Our customers say it best

Here are excerpts from testimonial letters we have on file from some of the high-tech, manufacturing and professional services firms we’ve worked with.

We deliver the greatest value to companies that are highly dependent on 30 or fewer customers for the bulk of company or division revenues. Take a look at what some of our customers say about us!

Printer needed revenue; banker recommended us
“My banker recommended I meet with Ann Amati of Deliberate Strategies Consulting. We needed to generate more revenue, and she promised to help us develop tools to do so. Her work played a role in helping us win a contract with a new [Fortune 500] customer.

“Ann will discover things that you could learn yourself, but you would never think to ask. Even more so than the individual conversations you’re going to read notes from, getting them all summarized and put together the way Ann does it will give you an overview of your business that you will find invaluable. The benefits from the work Ann did for us will continue for years to come.”

Software vendor got customer validation to support restructuring
“I tasked you with asking my major customer contacts the questions I couldn’t ask so I could learn if the leadership actions I’ve been taking were perceived as being on track. For the record, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the work you did for me.

“Some of the feedback was a bit pointed, and a few people here took it personally, but it’s better to know than to not know. I’m working on restructuring the company and adding two positions to be filled from the outside. Your report showed me the customers are asking for changes, and I’m starting to see that we’ve gone about as far with the current structure as we can. Having customer quotes to point to makes it a little easier for me to push changes forward.”

Services firm experienced a more timely, less burdensome process than “survey firms” delivered
“When I engaged Deliberate Strategies Consulting, I already had prior experience using an outside firm to collect feedback from my customers in earlier jobs. By contrast:

• your project turned around much quicker than I expected, so the information was still fresh;
• there were many fewer meetings required to get the project started than I expected;
• you took all of the burden of material development off my shoulders;
• you worked in the background updating me with status e-mails weekly freeing me to do my job without interruption during the project;
• you did not farm the interviews out to less experienced interviewers—you did all the interviews yourself;
• the information you turned over was much richer than anything I’d gotten before.”

Hardware remanufacturer learned company was headed down the wrong path!
“After two years of flat growth, we needed a qualitative tool to understand our customer base and adjust our business model to achieve revenue growth. Your research produced the tool we needed to grow our business.

“The results of your work told us we were headed down the wrong path. While it was a message our company was reluctant to hear, recognizing the needs of our customers and uncovering market opportunities was critical for future success. I was amazed at your ability to extract such detailed data from our customers: customers open up to you in a way they never will with their sales rep or management.”

Software president appreciated our thorough, efficient process
“In the Deliberate Strategies study there was enough depth there for us to understand each issue. The research and report were objective, comprehensive and thorough. We were able to see where our company had progressed over the past 18 months [i.e., since the first project] and where customers thought our priorities ought to lie.

“In terms of process, Ann Amati did a good job of setting my expectations during the project-planning stage. Her process is well-organized and efficient in that it required very little of my time or that of my people.”

Ad agency puts its money where its mouth is
“I challenge anyone thinking about hiring you to ask themselves two questions. First, how much do they value their client relationships? And second, how much are they willing to invest to learn the truth? I know we can do the research ourselves, but our clients will never tell us the whole truth. We risk learning the whole truth only when it’s too late.

“On the other hand, clients will tell Ann Amati the whole truth. She’s a neutral third party, a professional who knows how to do this. She’ll get the story behind the story. At the same time, her involvement makes a statement to clients that we are willing to put our money where our mouth is in terms of the relationship.”

Consulting firm engages Deliberate Strategies to monitor customer expectations
“I engaged Deliberate Strategies Consulting on numerous occasions to help me keep my finger on the pulse of our [Fortune 100] clients’ expectations. I know that clients don’t always express their expectations clearly at the beginning of a relationship (sometimes because they don’t know themselves what they expect). I know that expectations change over time, and the client doesn’t usually think to communicate that. I know that whatever their expectations are at any point in time, a client’s current expectations probably don’t coincide with what’s in the contract.

“I found the in-depth feedback Ann Amati collected for us to be invaluable in helping us stay current with client expectations. I look forward to using Deliberate Strategies Consulting to help me stay on top of my current and future business partner relationships.”

*Excerpted from a letter on file at Deliberate Strategies Consulting. Please ask for a copy of our testimonials folder.