Recipe for Growth: Eliminate Silos, Be Fanatical, Stay Focused on Culture.

San Antonio–based Rackspace grows by imagining the life of their IT manager clients. And that means making it easy to get help, support, and service without the customer “hot potato.” So Rackspace is organized by teams assigned by customer account, in order to create customer peace of mind. Rackspace’s Web site explains this commitment: “No more call centers. No more dealing with a different person every time you need something. No more transferring you to the ‘expert’ who transfers you to another ‘expert.’ . . . And, most importantly, no more feeling like you’re just one more anonymous customer stuck in a system that works against you instead of for you.”

Unify Accountability for Customer Growth

With this decision, Rackspace is there for clients, on their terms, with a reliable delivery method they can count on. Teams are assembled to include everyone a client needs: account managers, engineers, support technicians, billing, and data center professionals. Everyone on the team has a common set of goals aligned to the client’s goals. And they are all rewarded and recognized together— with shared accountability— for ensuring the customer’s needs are met. This team structure ensures that when the client calls their account manager, ready resources are available to support the client. The traditional silos that create the “hot potato” experience are gone. So the client doesn’t have to figure out who to call for what and when. Rackspace connects the team to give customers peace of mind.

Growth fueled by Being There

Serving a diverse customer base of over 99,000 worldwide, Rackspace’s growth is fueled by “being there” for IT managers. They understand that people who choose IT hosting want someone else to be responsible for their servers, period. By reliably and seamlessly managing the hosting of Web sites so that their clients can stay focused on their businesses, Rackspace has earned the right to grow. In recent years there has been significant growth in both revenues and net income, and has experienced revenue growth of over 55 percent annually. In 11 years, Rackspace grew from a $34 million to a $1.4 billion company.

Do you make customers traverse your organization chart to do business with you?

Would your customers say that they are handed off to many people before they eventually receive help?

Do the boundary lines of your organization chart keep people from going the extra mile?

Is collaboration something you’re good at, or do the silos impact the customer experience?

Want to learn about other tools to help you earn customers who drive the success and growth of your business? Pick up a copy of: “I Love You More Than My Dog: Five Decisions That Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.”