18
LIVING THE SERVICE MANTRA
decided to literally give our support staff
“no way out” when it came to servicing
our clients. We had installed a new phone
system, but tough as it was, we disabled
our voicemail and auto-attendant
capabilities so it was always on us to
answer each call. We had zero tolerance
for the “I can’t get to it right now”
mentality. Instead, you made it happen.
Assigned a Time Frame – Time matters
when it comes to customer support, so
resolving problems quickly became a
priority. Answering phone calls within
three rings or fixing the problem within
one hour became the standard. We created
a “hustle” mentality and lived it each day.
Considered Customers Blameless
– When a customer called, we did not
spend precious time trying to figure out
who caused the problem or play the blame
game. We knew that this approach was
counterproductive and would not help fix
the problem any faster. We only cared
about a quick resolution so that our
customers could get back to work.
Created a Manifesto – Our mantra of
“fanatical support” became a way of life
within Rackspace, and everyone who was
hired understood that service was the
name of the game. Our company culture
was defined by it and became known for it,
even after the company went public in
2008.
Once we set these rules in motion, the
marketplace responded. We grew by 50
percent a year for over 10 years, adding 50
to 100 employees a month. Our
commitment to service was not an added
expense that dragged us down but a
tremendous motivator to help us always do
better.
THE POWER OF GIVING BACK
These days, I spend most of my time
consulting with budding entrepreneurs,
and I recommend the above guidelines to
virtually everyone in every industry I
come across. I continue to be drawn to big,
transformative ideas and finding ways to
nurture the entrepreneurs that develop
these ideas.
In 2011, I cofounded Geekdom with Nick
Longo, a former Rackspace colleague who
is now Geekdom’s “mentor-in-chief.” In
researching our initial concept, we found
plenty of office-sharing setups, but we had
never seen one quite like the one we were
driven to create. Our goal was to develop a
collaborative space that was about much
more than shared physical resources like
desks and meeting space. We also wanted
WINTER 2 0 1 8 / 2 0 1 9
to share the teaching, training, and tools
that could help people be successful in
nurturing their own entrepreneurial ideas.
The ranks of members we admit are
committed to this principle, whether
drawing from populations of
undergraduate students, basement
inventors, curious entrepreneurs, or
established small businesses.
Geekdom was founded upon what I like to
call “The Five Pillars of Geekdom,” which
consist of the following principles
(according to our research, these have
never coexisted before in a single
institution):
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Power of Open – Our members
are driven to openness and sharing,
whether they are just aspiring student
inventors or established and even
profitable small businesses.
The Power of Mentorship – Part of
the membership contract is that each
participant commit to giving back
one hour per month to collaborate
with and provide guidance to other
members.
The Power of Community – We are
all about building technologists and
entrepreneurs through the lens of
collaboration. Nobody who comes
here works as an island.
The Power of Mission – We aim to be
a force for good, working toward
advances in human and community
progress and not just toward financial
goals.