Technology is often credited with powering business to innovate, expand and operate at an accelerated pace. Yet, it's the people who work with the technology who are the true heart of any organization and, in many cases, the company's most important asset—especially in terms of client service.

Targeted training and setting performance standards are essential to providing a high level of service that gains, and maintains, client confidence in fast-paced, technology- driven environments.

Ask any client who's had a problem or issue crop up and needs to speak with their technology service provider immediately to get a read on the situation and work toward a quick resolution. At these times, a pre-programmed phone menu may not pose the appropriate questions, let alone have the right answers.

A company's overall philosophy should extend to its client service practices: People come first. The technology and processes support the people.

At National Logistics Management, a client-service model was created to fit business and client needs. The operation runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's imperative that client service representatives—our ISO—certified event specialists—are on call at all times to effectively manage round-the-clock client relations.

Dedicated client teams must be highly trained in each client's specific business. When a client calls, they are guaranteed to speak with someone who knows their business well and, as a result, can provide a high level of personalized and effective service. This process gives clients an added measure of assurance in knowing they will be directed to their dedicated event specialist team, which understands their business and can immediately address the concern.

Impeccable client service should also be the prime driver in the design of your phone system, which should be programmed to route calls to the appropriate client team quickly, and should be split for specific clients as well as specific needs.

For example, clients calling in can get an electronic voice tree to start and are asked questions that, within two touches, connect them to their own team of event specialists. Our company, for example, has set key performance indicators that all employees have to meet, such as less than one minute for response to a ringing phone. A rapid response time to client concerns is essential to maintain solid client relations.

Since much of our business is Web-based, client service protocols were designed to support communications via the Web as well. At each client's location, personalized training is provided to ensure that they have a good working knowledge of how to use the system. Each training session is tailored to the client's specific business needs. In addition, the Internet services group receives specialized training for handling client concerns over the phone.

Creatively managed client service is mission critical in technology-driven operations, where extra time is non-existent and problems need to be resolved with urgency. Often, immediate access to a well-informed client service representative can make all the difference in client satisfaction.