Welcome to another episode of unraveling IP, and Corsica, we pride ourselves on two things, being able to keep our customers connected and also affect our customers. And today, we're sitting down with Stephanie Alarcone, who is the newly appointed client experience director who's going to be talking to us about what's missing in IT. Stephanie, thank you so much for being here with us today. For having me Lexi. And Yeah. Thank you for saying my last name correctly. Oh, I got you. Here at Corsico, you'll find me, often, letting people know how to pronounce it correctly. So I'll arcon and you did it perfectly. Thank you, Lexi. Love that. Love that. Alright. Well, Stephanie, you've been at Corsco for two years. Us about your journey and how you tie that into the IT industry? Yeah. So I've been at Corsica for two years. That is correct. And this was a complete career shift for me. So I like to tell people that I'm only two years old in the IT landscape, but to watch out for when I'm a solid six or eight years old because, this industry is fascinating to me, honestly. It is rapidly changing. The things I've learned have been amazing. But I do come from a background, with people. And that's really my bread and butter people. It always has been. So, I've spent the previous ten years prior my time at Corsica at a higher education institution where, you know, I had students, not clients. And the first half of my time there was developing programming and getting students engaged and really ultimately trying to ensure that they were retained on campus, but also making them feel welcome, included, and valued. So I spent the first half of my journey there in the office of diversity in Ticultural affairs. And then I spent the second half of my time, in more of the the student success student experience, student programming world where I was, in charge of new student orientation, for the university. And that was a huge undertaking. However, I do believe that my previous experience really put me in a perfect place when I came to Corsica, because instead of welcoming new students to campus and showing them the way I I'm now onboarding new clients to Corsica and showing them the way. So it's been a great, experience where I've gotten to really just use my skills that I already have, a job that I've already done in a completely different capacity, and just kind of translate all of that to technology. Yeah. It's been great. That's amazing. I love that. The thing about tech is that, a lot of it has to do with transferable skills, and that's the beauty of being able get into IT. We need more people in IT. So the fact that, you know, we are able to do that here. I just I love that. So what makes you passionate about people and what do you think makes Corsica different? When it comes to the client experience, in in the last I just kinda wanna put all this in there. What do you hope to accomplish in this role? Yeah. So I I love people. I love talking to people, but mostly I love learning from new people. And it's amazing how much you can learn from a person, based on a conversation, and I think that that's sometimes forgotten. You know, if it's not written down, if it's not a policy, if it's not a whatever it is, sometimes, people have a hard time consuming, what an individual is saying, but I really like to take the time to get to know people as best as I can, obviously, with time, it's a bit limited. But it is so nice to meet people understand what it is that they value and kind of translate that into how it is that we service them as client here at Corsica. So I think one of the things that makes Corsica different is the fact that we have An abundance of awesome individuals. The people that work at Corsica are incredibly talented. And I think sometimes we struggle in, getting our voice out in the into proper channels. So I think that I am really here to to help Corsica grow internally. But also help our clients grow with whatever it is that they the plans they have for the future. So a lot of the times I feel like clients know what their end goal is. They just struggle to get there. Mhmm. And I think I do a really good job of coming in and how to translate, especially for those clients that we have who we are their sole technology advisors. They are looking for a an end goal for an end solution. They don't know how to get there. They just want to be there. And sometimes, you know, working with the beautiful technical minds that we work with. It's difficult to sometimes get that from the client. So I think that I do a great job of extracting that and speaking to our clients in a way where they know how to explain the situation or item to me. And then I can also explain that to, into technology speak, if that makes any sense. West has one of the big translators for me in the IT space. So as a reminder, I'm only two years old, and he's done a really good job as, as have all my other, coworkers here at Corsica, they are amazing teachers. And I think that if we're able to get that out to some of our clients, in a way where they learn something from the technology or the services that we're providing feel like that's a job well done. Yeah. Honestly, the the, you know, the way that people here teach, is honestly a lot of the reason why I wanted to this podcast just because I, you know, I can read up on, you know, all of this stuff, but I learn the most when I have conversations like, when I was having a conversation with Wes, who was so smart, when I'm having these conversations with, Brian, who does such a good job of being really personable and breaking it down for And, you know, it everybody just is like, you're learning from everybody constantly. So these conversations are what makes me grow here the most in my role. So it's funny that you say that. So what are some of the roadblocks you've had to overcome to be successful in client relations? So personally, I think definitely a knowledge gap. And, you know, I'm working to understand a lot of these issues and these that it has to the client's business, and really the importance that it holds. So, you know, I've been doing a great deal of learning. I think, you know, I've gotten past the e. You need to be able to understand it completely to be able to speak to it. There are areas where I understand the level of criticality that needs to be assigned to a situation. So that is not currently a roadblock for me. But I do see that as a roadblock for some of our clients. And sometimes when we have clients who are not as, you know, proficient technology. It'll be a really, difficult thing for them to understand. Well, why am I not down or why am I down? Why am I experiencing this? And a lot of the time, it's not an easy flip of a switch. It is this thing impacted this thing, which impacted this thing, which is either causing, performance issues, slowness, or maybe even a completely downed you know, site or client as a whole. So, I've been working through those roadblocks by attempting to inform and educate the same time for those clients that, you know, lack that that knowledge in IT. And it's not anything that is, you know, you from This is what a computer is. No. It's definitely I meet the people where they are, talk to them in a level that is, you know, more more on my speed, more on my level. Like a person. Like a person, like, hey, do you understand what that meant? And if they say no, I I do my best in trying to, to explain that, like, I've had to explain to clients. We were talking about Microsoft Intune and things like autopilot. And when you hear those words, it's like, Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But really all it is, it's like, like, when an iPhone, when you have an iPhone, you get a new one. And you, sign in. And everything just starts downloading in the way that you had it. That's really what that product is. Right. But if I say Microsoft Intune or autopilot, people struggle with understanding that. They immediately get confused. They're immediately like, like, even you just saying that to me, I was like, what does that even mean? You know, because, I mean, I work here, and I know what this stuff does, but it's just kinda like when you put a name to it, it just immediately gets a little confusing. Yes. So all it really is is tying back to what we know in our everyday common life because a lot of the times it can be applied to something that exists in technology. So instead of me saying, ah, yes, Microsoft Intune or autopilot does this, this, and this, you say, Hey. When you get a new iPhone, first off, do you have an iPhone? Mhmm. When you get a new iPhone, and, you know, you're putting all of your information on it, We no longer have the days where it's like, let me sync my contacts. Let me send my pictures over manually. Mhmm. We have, you know, the What Apple gives us is we sign in. We use our cloud stuff. We sign in and poof. Everything is just there. Everything is there. So, you know, when clients are struggling with things like new computer deployments and they're like, why is this taking so long or why is this process so cumbersome? It's something incredibly simple that with, you know, like updated Microsoft licensing, you can have this as a part of, you know, what it is your organization uses to deploy new workstation. Mhmm. And it's just it's mind breaking. I love that. I would guess that you know, when, I initially asked you this question. I thought that your, your response was gonna be, why is this taking so long? That would be, like, to me, that would be because, you know, a lot of times we're like, it's taking so long because you have to do this, this, this, this, and this. And, like, for example, implementation or in people wanting to, you know, implement new systems and whatnot. I thought that was going to be your answer, but I'm sure that is a roadblock. It's just explaining that. Absolutely. Explaining why implementation takes so long or even, you know, giving someone the proper steps of, hey, here are the phases in which this is going to be deployed in a way that is digestible to them. I think that that really helps tremendously, and it helps set the client's expectations. It helps us set expectations with the client as well. And overall just healthy communication is really what I think gets everything going here in client relations. I love that. Well, what do you do speaking of which? You know, what do you do when you're trying to retain a customer? I know that you said, you know, that was one of your transferable skills from you initially were working in, higher education is retaining those students. And so, you know, they get to their goal. What do you do? Here, that helps you retain. Yeah. So what I do here is I build relationships and with building relationships comes trust comes empathy comes all of that. So for example, you and I, Lexi, if you are simply a name, There's really nothing there to tie me to you as a as a client, as a coworker, as anything. But if there's a relation, ship, like, hey, Lexi. I know you. I know your little dog Charlie very well. I know this about you. I know that about you. Hey, Lexi. Your son just did y or z. You know, those are the things that I use with my clients. And it's not from a disingenuous standpoint. It's from a super genuine standpoint. I talked to these people on a pretty constant basis. Mhmm. So, you know, starting out a client meeting with a VCIO and I changing our backgrounds to balloons because we know it's the point of contact's birthday. Mhmm. That goes such a long way. Be sure. This is actually something we did, recently So Sarah Bens and I got on a call and, you know, we changed our background and, you know, we wish our client a happy birthday. I love that. Yeah. And she was just like, you guys. How'd you know this? So, there are things like that, you know, and the reason I knew is because she mentioned she had a November birthday that she was excited for. So I put it on my calendar. So then when we start that call, I go, Hey, today is her birthday. Let's talk about it. But then let's go ahead and talk about the things that really matter to her. Let's go ahead and build trust. We build trust by if we do something. You know, probably not the best way or the incorrect way or whatever it is. You know, there's a learning curve in everything. And if we implement something, in a in an incorrect way. We own up to it. We say, Hey, honestly, that configuration we needed to change a couple of things, but now you're good. So trust, you build that trust by, you know, earning empathy with the client by saying, I totally messed up here. I can absolutely do better instead of saying, I'm perfect. There's nothing wrong with me. Your expectations are just not right. Right. So just being human. I think has really helped me in this role, has really helped me, build those relationships with our clients. We have a client in, South Carolina who for the longest time was like, when is Stephanie gonna come visit? You know, what's going on? And when I did get down there, we talked about childhood cars, you know, talked about so many things. So I think one of the biggest, you know, things I've learned this industry has been they're all still people. Mhmm. Regardless of what it is you are talking about. If it's a product you're giving, if it's a service, you're giving at the end of the day you're dealing with people and knowing how to build relationships, build trust, have empathy, have a relationship that goes both ways I think that's the big. That's the key. Yeah. I think that goes I mean, for, like, all of, like, leadership. A lot of our leadership here, we it's a different environment than what I'm used to, and we were talking about that before, where you can literally be sitting in the break room and having coffee with the CEO. And you know, everybody talks to everybody, and you would never know, like, oh, this person is the director of this, or this person is this. It's just very much, like, you have it's funny because, you know, and IT people think that IT people are kinda, like, behind their computer and hiding. But here, just kinda like ever like the people that make that, you know, make things happen, they're very much people people. And and you obviously I I call you the bell, of course, like, like, everybody knows you. It's like, if I'll be like, oh, I work at Quail. Oh, you know, Stephanie, and it's just you're you're very, you're very well liked and very well known. Which isn't a bad thing. So our last question is, what has been the biggest lesson in regards to understanding the customer experience? And what do you to teach others in this role. Yeah. So I'd say the biggest lesson for me is, you know, we try to give that premium experience. And, you know, that's really what it is that we strive for here at Corsica. At the end of the day, we are an MSP where we have a variety of clients. So while I do give that individual touch, it's difficult for me to say, Hey, let's drop everything we are doing for one small request. And sometimes I do have to let my clients down by saying, I understand that that request is important to you. But it is a request. It not something that has necessarily impact to your business flow. So simply talking to them and communicating with on an updated timeline. Those are the things that that I've learned as as a lesson. I would say that it's hard for me to let people down. But it's also I can't solve everything by myself. I'm simply the the vessel here that communicates with our clients that sets expectations. I'm not the one out there implementing your digital transformation project or your data center refresh. That's that's not me. I'm not the brains behind that operation. So anytime something, needs to be scheduled in a different way or we need to pivot. That's really where, where I I learned my biggest lessons in saying, okay, Stephanie. It is time for you to reign it in. Stop over promising and underdelivering and start real about what it is you're telling the clients. Even if it's not ideal, you'll find that they will most likely understand. And I love that. And I think a lot of it is just because it's you and how I'm serious. It's how you connect with people. It's just, like, it's hard to be mad at somebody, you know, when they're just so wonderful. And what do you hope to teach others? I hope to bring a lot of the lessons from that higher education experience over to Corsica. So one of the things that I found in my time since leaving is back in that industry, we used to think, you know, students first, students first, students first, and they were first, such as our clients here, but we never stopped learning. We, the force of the people behind, getting all those students through the door. It was a an institution of higher education, but we were also all active learners. And I see that here at Corsica. I see that the talent we have is hung for more. I see that there are so many possibilities, and where the talent that we currently have can go. So I am encouraged by their, their enthusiasm towards IT, towards, you know, what it is that they learn on a daily basis. Like I told you, earlier, you know, check me out in year six to eight. I'll probably be unstoppable. Unstopable running the entire company. Brian what better watch out. No. But, you know, the the people that I work with here, you know, it's difficult, not to treat them as students at times, but I see a lot of similarities where I can kind of guide and shepherd and, you know, even mentor at times into certain behaviors or thoughts of ways of thinking or ways of doing. And I find great success in putting people first there. Alright. And Stephanie, what do you think is missing in IT? I would say that that is fun. I think fun is missing an IT. I think that in this industry, you have a lot of, really awesome left brain, thinkers that are data driven, analytical, who are very certain about, you know, just themselves the way that they do work, and everything has a, an outcome or a prop process. And I think that I have shaken the Corsica world up with a bit of fun. Yeah. So we spend our days you know, kind of connecting the the the mundane left brain things to be right brain things and bring out the creativity and bring out spontaneity and the fun and the joking and the laughter. Because as we're doing that, while we collaborate, we get to know each other better. Yeah. We get to know what makes each other tick. Mhmm. Have fun at the same time. And we work hard. So really bringing the fun out of the people that are here already fun, but maybe don't see that as a part of their day to day. I'm here to have a blast while working really hard. So I I I hope to bring that to Corsica. I hope to, always maintain a a culture of learning from each other, having fun working hard. I love that. And honestly, I I feel like cyber security IT is fun. I feel like if you're not passionate about it, you're not gonna, like, want to work in this industry at all. And I was telling West, like, digital information makes me so excited because it's like endless. It's like endless possibilities. It's like your imagination can just run wild. It's wild. Yeah. So And I I I even, you know, I commend you because you are taking this information. You are spreading it to the larger masses. Mhmm. And even this podcast, so thank you see. It's been it's awesome. Oh, guys. I really did hope to, like, really, like, bridge. I wanted to get people as excited about IT as I do, because I I think I came into this industry just like a regular person, you know, willing to learn. And the more that I learned, all. The more the more that I learned, the more that I learned, I was just like, this is so exciting. I have to share this with other people. And and I do. I talk on social media. I talk about all my personal social media, even because it's just that exciting. I love reading articles about this stuff. But, thank you so much for being here me today and taking the time out of your very busy schedule to, you know, talk to me. And, thank you to our viewers for tuning in to this episode unraveling IT, and we'll see you next time.
