Meet the Finalists in the 2006 Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award
Many small-business owners worry that advancing technology takes the human touch out of customer service. But the finalists for the 2006 Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award see it differently. Each company's innovative use of technology makes their back-end work easier. That means they spend less time worrying about how to get the job done and more time building relationships with customers. Watch for details on the winner of this year's award in the Aug./Sept. issue of MyBusiness magazine and at www.NFIB.com/ceaward.
AMAD Logistics
Agustin Mendoza, president and general manager
Miami
www.amadlogistics.com
When customers in Central America need goods shipped to the United States, they call AMAD Logistics. For more than 12 years, this international freight forwarder and logistics company of 10 employees has perfected ways to ship and track orders overseas.
On being a small-business owner: "It gives you the freedom to explore and pursue your own goals and ideas."
On technology: "I have no formal training in technology, yet I've used my 27 years of experience in this industry to develop software that helps our business run more efficiently and helps us serve our customers. If I had to pay someone to develop this, it'd be too much money. Being a small-business owner allows me to be even more innovative than big companies."
DataCert Inc.
Eric M. Elfman, president and CEO
Houston
www.datacert.com
Businesses need only to look to DataCert to reduce outside legal spending. With applications like the Advanced Invoice Management System, DataCert supplies more than 6,300 customers, including 55 Fortune 500 companies, with electronic invoicing and corporate legal-spend management solutions.
On being a small-business owner: "The best thing about being an entrepreneur is the ability to create something from nothing. We created a company where none existed and a market where none existed."
On technology: "Because we were a small, lean company when we started, we also had to learn how to use technology to run our business and act as a 'force multiplier' for our meager resources."
Errand Solutions
Marsha McVicker, founder and CEO
Chicago
www.errandsolutions.com
The people behind Errand Solutions routinely use technology to bring convenience not only to themselves, but also directly to their customers in health care, hospitality, residential properties and corporations. They provide customized concierge and convenience services using on-site customer service representatives, proprietary Web-based software and logistics processes.
On being a small-business owner: "I started Errand Solutions because I fantasized about finding someone to run my errands who would be affordable, consistent and friendly. I developed a business to meet my needs, and now our business is meeting the needs of more than a million Errand Solutions users."
On technology: "That personal touch—a factor that distinguishes us from our competitors—is made possible by our use of information technology. So on the surface we're a warm, fuzzy high-touch business. But in the background, we're a cool, information technology-enabled, high-tech operation."
Harrison's Roof Truss, LLC
Mike and Shelley Harrison, Owners
Coleman, Okla.
Harrison's Roof Truss specializes in giving customers optimal service the first time around. By using a laptop in the field to input readings from building sites into engineering software, the roof and floor truss manufacturer not only helps customers visualize structures, it also keeps exact measurements updated to save them the cost of rebuilding later.
On being small-business owners: "The best thing about being in business for ourselves is that we have the opportunity to take our business as far and wide as our drive and determination allow. The sky is the limit."
On technology: "We live in a fast-paced, technology-driven society. Technology allows our business to keep up with our demanding environment, and it has the ability to provide instant results in less time. We know that technology is a valuable part of our business and that it greatly benefits our customers. But with every new avenue comes new crossroads. The greatest challenge in keeping up with today's technology—whether it is a computer, software or another product—is finding the time to learn how to utilize it. We overcome this by relying on products with first-class customer service and technical support."
Micro Technology Services Inc.
Fred Beckhusen, president
Richardson, Texas
www.mitsi.com
For more than 15 years, Micro Technology Services (Mitsi) has developed and manufactured custom electronic products for a wide variety of clients. Mitsi also builds IT-based messaging systems, which allow hospitals, courthouses and other large organizations to replace hardwired panic buttons with virtual ones that operate over a network.
On being a small-business owner: "Mitsi has developed thousands of products that, in some cases, resulted in billions of dollars of sales for our customers. That leaves me with loyal customers and low marketing costs."
On technology: "The microcomputer revolution is just getting started. There are an infinite number of ways we combine computer hardware and software together into profitable new productions. For us, finding reliable suppliers and contractors is a challenge. So we become very loyal to vendors that meet their delivery promises."
National Association of System Administrators
John Blanchard, CEO
Crystal Lake, Ill.
www.nasasupport.com
Always looking out for the little guys, the National Association of System Administrators provides quality IT support to small- and mid-sized organizations, such as community hospitals and county government entities, whose survival rests on the reliability of their computer systems, but who can't afford maintenance support from the equipment manufacturers.
On being a small-business owner: "I can do what's right for my customers, my business and my employees without having to answer to a layer of bean counters. Every decision I make doesn't have to be about dollars and cents."
On technology: "We are always developing new ideas, and technology makes it possible to achieve them. We use the most advanced technology to offer our customers the best products and services available at a reasonable price. We aren't a big company, but we are a lean, flexible one with a reputation for thinking out of the box to come up with solutions for our customers."
Ntelicor, LP
Mark Cohen, president
Dallas
www.ntelicor.com
Putting companies with immediate or emergency technological needs in touch with people who can help them is what Ntelicor does best. Using interactive databases and audio, video and text information technology, the IT consulting firm matches clients like American Airlines, Ameriquest and the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank with the right team of technological experts to help them complete projects.
On being a small-business owner: "Freedom to succeed and to fail is what I enjoy most about running my own business. No bureaucracy, organization or hierarchy impedes my ability to make the best decisions for my business. No senior partners, bosses, entrenched bureaucrats or people with varying constituencies impose limits."
On technology: "Having time to evaluate and implement technology is the greatest challenge we face as a small business. We don't have time to run our business and also fully understand what new technology could do for us, or what its cost savings or productivity gains are. When we do implement new technology, it inevitably takes a significant amount of time. We overcome this by trying to stay current on what proven technology is available, talking to people who are already using new tools, applications or technologies and relying upon experts to advise us."
Pipal Research Corporation
Manoj Jain, CEO
Chicago
www.pipalanswers.com
If data is what your business needs, Pipal Research Corporation has all the answers. To provide on-demand custom research at an affordable price to busy professionals, Pipal Research Corporation created an innovative, Web-based platform that allows clients to ask questions--and receive answers--whenever they need them.
On being a small-business owner: "As a small-business owner, I have the ability to truly shape my destiny. And when I see my business creating value for my clients, a new sense of being takes over."
On technology: "Anyone with a business school degree and entrepreneurial aspiration can open a consulting shop. That's why we have to innovate to be distinctive. Technology enables us to deliver higher-quality results in less time and also at a lower cost than our competitors. But if we can use technology to our advantage, our competitors can as well, so we look for continuous improvement and innovation opportunities."
Sew What Inc.
Megan Duckett, president
Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
www.sewwhatinc.com
The curtain never falls on Sew What's constant stream of customers, most of whom are in the entertainment industry or the special events, education and trade show exhibit circuits. Sew What helps customers who need theatrical drapery or custom sewing services.
On being a small-business owner: "Sew What has afforded me the opportunity to really have a vision and to pursue it. I can be creative, imaginative and progressive on my terms."
On technology: "Unquestionably, technology has played an extremely important role for us, not only allowing us to rise to the standards of our largest competitors, but to even exceed those standards and advance our service to the next level."
TRS Consultants Inc.
Ranjit Chakravorti, president
San Ramon, Calif.
www.trsconsultants.com
TRS Consultants provides public- and private-sector clients with engineering, public works, construction management and information technology services. Since 1987, TRS has serviced more than 150 projects whose estimated total costs are more than $1.5 billion.
On being a small-business owner: "When you work for others, you work for the supervisor. When you're in business for yourself, you work for everyone—your staff, your clients and your vendors. Business is about people. A business owner is just a catalyst in making a successful business."
On technology: "The greatest challenge to implementing new technology is finding the right people. A small business can't hire too many people because of limited resources. But the application of technology reduces the need for a large staff."
Day at Dell
The 2005 winner gets an insider's look at Dell
When Dr. Timothy Kriss left his job at a medical clinic with 250 employees to start his own small practice in 1996, other physicians scoffed at his idea of trying to make it alone. Yet almost 10 years later, Kriss' rural neurosurgery practice in Kentucky is thriving thanks to his innovative use of technology. In 2005, Kriss was named the winner of the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award, which includes a lifetime membership to NFIB, $30,000 in Dell technology and a two-day visit at the Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.
During his visit to the Dell campus in March, Kriss got an exclusive tour of the manufacturing floor, attended product demonstrations and visited with several Dell executives, including Michael Dell himself. Kriss used the time to ask questions and share stories of success, lessons he has learned and failures he has experienced with Dell, entrepreneur to entrepreneur.
"There was really no way I could have run my business by myself until someone came up with the technology," Kriss admitted in his visit with Dell. "Using technology, such as voice-recognition software, and being able to keep my database on a laptop let me focus on running my business."
Kriss plans to use his $30,000 award for products and services to boost the technology of his health-care practice to better serve his patients and their families.
"Unfortunately, there's more technology in a grocery store than in a doctor's office," Dell said. "Technology is part of the solution in making health care more efficient."
