New Client Relationships

Welcome to 2012. If there is one thing that all university presidents and corporate leaders share in common it is in the importance of their professional relationships with key clients and constituencies. It is what they must focus on every day ---all day long. It makes me think: how can I perform in a way that will continuously surprise, delight, challenge and help my clients?

Right now, I am researching the background of a major potential client in the hope of encouraging the prospect to select KULPER & COMPANY for a major search assignment. I have already been told that the search we will undertake for them will be critically important to the success of the company. There is so much information available about the company on the web, their leadership, their products, their operating philosophy, etc. that it is a bit overwhelming; but, I was instructed many years that there is nothing like taking the time to prepare for an important meeting. It is fascinating to learn about the culture of this company and how they have grown and developed over the years through the many concerted efforts of their employees and executives. With many companies, words and phrases like---"commitment to innovation", "entrepreneurial culture", and "minimal bureaucracy to encumber decision making"----are often used as a way to deflect people from what the culture of the company is really all about. After all, in America and the world the biggest buzzword in higher ed and the corporate world is, innovation!

The more we cross reference our research, though, the more we test if our prospective client is blowing smoke or is genuinely for real. We are at a point in the development of our firm where we know that we can tackle and succeed in any assignment we accept. We have done it consistently now for 15 years and will continue to do so. It is thrilling to meet other business and university leaders who feel the same way and can back it up---when that happens we end up working on many search assignments together.

I will let you know in my next blog how my prospective client visit goes. We are, frankly, thrilled to be considered as a finalist to handle their search need. The prospect company sought out KULPER & COMPANY because of the work we are doing with our current corporate and university clients and the results we achieve for them and our commitment to working at the edge of university research and corporate innovation.

Will keep you posted.

Keep up the great efforts and the best prospects will notice and.... you will always be in demand.

Warm regards,
Keith