James A. Olding
Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Executive Vice President

A graduate of Xavier University with a BSBA in Marketing, he is a long-time member of ASCDI and served (2004-2008) on the ASCDI, Maintenance Committee and the SUN Committee (2008-2009). 

He was also on the Board of Directors Westwood Civic Association, a co-founder of Saints Lacrosse, and has completed the Columbus Marathon.

Q. How do you keep employees focused on “customer satisfaction second to none?” 

A. All key elements of service must be aligned to focus on customer satisfaction. Here are some ways TERiX is aligned to focus on satisfaction.

People: To be considered for a position at TERiX you must be able to demonstrate you have key service attributes. Our interviewing process looks for people that have empathy skills to go with strong technical skills. Our employees get fulfillment, and are most proud, when they fix the customer, as well as the customer’s technical problem. It is not enough to just fix the box. 

Process: As part of our escalation process, TERiX requires that managers, directors and owners engage the customer so customers know their voice is heard. Our corrective action process ensures we are working to satisfy the customer when issues arise. 

Corporate Structure: We have a customer service division whose mission it is to “fix the customer.” They are empowered to cut through any issue to resolve customer problems and ensure we are delivering service “second to none” for our customers. 

Values we work by: Fix First, 15-minute call back, empathy for the customer, and corrective actions are more than just published words, or “feel good” statements. We regularly review these with our team. We also review our delivery processes to be sure the TERiX corporate values deliver service “second to none.” 

Q. It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this …

A. As a principal of TERiX, it is vital to me that the company delivers to the values we founded the company on. Customer satisfaction, second to none, is the only measurement that counts. TERiX can fix price issues, technical issues, process issues. But if the customer is not happy … we have failed. We won’t keep the customer. OEM’s and large IT outsourcing firms are focused primarily on delivery, or what I refer to as “fix the box.” That does fine when selling commodities, and may cut the bar for short term solutions. When your product is service all you have at the end of the day is … are you meeting expectations? Is your customer happy? Is your customer coming to you with more opportunities? TERiX is paying attention to these key elements where others simply are taking it for granted. Our “second to none” philosophy is a market differentiator. Just ask our customers. We do, and we are listening.

Q. And what are customers telling you these days about their needs in these tough economic times?

A. Help me! Customers are looking for ways to reduce cost, keep systems available to their users, and for TERiX to step up and help. They are asking TERiX to take on more than just the servers. (They need help in) areas like storage, networking, and other products in their data center. (They believe) OEM’s are not being flexible. They think the OEM price is too high for the service they receive. Companies want to reduce suppliers, therefore reducing the amount of management they have to put into the support of their infrastructure.

Q. Why do you think that is? Has downsizing left them understaffed? Do they have so many daily headaches that having a trusted supplier are growing in importance?

A. The economy is forcing change. When downsizing has to occur, companies often look to outsourcing options like TERiX to pick up critical support requirements were lack of staff has caused a void. More customers are coming to us because we have been a trusted support provider on servers. They saved money when moving from the OEM when they came to TERiX, and they are getting high quality service from us. So, as other products in their data center come up for maintenance they want us to take those on and get the better service, better value we provide.