There's no such thing as 'your' challenge: it's ours to overcome together

In unequivocal terms, Eugène handles new service contracts, while Harm deals with service level agreements (SLAs). But as Harm sees it: 'There is one aspect that connects us in everything we do: customer satisfaction. Our answer to the challenges faced by our clients always takes the form of a balanced mix between my delivery perspective and Eugène's commercial outlook. These two aspects need to complement one another, and we can only make sure that's the case if we're always on the same page, if we keep challenging one another, and if we constantly keep each other up to date.’ Eugène adds: 'We share a common challenge and responsibility: keep our finger on the pulse of what's going on at our clients, and figure out how best to respond to that.' Harm concludes: 'When I work with Eugène, one plus one always equals three.' 

Relationships as the cornerstone of success 

Not the contracts, but the relationships we have with our clients are the key to our success. Harm elaborates: 'We believe the relationship aspect far outweighs the contractual aspect. In a good relationship, you find a solution when things don't feel quite right.' Eugène adds: 'If it was up to me, we'd file a contract the moment it is signed, never to be looked at again, and we'd start building a relationship instead. Contracts are there for when you want to part ways. Relationships are built by being transparent about everything you do. Really getting to know your client is also essential. Of course, your client will always know their business best, but you still need to know what matters to them.'  

Eugène continues: 'I go by the following credo: make sure you remain visible all day long. I spend my entire day meeting people I've never spoken to before. I'm constantly asking myself: who do I need to reach out to, so that I can gain an even deeper understanding of my client? When you ask all the right questions, any challenges simply reveal themselves, and we can then start work on solving these for our clients.' Harm comments: 'While Eugène focuses on new service contracts, I focus on constantly improving existing service contracts by means of continuous improvement, I'm more internally oriented, with a focus on finding improvements for clients: what obstacles do we face, and what can we make even smarter?' 

A minimum client satisfaction score of eight 

Eugène goes on to say: 'Ultimately, my aim is to keep Harm even busier in his job by adding services that enable us to even better meet the needs of our clients.' Harm responds: 'And we can only do so when our clients give us a satisfaction score of eight or above. Any lower than that, and they're unlikely to say "let's go back to Conclusion for seconds". Customer satisfaction is a responsibility we share with one another, and we've recently started measuring it using our own customer satisfaction app.'  

Eugène adds: 'Using the composite services of more than 25 expert firms, we spend every day working to deliver successful digital transformations for our clients. Our ecosystem offers lots of advantages. One of these is agility: clients can call on one of our areas of expertise any time they need to.' Harm comments: 'Even so, that also presents certain challenges. Getting all the separate businesses in our ecosystem to function as one takes genuine skill. And sometimes, things don't quite go as expected. When that's the case, we hold up our hands and explain how we'll go about setting things right.' Eugène adds: 'And we always keep that promise. There may occasionally be a bump along the road, but we always find a way through.' 

Models, an intuitive touch, and fifty years of experience 

Harm and Eugène's toolkit is bursting with tools to help clients move forward. Harm provides more detail: 'What we do is combine experience on the one hand with models and theory, which give us structure, on the other hand. Conclusion has developed the TWO model to create insight into the interplay between technology, working methods, and organization. That model is always in the back of my head, as is ITIL and DevOps. I can draw on all those approaches, before adding a generous dash of intuition into the mix. Aside from that, I make sure I always stay up to date with the latest developments in delivery.'  

Eugène stresses that: 'Models should never become the sales talk in themselves. Clients can see straight through that; what they're looking for is authenticity. The TWO model is genuinely outstanding, but it only works if you add your own story into the mix, with everything you know about a client. On top of that, Harm and I bring a combined fifty years of experience to the table. Clients get to draw on that completely free of charge. That's a deal that's simply too good to turn down!'