NO TWO COMPANIES offer the same product or service, but the finalists for Best Practices in Customer Relations share a common belief that customer service is a cornerstone for success.

Customer rewards
Tom Salonek, founder of Intertech, an Eagan-based software development and training company, likes to try new marketing initiatives. One of his most recent has been the Elite Rewards Training Excellence Program, to which the company has attributed a steady increase in training sales.

Customers gain membership to the program with an investment of $20,000 or more. In return, they receive a discount on certificates they can redeem to send students for Intertech classes; advance invitations to Intertech events; preferential placement for classes; and an exclusive newsletter. They also get the benefit of a simplified payment process: instead of being invoiced for multiple students, members need only contend with a single purchase order.

Getting first dibs on training classes provides perhaps the greatest advantage to members. Intertech offers three technical seminars, which typically fill up fast, says Salonek. But Lead Rewards customers receive a two-day notice before those classes become available to the public.

Even if they lose a coveted spot, the program increases the odds of getting in.

“Much like an airline, if a class is full, people who are customers can ask to have somebody bumped so that their student can be in that class,” says Salonek. Those students who agree to give up their place are compensated for their cooperation.

The program presents many benefits to Intertech as well. Receiving more customers’ money upfront increases cash flow and aids in budgeting. And enrolling customers in the program helps the company “block out” competitors, says Salonek.

“Our customers can say” to competitors, “‘we’ve already got a pretty significant investment with Intertech, we have some credits on the books, so we’re going to send our folks to them, at least for this year,’” he says.

Many of Intertech’s largest clients are participants, helping the company to have its best year ever. Revenue is on track to reach $8 million, up from $6.3 million in 2007.

Defining skill sets
The Latitude Group has had its share of challenges. Its field is a crowded one, and the IT and technical staffing-solutions provider often finds itself competing with more than 400 local companies, among them large national firms that can wield a small army of recruiters, says Dorreen Schmidt, CEO.