When Founder and President Tyler Jones launched Carmichael Consulting Solutions in 2011, he had a clear mission for the Roswell, Georgia-based provider of IT support: deliver exceptional, proactive customer service and ensure client satisfaction. Turns out, a customer-centric IT support offering was just what the small business market wanted. Fast forward to today and Carmichael has won North Fulton’s “Best of IT Services” award nine of the last 13 years.
How to fuel significant growth
Tyler felt the time was right to scale his business to serve more customers. Tyler and his staff were handling Marketing in-house but he knew he needed marketing assistance to achieve the growth he wanted. Specifically, Tyler wanted expert help to better communicate Carmichael’s value to prospects in a more professional way.
“We had great answers for customers and prospects about how we could support them but we didn’t communicate it well,” he said. “I’m a great technologist but I don’t do marketing and finance well. At Carmichael, we surround ourselves with people who know things we don’t, so I needed an agency.”
When Tyler met Michael Mackenzie Communications (MMC) President Jennifer Koon at a North Fulton Chamber of Commerce meeting, he knew he had to add MMC to his list of marketing agencies to consider. “Our clients’ employees depend on technology to get their jobs done,” Tyler explained. “Downtime brings operations to a halt.” As a business owner herself, Jennifer understood first-hand the importance of responsive IT support.
Tyler looked at other agencies and the choice became clear. “It was Jennifer’s strategic thinking, enthusiasm and industry expertise that won us over,” Tyler said. “Her clients were small businesses from our targeted vertical markets, and she understood their needs well.”
Carmichael and Michael Mackenzie Communications (MMC) joined forces to focus on two important objectives. First, MMC would create compelling messaging to counter small business owners’ top three complaints about IT support (1) limited availability of offshored assistance; (2) users waiting on hold; and (3) downtime. Next, MMC would build two unique message sets – one for existing clients and a second for prospective customers.
“We’ve seen MMC’s messaging inspire action from our customers and prospects,” Tyler said.
In addition to creating compelling messaging, MMC proactively identifies ways Carmichael can strengthen its relationships with their customers. For example, Carmichael handles technical onboarding of new employees for some of its clients. MMC proposed that Carmichael take new employee assistance a step further. They created a flyer to leave behind with our client’s new employees. The printed piece tells new employees about all of Carmichael’s services and features a QR code to the Carmichael website.
“This was a need that we hadn’t even thought of or defined,” Tyler said.
Intentional alignment with business goals
Each year, Carmichael and MMC review the programs and results from the past 12 months. Carmichael sets the stage for the next 12 months by sharing where they expect their market to go for the next year. Carmichael also shares its 1- and 2-year business objectives with MMC. “These meetings let MMC know where our business is going,” Tyler said. “Then, MMC aligns its marketing recommendations with our business goals to help us get there. Strategy is where MMC is invaluable.”
Third-party recognition benchmarks marketing success
To check its progress against its mission of delivering exceptional proactive service to clients, Carmichael uses a third party-administered annual survey to gauge satisfaction and brand loyalty. Carmichael Consulting’s current NPS is 85 based on a possible score of -100 to 100.
Another external benchmark of customer satisfaction and loyalty is North Fulton’s “Best of IT Services” annual competition. Carmichael has won top honors nine of the last 13 years.
Tyler considers his company’s collaboration with MMC to be a success. “Through our work with MMC, I have learned that marketing is its own specialty,” said Tyler. “We always get strong strategy and solid advice from MMC, and they’ve helped us spend marketing dollars wisely.”
Marketing became growth engine
Tyler credits strategic partner MMC as a strong enabler of his company’s growth. “Marketing is what helped us get our foot in the door to show potential customers what we could do for them,” Tyler said. “The polish MMC gave our approach helped us close bigger deals, and our materials gave prospects the confidence they needed to select us.”
According to Tyler, a growing small business at a tipping point should consider starting a conversation with MMC. “MMC is an absolute rock star at helping companies grow. We understand our customers’ needs, and MMC has helped us learn what prospects want. When you get serious about growth, MMC can help you make it happen.”
About Carmichael Consulting Solutions
Carmichael leverages its deep technology expertise to cater to the demanding needs of small business by providing infrastructure and cloud solutions, security, ISP and VoIP services and network management. The company also offers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), a fixed price approach tailored to the urgent support needs and limited budgets of small business. Clients come from the financial services, legal, healthcare and professional services markets, and each of these small businesses lacks the internal staff to support its operationally critical IT infrastructure.
