Eric Grunden, Chief Client Officer at Intelerad, explains why the client experience must always remain central to all strategies.
When expansion happens fast, it feels like a win. New clients join the roster, teams double in size, and market reach increases. But rapid growth due to acquisitions often comes with a hidden cost. Client relationships, the foundation of a company’s success, may waver under the pressure. It’s tempting to wait for the dust to settle and determine whether a course of action is required rather than funneling resources into a proactive strategy that might not be needed. However, a little planning can pay off in a big way when the time comes – and it will come.
Intelerad learned this first-hand after a two-year period of intense growth, marked by eight acquisitions. Like many organizations that scale quickly, especially through acquisitions, we faced friction in our client relationships. Our personalized, high-touch service around the development and implementation of medical imaging software became diluted as we grappled with new processes, larger teams, and increasingly complex demands. Understandably, some clients became frustrated with the growing pains and support struggles.
Any business facing similar challenges should know that these periods of hypergrowth don’t have to mean the end of client trust. They can be a catalyst for meaningful change, creating opportunities to strengthen relationships in exciting new ways. To take this effort beyond surface-level tweaks, focus on realigning strategies, listening earnestly, and putting clients back at the center of everything you do. Here’s how.
Acknowledge Client-Support Problems
High-growth phases rarely go off without a hitch. There are bound to be some hiccups along the way, and that’s OK – as long as they’re acknowledged. The first step in maintaining or rebuilding trust is simple but profoundly critical: prepare to own any mistakes you can’t get ahead of. Too often, businesses reflexively shield themselves from criticism during turbulent times. Excusing poor service as a side effect of growing pains or simply ignoring concerns sends clients a clear message that they don’t come first.
Intelerad’s revitalized approach involved candid conversations with clients and a rigorous internal evaluation to fully understand which processes had gone awry and why. When clients expressed disappointment over multiple issues — ranging from one-off glitches to implementation challenges and communication shortcomings — we leaned into accountability. It’s crucial to safeguard or re-establish credibility with clients by acknowledging pain points and committing to addressing them.
Transparency lays the foundation for trust. Taking ownership of missteps, even small ones, does more than close the gap with disillusioned clients; it demonstrates a commitment to preserving and enhancing those relationships.
Strategic Realignment Requires a ‘Client Obsession’ Mindset
Recognizing the need for change is one thing. Generating a plan and implementing it is another. For Intelerad, the realization that our client service model wasn’t broken but outdated was a key turning point. Understanding that reactive problem-solving is ineffective in high-stakes healthcare environments shaped our plan to implement proactive, ongoing engagement designed to anticipate issues before they escalate.
This prompted the launch of our recently unveiled “Client Obsession” initiative. Driven by collaboration and buy-in from the top down, we’ve redesigned our client experience model with leadership realignment playing a pivotal role. Unwavering support from every level of the organization — from the C-suite to frontline support — helped to establish the mindset needed to make this initiative a success. Enhancing teams with seasoned professionals who possess the expertise and perspective needed to embrace Intelerad’s new philosophy signaled we weren’t executing a one-time reset, but instead a long-term commitment.
It’s typically well worth companies’ time to take a fresh look at how they define growth. Expanding services and onboarding new clients are important, but they should be pursued simultaneously while maintaining existing client satisfaction. Growth and trust must coexist as strategic priorities, and every expansion should be filtered through this lens.
Actionable Strategies Can be Adopted by Growing Companies in Most Industries
While every organization faces unique challenges, there are a few flexible strategies that tend to work well for companies across a variety of industries. The most effective tactics include:
1. Empowering frontline teams
- Fix bottlenecks: Often, frontline staff are hindered by rigid approval processes. We tackled this by eliminating unnecessary barriers, allowing our team to respond quickly and decisively.
- Invest in training: Equipping teams with AI-powered support systems, comprehensive playbooks, and advanced training programs enables them to handle a broader range of scenarios effectively.
- Prioritize field expertise: Increasing the proportion of senior-level professionals on support teams ensures that clients get solutions, not excuses.
2. Strengthening personalized engagement
- Improve ratios: We reduced client-to-manager ratios for more tailored and attentive support.
- Enhance proactivity: By closely monitoring client systems, Intelerad now identifies potential issues before they arise, minimizing disruptions.
- Offer leadership access: Guaranteeing client access to senior leadership helps reinforce their sense of value and trust in the company’s partnership.
3. Integrating client feedback into strategy
- Incorporate insights: Rather than using client feedback as a box to tick, actively weave it into decision-making processes.
- Double-check accuracy: Administer a survey or poll to ensure your plan hits its mark. Since building a strategy based on client feedback, Intelerad’s annual survey participation jumped 321%, and client satisfaction metrics improved almost immediately.
Measure Success and Sustain Momentum
The only way to know if your strategies are working is to measure their impact. At Intelerad, we are focusing on key metrics to track our progress:
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Today, our CSAT is over 90%, thanks to redesigned client engagement processes.
- Reduced Dissatisfaction (DSAT): A 72% year-over-year reduction in dissatisfaction scores is proof of sustained improvement.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): Nearly doubling our NPS since 2022 confirms we’re moving in the right direction.
But success isn’t measured solely in numbers; it’s reflected in culture. For example, “Client Obsession” isn’t a one-time project. It’s a cultural shift, rooted in the belief that trust requires vigilance. Every team member must be encouraged to ask, “Are things better for our clients today than they were yesterday?” If the answer isn’t yes, keep recalibrating until it is.
Move Forward with Intention and Accountability
Whether your company has recently experienced hypergrowth or is in the early stages of scaling, the client experience must always remain central to all strategies. At Intelerad, rebuilding trust required us to rethink how we approach service delivery, listen to our clients in new ways, and invest in both people and processes. While the road hasn’t been easy, the resulting improvements demonstrate that organizations can recover from growth pains and emerge stronger than before.
The opportunity to protect and rebuild trust is within every organization’s grasp — and your clients are watching to see whether you’ll take it.
About the Author
Eric Grunden is the Chief Client Officer at Intelerad, where he is dedicated to enhancing the client experience and driving operational excellence across all client-facing teams. With nearly 30 years of leadership in customer success, professional services, and operations, he has a proven track record of boosting client satisfaction, optimizing service delivery, and scaling high-performing organizations. He has held leadership roles at Uptempo, ResMed, Civitas Learning, and Greenway Health. Eric earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and information systems from Texas Tech University.
