves up and we will fix it, and right quick!

c. We will keep our pride in check.

1. Asking a team member for help or saying “I don’t know” will be embraced. ii. Failing because you were too embarrassed to point out a stumble or lack of understanding will always be viewed as unacceptable.

d. Do what you said you would do.

1.  Complete your tasks, solve the problems, hit your dates.

4. Own. It.

a. Be proactive, think ahead. In this business, we’re all project managers to an extent.

b. “If it is to be, it is up to me.”

1. Take responsibility. If you spot something, pursue it.
2. For any request, always ask “when do you need to have that completed by?” iii. If it’s on your to-do list, it is your job to get it done. But that doesn’t mean it’s always your job to do it. We have smart and capable people – find the expert before you hit the wall.

c. Live the ethos of The Challenger Sale (an excellent book).

1. Think for the client.
2. Offer suggestions and ideas.
3. Push back; never be passive.
4. Seek pain; recognize pain; be who the client brings their pain to. Alleviate it.

d. Operate from a constant sense of urgency.

1. If the client is slow to respond or goes quiet on us, never wait for them to “wake up.” It’s our job to drive them, to lead them.
2. Never let the client drag you along.

e. Don’t surprise anyone.

1. Set expectations, communicate well, be repetitive and persistent in it.
2. See 3.d.i. That applies internally as well as externally.

f. Hold each other accountable.

1. All the principles you see in this document apply to all of us. And a strong team holds their colleagues to those standards, as well.
2. That means that you zing Aaron or Penny if you spot them slipping!

5. Our Internal Commitment

6. In all cases, apply good judgment.