work better = better work

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

There’s a better way. There always is.

When we started Gojectory we put considerable thought into reimagining how we can deliver the best services while also being the best place to work. Clients have a multitude of Salesforce consulting firms they can chose from and quality Salesforce consultants are in high demand. How can we raise the bar to attract the best clients to work for and the best consultants to work with?

For starters, we looked at what consultants love and hate about their work.

Ask any consultant what they love about the work and you will hear:

1. It’s Inspiring: The clients are purpose driven organizations who work to make a difference in this world.

2. It’s Challenging: Salesforce has opened up a huge world of possibilities of what associations can actually accomplish with technology. It is immensely gratifying to meet client challenges in ways that were not possible before.

3. It’s Rewarding: Salesforce consultants are in high demand and well compensated.

Then ask what they hate about the work:

1. Overwork: 60+ hour work weeks are more of the rule than the exception. Burnout is common.

2. Waste: Every organization has some degree of waste; meetings, onerous policies, politics and the like. This is especially frustrating to consultants as their entire job is focused on helping clients do things better and they are are keenly aware of waste.

3. Lack of Control/Trust: Consultants are often treated as ‘resources’ that need to be managed continuously. If you are an autonomous, honest, and a hard worker this unnecessary monitoring is wasteful and degrading.

Next we looked at what clients are looking clients need and want:

1. Experience and Excellence: Clients hire consultants because, in theory, they know Salesforce inside and out and can tailor it to meet their tactical and strategic objectives. They want someone who has broad experience and can guide them to an optimal solution. Too often clients have to deal with a “newbie” to Salesforce or even associations in general.

2. Fresh Perspectives: Clients want someone to challenge their assumptions and not just do what they ask. An overworked consultant often just goes with the flow to get the job done.

3. Energy: Implementing and maintaining enterprise software requires someone who is rested and excited about the work.

4. Consistency: Clients put time and effort into bringing a consultant up to speed on their goals, challenges and strategic initiatives. They want a long term relationship so they don’t spin their wheels bringing the new consultant up to speed. No amount of documentation can equal working with the same group of people over time.

TEAM > Client > Shareholder

At Gojectory we take care of a huge portion of getting the best people and clients by making one simple change.

We center the entire company around the consultant.

The Client is #2

This means the client is not number #1, the client is number #2 and the shareholders are #3. We firmly believe that if the consultant is happy he/she will bring it to a new level every day for our clients. The best thing we can do for our clients is focus on enhancing everything team members love about their job and removing what they don’t. If we put our team first, we know everything else (customer satisfaction, productivity, profits) will fall into place.

1. We Work Less: We expect our team to work 40 hours and not a minute more. We expect them to take their vacation (really - go away and don’t check in). We need the team to be creative and energized every day and any more work than this is detrimental to that.

2. We Eliminate Waste: Consulting is a creative endeavor that requires significant un-interrupted periods of time to devote to delivering a great solution. We do everything possible to get out of the way and let our team do great work.

   1. No meetings. None. Zero.

   2. Work from anywhere. Hours can be saved by not commuting.

   3. Flexible schedule.

   4. Flat hierarchy.

3. 2-Second Lean: We focus on micro improvements through daily Kaizen (full credit to Paul Akers - we are huge fans) . Every team member is given daily focused time to make something better for Gojectory or the client experience. We literally get better every single day.

4. We Empower and Trust Our Team: Our team is made up of grownups and we don’t weigh them down with policies that treat them like a child that can’t be trusted. If we did not fully trust them we would not hire them.

Everything is a tradeoff

Wes Trochlil has a phrase that I love: “Everything is a Tradeoff”. Here are the tradeoffs that we accept and our clients will have to accept:

1. We Will Stay Small. Seal teams have about 12-16 members. Once a firm grows larger than that you need management, HR, etc. It’s hard to be big and agile.

2. We Will Likely Cost More. Our clients will pay a premium for having an experienced and creative top notch consultant who is well rested. Our value proposition is that our team will deliver more value than any other Salesforce consulting firm.

3. We Will Be Selective: In my 28 year career I have been blessed with clients who are some of the best people I ever met (I am close friends with many of them). That being said, we also worked for a few that were difficult to deal with, did not have the right culture or just were not a good fit. Thankfully, there were very few of these, but they sapped the energy out of our team. Gojectory is not for everyone and not everyone is for us. We will only work for clients that have a positive, kaizen culture. That is where we are going to be able to make tangible and significant improvements and deliver the most value. We want you to push our envelope as much as we push yours.

Be Part of our journey

If this is appealing to you as a client, let’s work together. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.