From Zero to Millions: Building a Legacy of Partnership
“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.” Tom Hsieh, Zappos
On November 7, 2007, I started working for a small office products company in Minnesota. The owner had recently contracted with a then small eCommerce company I had never heard of, Logicblock. At the time, Logicblock was brand new.
Before that job, I had never used an eCommerce platform, but I had plenty of real world internet experience. I helped create an alert system that led to an invitation to meet with the Office of Homeland Security a few months after 9-11. I also helped build a major online tourism collaboration involving a CBS affiliate television station, a major newspaper, a major magazine, and the tourism map company I worked for.
Even with that background, I had never sold anything online. I was hired to get a new online operation off the ground, and in 2007 that came with a steep learning curve.
In those first few weeks, Logicblock was still working through its early years and suddenly had a customer, my team and me, with a very let’s go mentality. I asked a lot of questions, requested features that did not exist yet, and moved fast. At times, I was probably a little brash. All I knew was I wanted to make the business successful.
Logicblock’s CEO, Alex Nicolaides, did not route me to a department or pass me along. He helped directly.
That approach set the tone for everything that followed. It was the beginning for both companies. Within three and a half years, I helped grow that upstart office products business from zero to nearly $5 million in revenue before moving on to a new opportunity.
The next company I joined did not have an online operation yet. I brought Logicblock with me, and with their help I launched a custom design in under 90 days. The speed was remarkable, and it took real partnership from the Logicblock team to pull it off.
The Customer is the Boss: Lessons in Partnership and Growth
Sam Walton said, “There is only one boss: the customer. And they can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending their money somewhere else.”
Logicblock’s motto is, “If you’re successful, we’re successful,” and I saw that lived out firsthand. As the business grew, I needed capabilities that did not yet exist. The Logicblock team listened, took the needs seriously, and worked with me to make the solution stronger. Over the next few years, with that support, I helped lead the company to more than $8 million in sales.
The “Sales Call” Done Right: Proactive Support as a Growth Engine
Throughout my career, I’ve believed in taking care of the customer, even when it costs money in the short term. I empowered my staff to make judgment calls that protected relationships, built trust, and brought customers back.
That philosophy shaped how I ran our online business. It was our policy to have our staff call every identifiable business customer to check on their order. Was it on time, did it arrive in good condition, and was there anything about the process, the website, or our service that I could improve?
Why go that far? Because online reviews can make or break a company, and it is always better to learn about a problem while there is still time to fix it, rather than reading about it later in a public review. Just as important, those calls were not only about checking on an order, they were the perfect soft sales conversation, a chance to introduce the company, remind customers there are real people behind the website, and let them know we could help with whatever they needed. In the end, it was a sales call, just done the right way.
I was not perfect. No one is. But strong reviews, including a 4.8 rating, came from consistently practicing the customer first principles taught by leaders who built enduring companies.
The Customer Service Sermon: Living the Philosophy at Logicblock
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a bit better.” Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Over the years, Alex and I discussed the idea of me joining Logicblock directly. Many times it came up, and for a long time the timing was not right. Then, a little over two years ago, it was. I joined the Logicblock team as Vice President, Customer Growth and Experience.
My purpose is to help turn those customer experience ideals into reality for the people we serve. Our customers deserve a team that is committed to supporting them with care, urgency, and real follow through.
Every Monday morning, I help lead a customer service meeting attended by about half the company, including Alex. We review tickets, talk through solutions, discuss how we could have handled certain situations better, and close with my favorite part, a Customer Service Sermon. My wife jokes and calls me “Rev” because I always bring a story.
Those stories come from everyday life, an online order, a restaurant visit, or a service interaction. Sometimes it is an example of excellent service I want to emulate. Sometimes it is a poor experience I want to avoid repeating. Either way, we end on a positive note and start the week focused on serving the people who keep our business running, our customers.
We also set an internal goal for responsiveness. During business hours, our goal is to respond to every incoming support ticket within 60 minutes. In practice, we typically beat that by a wide margin. Our team stays tuned in to the ticketing system with a shared mission: resolve issues quickly and thoroughly.
Quickness is not enough on its own. We are not trying to close tickets like a fast food drive thru transaction. The goal is robust resolution. That means answering the question clearly, fixing the issue if there is one, and when it makes sense, pointing out options or best practices that can prevent future problems.
When I hire, I hire people for empathy, not for a warm body in a seat. In interviews, I look for someone who can genuinely place themselves on the other side of the screen. That ability to care shows up in the small moments, and it is what turns a support interaction into a lasting relationship.
We also have a team member whose job includes proactive outreach. He contacts customers just to check in, understand what they need, and surface any concerns early. After each call, he writes a detailed report capturing what the customer shared, what is working well, what they wish they had, and any frustrations or requests. I read every word of those reports because they are one of the best indicators of how we are doing as a team.
Beyond the Software: Why True Partnership is Our Ultimate Feature
We are proud of what we deliver today, and we are even more focused on making it better tomorrow. Still, we aim for perfection, even if that sounds unrealistic. We take Sam Walton seriously. We try to live out Jeff Bezos’s mindset. And we truly believe customer service is not a department at Logicblock, it is a companywide responsibility.
We spend a lot of time talking about the technical strength of the platform, and for good reason. It is one of the most robust eCommerce solutions I have used. But features alone are not the whole story. If there is no team behind the technology to train you, answer questions, solve problems, and listen when something is not right, the technology will never reach its potential.
That is what we strive to be. More than software, we aim to be a partner.
Tired of being routed to a department? At Logicblock, customer service is a company-wide responsibility. Reach out today to see what it’s like to have a partner who responds with urgency and empathy.
About the Author
John Jordan, Vice President – Customer Growth and Experience
John Jordan has years of expertise in perfecting the eCommerce experience for our clients. He contributes regularly to our newsletter with insightful Tips & Tricks to help you make the most of our solutions. Learn more about John here.
