We are happy to announce Summus’ July Client Delivery Excellence recipient, Jake McKay! Please read below to learn more about Jake’s work, role, client excellence testimonials, and his approach to consistently provide excellent client delivery.
Jake’s Own Words about Client Delivery Excellence – Highlights:
“Constantly ask yourself “what is my value add?” If our client sees the value of our work on a project or as X amount, what is the additional value that you can personally bring to the client and/or project. And make sure your teams are aware and challenging themselves on that concept too so we can effectively produce. Clients are often times looking from that vantage point to better understand what exactly they’re getting out of the engagement.”
“Gain a clear understanding of your team’s strengths and interests and align those to client deliverables – maximizing that will maximize client value through increased efficiency and work product quality.”
“Excellent client delivery will help drive business development and new opportunities, growing not only Summus from a financial perspective but creating additional opportunities for colleagues to take on expanded responsibilities and grow their careers.”
Jake’s Current Client Engagement Role:
Jake has quickly stepped into a strategy and advisory assignment at a leading digital financial services company to lead a team, manage client expectations and deliver time-sensitive work and the output has been significant. Jake is a trusted leader for our more junior folks on the team, an even-keeled partner to our busy clients and is always willing to go the extra mile, no matter the task. This particular client relationship was very important since it was born out of a referral from a strong, existing relationship. We needed to ensure we lived up to expectations, in a space where we didn’t have much subject matter expertise. When handing the reins to this work over, I needed to be sure it was left with someone that I could trust to exceed expectations. Not only has that been true, but Jake has amplified the engagement to the point where we have other ancillary business functions reaching out for our services (or for Jake, himself). In our line of work, there is really no better compliment than that. Thank you, Jake, for everything you do for the account and Summus internally, you’ve been an excellent addition to our firm.
Client + Teammate Delivery Excellence Testimonials:
Leadership + Delivery Excellence: “Jake has provided leadership and guidance to our team, creating structure around communications, project deliverables, and team roles and responsibilities. Jake’s effort on the account has led to successful delivery of client objectives and further development of the Summus/Client relationship.” – Summus Group “Leading Digital Financial Services Company” Project Consultant
“Jake is a trusted leader for our more junior folks on the team, an even-keeled partner to our busy clients and always willing to go the extra mile, no matter the task.” – Summus Group “Leading Digital Financial Services Company” Account Manager, Alex Calderon
Team + Client Engagement Excellence: “Jake truly hit the ground running and is a shining example for effective leadership in an engagement. Before even being officially on the account, he was pulling together deliverables and showing his dedication to the Summus value proposition. His tireless approach to making sure client needs are met and ability to keep the team organized and effective is impressive. His professional and clear client communication has made Summus a critical component of our client’s success.” – Summus Group Career Advisor
Client Delivery Excellence delivery approach, in Jake’s own words:
- What would you suggest to your peers to drive higher value for our clients?
Think ahead, know your audience, and understand your team’s strengths and interests.
“Take a step back to understand what the full scope of the work is, all of the implications that it has on the immediate client and who they’re interacting with, in addition to Summus. Try to think several steps ahead while keeping in mind the full picture to identify issues before they manifest. Determine how to tailor deliverables to align to your client’s guiding principles and business bottom line to achieve a successful project output. Take initial client requests to a higher level, providing a comprehensive point of view factoring in dimensions like background, approach, impacts, and outcomes.”
“Know your audience and consider the emotional intelligence aspect. Understand how to tailor the level of detail in discussions to fit the specific client’s role and background. Client value is largely based on their ability to process your insights in a way that can effectively improve their strategy and positively influence their stakeholders and the business as a whole.”
“Constantly ask yourself ‘what can I bring to the table? The client is paying x amount of money for me per day, per week, per month – what tangible outputs can I help drive?’ Make sure your teams are aware and challenging themselves on that concept too.”
“Gain a clear understanding for your team’s strengths and interests and align those to client deliverables – maximizing that will maximize client value through increased efficiency and work product quality. Consider carving out weekly one-on-one time with team members to understand how the project work is progressing as well as to help ground you on what their career interests are. This will help align them to work on the current project (when available) or inform future client work assignments. Your success relies on the success of the team.”
- What do you believe are the top benefits of excellent client delivery?
Strengthened trust helps drive future requests + business development.
“Excellent client delivery gives you strengthened trust and reliability with your client and their network – clients will view not only you but also your team as a go-to for future requests. You’re leading the ship in making sure that Summus comes across as a trustworthy and reliable firm.”
“Excellent client delivery will help drive business development and new opportunities, growing not only Summus from a financial perspective but creating additional opportunities for colleagues to take on expanded responsibilities and grow their careers.”
“Achieving a true sense of accomplishment and tangible impact to clients and their customers and the feeling that you’ve made a difference.”
Please welcome us in congratulating Jake for his Client Delivery Excellence recognition, and for providing invaluable contributions to our clients, day in and day out. We are fortunate and grateful to have you as a teammate and friend, thank you for all that you do Jake!
