Nextiva is a VoIP phone company whose services we use and have also implemented for several of our clients. In the last 12 months we had used and changed 2 providers. Nextiva was our 3rd try and whilst we were hoping to be 3rd time lucky. It was around 2 months since we had begun using their products and the overall experience was excellent. There were a few major disasters. But the Nextiva team worked with us through those and ensured that the issues were resolved.
Al who heads and manages the VoIP business didn't want to take any chances. And hence decided to take a trip to the Nextiva office so we could see and meet the team. He asked me to go along. It took me less than a nano second to say Yes. The reason was simple. The temperature in Connecticut was below 0 and Nextiva offices were in Arizona where the temperature was in the 70s and 80s.
We arrived at the Nextiva offices in Phoenix on Friday morning. I was stuck by the posters on the walls.
These are interesting. But not surprising. Its fashionable these days for offices to put up posters designed by HR and PR agencies that say all the right things and position the company in a good light for its visitors and employees.
We met the Sales Director Ira, who welcomed us warmly. Interestingly the first thing he did was take us on a tour of the office. It was an impressive office with several dashboards being monitored on large TV LED screens. But what caught my attention was the people. They all seemed extremely happy, smiled a lot and were genuine and warm even when they were speaking to strangers, also known as customers on the phone.
We met with Josh their CIO. I was interested in learning from him their technology platforms, their development processes and their underlying philosophy. Not surprisingly it revolved around people. The decisions were based to a large extent on what can keep people interested and engaged to do good work. We met several of the team members, all of who in addition to being extremely nice knew their stuff.
One person who made an exceptional impression on me was Paul. We already knew Paul was an amazing person just by the way he had stepped in and helped resolve the issues we had had. On meeting him we were surprised to see how young he was. And how clear he was in his concept of " We need to do Whatever it takes to meet the customers expectations".
Cara a team member described herself and everyone there when she said, "Its a great place to work where everyone is enthusiastic and bubbly and love what we do."
All of the above cannot happen by chance. It needs a leader and a visionary. I was fortunate to meet 1 of the 2 founders, Tracy. He took us for lunch and it became very clear that the founders had a clear vision of what they wanted and the fact that having a great team was the only way to get there. Whilst that was a good thing I was puzzled as it seemed to me that it cannot be enough. And then during some conversation Tracy mentioned details of some minor issues. I was curious as to how he would know, until he explained that he reviewed every single support ticket. It all started making sense.
When the founders are personally focusing on customer service and people the probability of success grows exponentially. No wonder then that the founders have tasted major success in their previous ventures. And I have no doubt that Nextiva too which is already a very successful company will be a major player in the VoIP vertical in the next couple of years.
The visiting cards of the sales and marketing teams say, "Amazing Service". The Tech team cards say, "Amazing Support'. I say "Amazing People".
Al who heads and manages the VoIP business didn't want to take any chances. And hence decided to take a trip to the Nextiva office so we could see and meet the team. He asked me to go along. It took me less than a nano second to say Yes. The reason was simple. The temperature in Connecticut was below 0 and Nextiva offices were in Arizona where the temperature was in the 70s and 80s.
We arrived at the Nextiva offices in Phoenix on Friday morning. I was stuck by the posters on the walls.
These are interesting. But not surprising. Its fashionable these days for offices to put up posters designed by HR and PR agencies that say all the right things and position the company in a good light for its visitors and employees.
We met the Sales Director Ira, who welcomed us warmly. Interestingly the first thing he did was take us on a tour of the office. It was an impressive office with several dashboards being monitored on large TV LED screens. But what caught my attention was the people. They all seemed extremely happy, smiled a lot and were genuine and warm even when they were speaking to strangers, also known as customers on the phone.
We met with Josh their CIO. I was interested in learning from him their technology platforms, their development processes and their underlying philosophy. Not surprisingly it revolved around people. The decisions were based to a large extent on what can keep people interested and engaged to do good work. We met several of the team members, all of who in addition to being extremely nice knew their stuff.
One person who made an exceptional impression on me was Paul. We already knew Paul was an amazing person just by the way he had stepped in and helped resolve the issues we had had. On meeting him we were surprised to see how young he was. And how clear he was in his concept of " We need to do Whatever it takes to meet the customers expectations".
Cara a team member described herself and everyone there when she said, "Its a great place to work where everyone is enthusiastic and bubbly and love what we do."
All of the above cannot happen by chance. It needs a leader and a visionary. I was fortunate to meet 1 of the 2 founders, Tracy. He took us for lunch and it became very clear that the founders had a clear vision of what they wanted and the fact that having a great team was the only way to get there. Whilst that was a good thing I was puzzled as it seemed to me that it cannot be enough. And then during some conversation Tracy mentioned details of some minor issues. I was curious as to how he would know, until he explained that he reviewed every single support ticket. It all started making sense.
When the founders are personally focusing on customer service and people the probability of success grows exponentially. No wonder then that the founders have tasted major success in their previous ventures. And I have no doubt that Nextiva too which is already a very successful company will be a major player in the VoIP vertical in the next couple of years.
The visiting cards of the sales and marketing teams say, "Amazing Service". The Tech team cards say, "Amazing Support'. I say "Amazing People".
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