Great Client Support Comes From Great People

What’s the secret to how Polar Systems meets or exceeds the high service expectations of our clients? First and foremost, it’s about our people. “We invest a significant effort in looking for and hiring the right people for our account manager positions,” says Tim Tragesser, Business Development Manager. “We know that in order to best serve our PolarStar clients, our account managers need to have invested a significant portion of their careers in the technical field, but they also need to have solid business management experience, too.”

The hands-on work that Polar’s account managers do is very much an integrated part of our client management team. Their strategic objective is to make sure each client’s network infrastructure is in line with the strategic objectives of their business. That’s a tall order, and here’s how they do it:

Quarterly Business Review Meetings. On a quarterly basis our account managers meet with each PolarStar client to dig deep into some specific areas:

• Forecasting and Network Design. We discuss what is currently going on from a business and technical standpoint. We ask if any of the client’s business goals have changed, and inquire about what’s on the horizon for their business. The answers to these questions help us determine if any changes affect the design of their network now, or if something will in the next 12 to 36 months. If so, the account manager gathers the necessary information and works with a technical team at Polar to scope out a detailed plan for meeting the client’s network needs. The next step may be as simple as purchasing software and managing the appropriate licenses, or it may be as involved as a network modification or re-design.
   
• Budget Consulting. We consult with our clients regarding IT and network budgets and help them align their business and technical goals through development of short-term and long-term technology plans.
   
• New Technology Updates. We update our clients on the latest in new technology developments and ask how we can best align new technology to meet our clients’ business goals. In the process, we discuss pros and cons of different technology approaches.
   
• Customer Service. We take a look at our trouble ticket history with each client, making sure that any trouble tickets are getting resolved quickly and that communication is being properly addressed from Polar to the client. We also look for any reoccurring patterns with the tickets, which would be a sign of something we need to investigate further.

These are just some of the areas that we explore quarterly with our PolarStar clients. “We have found that the regular communications sessions are a source of confidence for our clients,” says Tim. “Our customers consistently say that their networks have never been so secure.”

Here are profiles of a couple of the PolarStar account managers whom you may have the opportunity to work with:

PolarStar Account Manager – Gary Points

Gary has been with Polar Systems since early 2002, and has held various roles within the organization – from Network Engineer to Technical Services Manager, and currently as a PolarStar Account Manager. He began his career in the networking business in 1996 at a large system integrator as a technician, and soon thereafter, a systems engineer. Just prior to the dot-com years, Gary moved on to a larger consulting firm which specialized in data center hosting, and enterprise-level design and implementation projects.

Gary has held technical certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Websense, and Novell, and has completed the Project Management Professional (PMP) coursework. He is currently enrolled in business management and entrepreneurship coursework through the University of Iowa.

Gary got the computer bug early and, when not engaged in sports, spent a lot of time writing various software programs in BASIC on early Apple computers. As one of his first accomplishments, he wrote a computer program to predict College Football scores when he was just ten years old for his college-aged brother to bet with his bookie!

Gary and Karen enjoy travel (he’s visited 45 of the 50 states!), music, digital photography and spending as much time as they can with family and friends.

PolarStar Account Manager – Dan Phillips

Dan joined the Polar Systems team about a year ago and brought with him a strong business background, having just previously owned his own network management/low voltage cabling business for nine years. Before starting his own business, Dan served six years as the director of technology for two large systems integrators, developing network service programs, technical training programs and managed as many as thirty network technicians and support staff in the delivery of network design, implementation and management services. Prior to that he was a service manager for a computer maintenance business, where he managed service technicians in the repair of computers, printers and all types of computer peripherals.

His career in the network business started with an associate’s degree in computer electronics technology in the 1980s. He went on to become one of the first Novell certified network engineers, and then received his Master CNE and A+ certifications. Like Gary, Dan has also received certifications with CISCO and Microsoft. He has many years designing, implementing and supporting networking technologies and served three years on the Novell education counsel, helping set standards and establishing course outlines for technicians seeking certification with Novell Worldwide.

Dan and Lindsay keep busy in their spare time keeping up with their three children Donny (16), Albert (6) and Kileigh (1).