Customer
Crucial Point LLC is a national security technology due diligence, consulting, research and services firm formed in 2007 with a vision to leverage the greatest technologies available to enhance our agility and ability to contribute to client missions. As a new company with a laser-like focus on customers the company was founded with a 100% cloud-based infrastructure. Google Apps forms the core of this infrastructure, with other critical capabilities provided by a wide range of other online partners, including extensive use of social media. These and many other cloud based capabilities help, but the most critical capability this consultancy must operate on is trust. Crucial Point must establish trust-based relationships with every potential client.
"Our methods include doing our research before any potential engagement," says Crucial Point founder and CTO Bob Gourley. "Before working with government agencies we read the testimony agency heads give to congress. Before working with companies we read what CEOs and their senior leadership teams are blogging about. Before taking anyone's time with a meeting we seek to understand what they want us to know about them. This investment of our time is a sign of respect for our clients and their missions and pays off in establishing trust."
Challenge
The pace of business today continues to accelerate. Global video, voice and data connectivity have resulted in a 24 hour work cycle where meetings are scheduled on very short notice and collaboration interactions like e-mail, white board sessions and chats are always underway. This makes it even harder to stay abreast of what potential clients and partners would like you to know about them. Crucial Point decided to address this challenge head-on, by leveraging additional capabilities from the cloud, specifically, the Gist Gadget integrated into Google Apps available from the Google Apps Marketplace.
Solution
With Gist integrated into the Google Apps interface, Crucial Point email users are presented with a small gadget at the bottom of each email which can be expanded to present the very latest, dynamically generated content produced from the individuals on the email. This gadget brings together, all in one place, the content from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and even press reporting. Instead of having to visit all those places separately, Crucial Point staff can see this important information instantly, at the point of decision. This saves time while giving a deeper understanding of what is important to our clients and mission partners.
Results
The information Gist provides gives us the edge we need when trying to secure new business and further strengthens the trust-based relationships we have with existing clients. We are better prepared to engage with our clients at all times because we're not spending valuable time searching for information about them. Any Crucial Point employee can access the cloud, securely, from anywhere, tapping the knowledge our partners and clients are sharing, thanks to Gist.
"In consulting, agility is important, but trust is the true coin of the realm, and Gist is one of the many capabilities that enable us to strengthen our understanding of client missions, which is a critically important component of trust," concludes Bob Gourley, CTO of Crucial Point.
