What’s the difference between being a mediocre company and one of the best?
The start of a new year always leads me to reflect on why I chose this path; what inspires me to get up every day to give my best to Cardinal Peak Technologies (CPT). As General Manager, I’m often asked to explain what makes CPT stand apart from the sea of tech companies in the Boulder/Denver area. Whether I’m interviewing a potential new hire, speaking to a reseller about becoming a partner, or simply explaining to potential customers why they should choose us, it’s my duty to provide a solid answer. Over the years, I’ve come to love the question; it’s my chance to boast about what I truly value.
It’s a gross oversimplification to say that the answer is our people and our products, not to mention that’s one of the most overused clichés out there. The truth is that both people and products can fail you. With technology moving at the speed of the light, there can always be technical glitches that come out of nowhere. There’s no way to avoid failures in the field, and with more and more people no longer working for the same company for life, there is no guarantee you’ll always have the team that first built your product. So, what’s the difference between being a mediocre company or one of the best?
It comes down to the core values that guide employee behavior. It’s those very values that shine through in the product design, the customer service provided, and the way in which the team treats one another. It’s not possible to implement a company’s core values by hanging posters throughout the building or to write them into a mission statement. And the only way to truly assess if a company’s values are being upheld is to simply witness them as they unfold day by day. As I sat down to write this post, I thought it would be fun to share how I see our core values being exercised on a daily basis.
Quest for Knowledge and Understanding
We were all born with an innate desire to learn, grow, and pass our knowledge on. I’m fortunate enough to see this every single day, from our administrators through to our developers. Our engineers will take the most intricate concepts and thoughtfully distill them into layman’s terms for all to grasp. In turn, when our customers call to report an issue they do not understand, that same attention, care, and eagerness to help is reflected in the customer support we provide.
Beyond Complexity Lies Simplicity
This runs throughout our product design. We go to great lengths to make sure it doesn’t take an IQ of 200 to operate our software. If we can’t explain our product simply and concisely, then it’s back to the drawing boards to redesign it so that we can.
Customers for Life
Once we become family, we don’t intend to put you up for adoption. Law enforcement is made up of a close-knit community, and once a part of this community, news of the failure to treat one another with the best service possible spreads like wildfire. Once we have you, we will do everything to make sure you have no reason to leave.
Trusted Partners
We’re only as good as the components that run our software and the people that represent us. We carefully choose the best brands to guarantee we capture the very best audio (Louroe) and video (Axis), ship our components in the sturdiest cases (Pelican) by the most reliable shippers (FedEx), and load our software onto the finest servers (Dell). We learned early on that if our solution doesn’t capture the recording every single time without fail, or if the customer doesn’t have a good experience, there’s no one to blame but ourselves. We’re committed to ensuring you get the recording you need every time, while keeping the process simple and painless.
In the end, as much of a cliché as it is, I guess we truly are only as good as our product and the people that represent it. That, and our dedication to upholding our core values with every challenge we face. We hold ourselves to the highest standard, and our success is wholly measured by our ability to retain our customers. We invite you to put us to the test; contact us today and see if you agree.
Author: Tonya Clement, General Manager, Cardinal Peak Technologies
