build lasting, trusted advisor relationships through expert software solutions, cross-industry experience, and a commitment to integrity, client success, and long-term impact.
Our applications software architects and developers understand what “trust” in the trusted advisor role means. Our cross-industry focus and diverse expertise allow us to realize the positive impacts that can come from the implementation of technology to improve business processes in organizations of all sizes. We serve clients across many industries, including manufacturing, banking and finance, utilities, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and more. We also have clients ranging in size from international organizations to small regional offices. Our advisors understand the nuances of a variety of platforms, fundamental and evolving architectural models, and design principles. We have deep experience building, maintaining, extending, and supporting solutions on today’s – and yesterday’s – technology stacks. Determining the right tools for your solution needs and leveraging those tools to make the best use of your organization’s technology assets is important to your business. We are accustomed to the complexities of today’s broad technology environment, and we use a variety of tools and approaches, choosing the best one to fit your needs. In last month’s newsletter, Carrie Rudolph talked in more detail about how to keep your competitive advantage despite the complexities of rapidly emerging technologies and ever-changing industry trends in her article titled “Competitive Advantage Never Gets Old”.
Why Does Building Trusted Relationships Matter at Keller Schroeder?
The most direct way to say it: There’s nothing that Keller Schroeder sells that your organization can’t buy somewhere else. We don’t have any proprietary products that we own. We don’t have exclusive access to technical knowledge. We don’t have protected territories for selling hardware, software, or associated services. The heart of Keller Schroeder is our people and the relationships we build with our communities, prospects, clients, and each other. Those are the primary assets of our IT consulting business, which is reflected in our tagline: “We exist to make positive, personal impacts on our employee-owners, on our clients, and in our communities.” Our core values focus on bringing positivity, humility, and shared accountability to all our interactions. Whether we have spent time working directly with our clients or within our internal teams, everything we do impacts the quality of our relationships in some way.
Focus on the "Longer-Term" Impact
Trust is a fundamental requirement, and like most elements of good relationships, it takes time and sustained effort to build; however, it can quickly be threatened or lost through momentary carelessness or neglect. One of the features of our shared culture is that we all know intuitively that trust is built on truthfulness and demonstrating competence, commitment, and caring. This doesn’t mean that we’ll never get it wrong, but it does mean that we’ll communicate proactively, own our mistakes, and make them right. It also means that we put your organization’s best interests first, at times foregoing a newer technology solution if it isn’t a good fit for your business processes. We believe in the importance of acting with integrity over the longer term. It should be clear that “longer-term” is our focus – it takes far too much time and effort to build valuable long-term relationships to risk them for a quick gain.
While we’re talking about “longer-term,” it is worth pointing out the value of a trusted long-term relationship from your viewpoint. When your team invests their time in improving our understanding of your business processes and people, you gain valuable peace of mind, continuity, and efficiency. In other words, you avoid the need to continually rebuild a common history and understanding, enabling us to get things done quickly. Our clients have shared with us about the positive impacts they experience by partnering with us to ramp up on a new product or service that they have embraced as a strategic initiative rather than sourcing through another specialized provider. Our deep experience and familiarity allow us to step in and backfill critical staffing and skillset gaps for our clients.
It’s the Truth
With rapidly emerging technologies and ever-changing business rules that can pose challenges to growing your business, you need a trusted advisor on your side. Who do you consider a partner that can help you make strategic decisions to reach your business objectives or improve your business processes? Who can offer sound and practical advice on technology, custom application development, software integration solutions, and industry trends while putting your business interests first? Who do you see as a trusted partner that brings extensive knowledge and experience to the table and allows you and your team to focus on growing your business? Keller Schroeder serves in the trusted advisor role for many clients in our 47-year history and we would like to talk with you today about your software application solution needs!
