I’ve always had an affinity for mass transit, an affinity that has been strengthened since taking my current job with Pixafy. Coming from Connecticut, using Metro-North, which allows me to take a train into the city instead of drive, is a must. I got to know the subway, for both getting to the office and to other clients. And more recently, after moving to Stamford, I started using buses occasionally, as I live more than a mile from the train station and when bad weather hits, walking isn’t always feasible.
As a client of all of these various mass transit options, it’s amazing how in sync they generally are, allowing me to get from my apartment to my office in a reasonable amount of time. But when something breaks down, and I miss a connection or get stranded for a while, it can quickly become the most frustrating. More importantly, such missed connections or delays cost me time that I can’t get back.
It’s a similar situation here at Pixafy. Many of our clients have multiple partners, whether in the fields of branding, marketing, SEO, and so on. When everyone’s working together and in sync, it’s a great thing, and amazing work gets done. But we also know that it can get incredibly frustrating for our clients when things fall out of sync.
It’s important for a company to step forward and facilitate those connections to ensure the wheels are turning smoothly. This is why we put measures in place to both keep things running smoothly, and to quickly correct issues when things fall out of sync:
1. Our project managers proactively seek out answers and updates when things get quiet or off the project plan, and help guide things back on track by keeping an eye on scope and timing.
2. Our engineers and designers report blockers immediately and move to other tasks to keep projects moving forward.
3. We have regular meetings with our partners to provide an update, demonstrate our progress and make sure we’re all on the same page.
4. In between those meetings we bubble up questions and concerns as quickly as possible to avoid major roadblocks.
5. We get to know our clients’ partners, so we know how they work and can be a good partner with them as well.
6. If things do manage to get out of sync, we immediately take stock of the situation and take steps to resolve the issues, scheduling additional time if needed to correct any issues.
Just as I, a client of mass transit, appreciate when everything goes smoothly, our clients feel the same way when things go smoothly with their project. And when things do fall temporarily out of sync, quick action to resolve the issue keeps everyone happily working together. And the client can focus on other areas not related to the site, knowing that their partners are making good progress.
