Client Managers: Here To Help You Grow!

The pole attachments industry can be tough to support. Every team has a different workflow, and every pole owner has a different deliverable they expect from attachers and engineering vendors. That is to say: there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution.

Over the years, we’ve continued to attack this from multiple angles. Angle one is to make sure Katapult Pro is based on industry-standard approaches to design (real-time maps), data collection (photo documentation), and engineering (make ready and integrated pole loading analysis). The other angle is to ensure that Katapult Pro can be custom-tailored to our customers' specific workflows and deliverables. When you need something more specific than our user configuration allows, we also offer custom coding as a way to bridge the gap.

Until the day when Katapult Pro can solve every problem, and it is perfectly documented and infinitely configurable from the user interface, our Client Management team is here to save the day! We assign a Client Manager to each new team when we kick off their pilot project in Katapult Pro. During the pilot phase, Client Managers make sure teams get trained and equipped, provide proactive support, and find ways to help each team grow at their own pace.

Here are a few of my favorite ways Client Managers help the Katapult team achieve our ambitious goals:

1. They execute our Proven Process. When we looked back at our most successful customers, we found that their onboarding process was largely the same. It started with a clear "needs assessment" to define their scope and outline a pilot project. Then, we spent focused time training and equipping them and working closely with their technical staff to get their models and account set up correctly. As they tackled their first project in Katapult Pro, we provided proactive support and helped to systemize and automate their new workflows and deliverables. Once the project was in a steady state, we stayed on standby for the next challenge! This proven process hinges on our support team and client managers who are highly experienced at supporting pole attachment projects.

2. They are experts at Katapult Pro and supporting difficult projects. It is extremely important to us that our platform is built and supported by industry experts. Most of our staff has spent time in the field, and our engineering teams live and breathe make ready engineering. This means that our support team and client managers know what it's like to be out in the field for long hours on terrible days, and our technical support staff have wrestled with the challenges of reviewing pole data from every angle and trying to get great engineering decisions out the door so that fiber can be built. Our client managers spend their days meeting with industry experts across the country and finding new and better ways to solve pole attachment problems.

3. They'll help you meet your goals. We know our software is successful when our customers are growing, either in size or in the bredth of engineering services offered. Client managers measure growth through different ways, but their ultimate objective is to help you succeed. In my support experience, sometimes dropping an unhealthy project is the first step towards growing your team the right way. Client managers play the long game by supporting your needs first and foremost—even if that means dropping a few licenses or cancelling access to a Katapult Pro offering.

4. They value fair exchange. On a similar note, our client managers are not solely customer advocates. They also look for opportunities to create win-win-win scenarios for you, for Katapult, and for the industry. They don't believe others have to lose in order to win, and are willing to leave money on the table to foster healthy relationships.

5. They're keeping a pulse on our Dev Process and the industry as a whole. Client managers hear more feedback and learn about more opportunities than almost anyone else on our team. This means they are constantly on the hunt for new offerings, tools, and features that can serve their clients' needs. To succeed at their roles, client managers need to be highly attuned to the Katapult roadmap and highly aware of all their customers' projects, pain points, and needs.

6. They care about you and your team as humans. If you get a chance to have a deep conversation with your client manager, you'll find out pretty quickly that they're not in this for the money, and not even for the poles. They love helping people and being a small part of your team's success. Sometimes this is just listening, sometimes it's connecting you with another vendor, and sometimes it's jumping in to save the day at the last minute. Support isn't a glamorous job, and it can be really tough some days, but client managers keep coming back day after day because of their desire to serve and build lasting relationships.

Thanks for reading! For more information about the Katapult Pro platform or how Client Managers are a crucial component to our onboarding process, reach out to us at sales@katapultengineering.com!