Have you ever received outstanding customer service? Like, so outstanding that you tell others about it? At SDN, we hope our customer service isn’t just average. We hope it’s so memorable, that you’ll tell others about your experience with us.

Here’s an example. At SDN, we have a company-wide program called the “Silver Dollar Program.” When customers or other employees notice someone from SDN going above and beyond for customer service, that person can be nominated for a silver dollar to recognize their efforts. Why a silver dollar? Our CEO, Mark Shlanta is a coin collector, and his reward shows all of us that customer service pays at SDN.

The employee leading the entire company in silver dollar coins is Aaron Texley, a Senior Network Operations Technician. Coming in second is his boss, Rodney Grissom, Director of Network Operations. Although we know that customer service is not a competition, it’s nice to recognize those who are exceptional at it.

Click the video to see more:

Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications

2010 is here and we’re back to the old grind, but I must say that when you work for a great company with equally great customers, getting back to “it” doesn’t seem, well, so painful! I am especially reminded of how fortunate we are as a company to have such wonderful customers every year in the month of December. It is that time of the year when my fellow colleagues in the Commercial Sales group and I begin our three-, sometimes four-week Christmas gift deliveries.

It is our goal to see every customer in person and thank them for their business during that time of the year because without them, there is no SDN Communications. Unfortunately for me (and probably a few others) I missed out on about three out-of-town customer visits due to snow storms this year and I had to use the mail for those deliveries. By the way, if you are one of those customers reading this, you’ll be seeing me before too long!

So, after three weeks of traveling hundreds of miles, shaking one hundred hands and receiving gracious thank you’s from my customers, I am reminded why I chose this sometimes stressful, but rewarding career path in sales at SDN Communications. It’s because of customers like you! Thank you for your patronage in 2009 and I know I speak for all of us here at SDN when I say we look forward to serving you in the New Year and the following years to come! Have a safe and prosperous 2010!

Click the graphic above and fill out the form to request your free copy of the book ”One Common Thread: Simple Inspirations to Create Customer Loyalty.“ We appreciate your interest in allowing us to share 20 years of service inspirations with you.

(Please include your name, company name and mailing address as well as a comment that you would like a copy of the book. We’d be glad to send one out to you.)

Would you like to read more about this book? Click here to read our “One Common Thread” blog.
Would you like to know more about the author? Click here to read about Dee Dee Raap.

Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications

SDN’s customers face unique challenges. SDN develops customized solutions to solve them. Need examples? Read these case studies and see how SDN’s services have simplified business for our customers.

Farley’s & Sathers – This candy company needed to find a way to connect all of its locations after an acquisition. SDN’s MPLS solution helped the company increase bandwidth, integrate multiple locations and improve Quality of Service (QoS) on the network.

Liberty National Bank –Liberty National Bank and Valley Bank used MPLS to connect all branch locations, improve efficiency and provide for future growth after their merger.

South Dakota Army National Guard (SDARNG) – The SDARNG used MPLS to connect 42 different locations, allow for expansion and increase bandwidth on a site-by-site basis.

Great Western Bank – Due to exponential growth, Great Western Bank needed to implement a system that could help guide expansion and future VoIP implementation. SDN’s Netflow Traffic Analyzer service provided the solution.

Julie Hoyer
Marketing Specialist

This week (the first full week in October) is Customer Service Week—a nationally recognized event honoring the people who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism.

SDN Communications takes great pride in seeing our customer service survey results increase each year. With the industry standard at a 42% customer satisfaction rate, SDN’s numbers reached 87% last year. To make sure our customer service ratings remain high, we hire a company to anonymously survey our customers and all SDN employees go through a high-level customer service training. The efforts are paying off.

In fact, SDN is publishing a book about customer service and how it can affect revenue, relationships and referrals. Watch for our book, “One Common Thread: Simple Inspirations to Create Customer Loyalty” available soon.

How is your company’s customer service measuring up?

Customer service is important now more than ever because the Internet has made it so easy for the average customer to share his/her experiences with others. These two examples of poor customer service eventually had thousands of hits on YouTube within days and even a song on iTunes (not to mention blogs like this one):

Renee Halgerson
Marketing Specialist
SDN Communications