Now THAT'S Service!

Yesterday I wrote a blog inspired by my annoyance with companies that don't cater to the needs of their customer. Today I've got an example of the flip side: Dartmouth had been utilizing an external email provider, FireEngineRed, for a series of emails during our latest challenge as a temporary solution after getting ourselves blocked from two major ISPs for sending email in-house (something, as an aside, that I take no responsibility for!). After the challenge ended, we stopped sending a lot of email and started the search for a permanent solution to this problem. I've been demoing email providers like crazy for the last month and a half and have spoken to a ton of sales people. So when I got a phone call yesterday from the CEO and the COO/CTO of the company just to check in and make sure everything was still well, it was a welcomed change from your average sales person. I took advantage of the opportunity to ask them about a few features that they don't offer that I had seen in other providers I was demoing (specifically dynamic content and A/B split tests). They quickly said they were planning a big update and that those features, along with several others, would be available by the end of the summer. They continued: Did I want to be a part of the Beta test to see how these new features worked? Did I have any other "show-stopper" requirements that they didn't offer because they have 4 developers on staff (and are hiring one more) and can build them into future updates and are always looking for suggestions from their clients. Oh and if you even need to delay a payment due to a budget crunch, it's all good. We know you're good for it.

I was blown away. Talk about customer service! This type of relationship with the provider is difficult (at best!) to quantify when you're doing demos of their offerings but its one of the most important attributes to a successful partnership. Bravo to FireEngineRed for stepping up to the plate and putting the client's experience above all else. I wholeheartedly recommend them if you're in a search for a provider - there are few out there in the higher ed specific market or in the greater email service provider market that can match them.