Mike takes pride in his attention to details in order to meet client expectations. “Every job I have had has been customer service oriented,” said Mike. “I get great satisfaction from ensuring the clients are taken care of. Goes back to when I was a boxing clerk at a grocery store in my teens. I enjoyed seeing the customer smile because they knew their eggs and bread were safe for the trip home.” Mike believes that a service well-provided makes people happy and brings value to their lives. “The joy of service has prevailed throughout my entire job history. Today, I get great satisfaction when I know my client’s business is going to run better because of the work I put in, making sure their business platform is set up properly and fully optimized.”

“One of the values I have learned is the benefit of delivering more than is expected.” Mike believes in setting reasonable expectations, and helping the client understand what they are and why. “First, clients appreciate when we are honest about the expectations that we set because they learn to trust us. Then, if we can exceed those expectations from time to time, the client feels we are working hard to increase the value we provide.” To Mike, such an effort is key in helping the client feel assurance, which in turn helps strengthen his relationship with the client. “It relieves the stress the client feels about implementations when they see how committed I am to the project’s success.”

Mike also emphasizes the importance of open communication. His goal is to ensure that the client completely understands everything they need to know as the project progresses, and that he fully understands their needs and objectives. “Maintaining good communication with the client leads to opportunities to bring extra value, such as training opportunities, additional workflow efficiencies or a better way of doing something. For example, sometimes a client will say ‘I wish the software could do this…’ I see this as an opportunity for me to talk with them to better understand what they mean. Then I can make a recommendation for a different product or configuration that is more in line with their needs.”

Mike is always willing to learn a new skillset and take on new challenges. When not learning a new facet of software, he likes to spend his time learning a new complex board game, painting, finding new and interesting Instagram food spots, and enjoying time with his rescue terrier-poodle Daisy.