Past Winner Stories
Port-to-Port Consulting
www.port-to-port.com
Port-to-Port Consulting is a full service information technology support organization for businesses in central Indiana. It provides smaller businesses with a full spectrum of IT services, specifically on-site and remote desktop support, network support, training, custom software development and consulting. Port-to-Port focuses its sales and marketing efforts in the niche areas of professional service companies, not-for-profit organizations and-small manufacturers, typically between 4 to 40 workstations.
In anticipation of its 10th year in business, Port-to-Port reassessed its progress. The company realized it needed to make some significant changes, but could not identify a successful business model in the industry.
Three years ago, the company committed to transforming itself from a "clubhouse of technicians with really neat toys" to a tightly run business operation. It developed a three-tier plan that addressed the most critical areas, areas that had significant impact on everyone, including the bankers' confidence, the employees' loyalty and the clients' satisfaction.
Rather than merely reviewing a budget in January and forgetting about it, the company overhauled the entire process, and the management team got a crash course in Finance l01. These efforts involved educating those in charge, terminating long-time working relationships that were no longer effective and enforcing the emotionally charged "management accountability" issue across the organization. Consequently, since incorporating these changes, at any given monthly meeting anyone of the management team can identify where the company is year-to-date and what has impacted those numbers. Revenue, over the last three years has been growing steadily. As with most IT companies, Port-to-Port's employees would resign in waves for "greener pastures" after about ten months of employment. The company beefed-up employee benefits by providing an all-inclusive package, including dental and performance pay and placed an emphasis on career development. The company began paying for technical certifications, association fees and recommended education seminars. It also developed interactive performance evaluation meetings to solicit communication. Most importantly, the company created a middle tier of managers promoted from the ranks to generate internal career paths with authority and responsibility delegated throughout the entire organization. Consequently, employees' average tenure with the company is currently 39 months.
Port-to-Port refocused on client satisfaction by hiring people with degrees in psychology and business, rather than concentrating solely on technical expertise, to improve client interaction. In-service training with the technical staff heightened client concerns and modified descriptions of completed work on invoices to be more understandable. And, as with most industries, Port-to-Port increased efficiency by moving to state-of-the-art remote support where technicians can share desktops from the office and troubleshoot problems via the Internet. A recent client satisfaction survey gave both the organization and its technical support the highest ratings possible.
In anticipation of its 10th year in business, Port-to-Port reassessed its progress. The company realized it needed to make some significant changes, but could not identify a successful business model in the industry.
Three years ago, the company committed to transforming itself from a "clubhouse of technicians with really neat toys" to a tightly run business operation. It developed a three-tier plan that addressed the most critical areas, areas that had significant impact on everyone, including the bankers' confidence, the employees' loyalty and the clients' satisfaction.
Rather than merely reviewing a budget in January and forgetting about it, the company overhauled the entire process, and the management team got a crash course in Finance l01. These efforts involved educating those in charge, terminating long-time working relationships that were no longer effective and enforcing the emotionally charged "management accountability" issue across the organization. Consequently, since incorporating these changes, at any given monthly meeting anyone of the management team can identify where the company is year-to-date and what has impacted those numbers. Revenue, over the last three years has been growing steadily. As with most IT companies, Port-to-Port's employees would resign in waves for "greener pastures" after about ten months of employment. The company beefed-up employee benefits by providing an all-inclusive package, including dental and performance pay and placed an emphasis on career development. The company began paying for technical certifications, association fees and recommended education seminars. It also developed interactive performance evaluation meetings to solicit communication. Most importantly, the company created a middle tier of managers promoted from the ranks to generate internal career paths with authority and responsibility delegated throughout the entire organization. Consequently, employees' average tenure with the company is currently 39 months.
Port-to-Port refocused on client satisfaction by hiring people with degrees in psychology and business, rather than concentrating solely on technical expertise, to improve client interaction. In-service training with the technical staff heightened client concerns and modified descriptions of completed work on invoices to be more understandable. And, as with most industries, Port-to-Port increased efficiency by moving to state-of-the-art remote support where technicians can share desktops from the office and troubleshoot problems via the Internet. A recent client satisfaction survey gave both the organization and its technical support the highest ratings possible.