We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heidi Trevethan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Heidi, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

It is vital to always show customer appreciation as this will enhance business’ reputation, acquire positive referrals, and ensure clients’ are always happy and satisfied. In our line of business (software solutions), we often encounter Clients who have been taken advantage of by other businesses in a myriad of ways including: unplanned for expenses,
hijacking of their sites,
and overpromising of project outcomes.
This sets the Client and the business up for failure.
These business owners are scared and angry because they spent a lot of time and money on a project that flatlined. Trust has to be built and often there is a “repair period” as Clients need time and patience to understand they have a guided consultant helping them find and implement the tech needed to grow and scale their business.
We at House Trevethan recognize these challenges and have implemented strong policies and procedures to protect our Clients and their projects from the initial meeting to maintenance of their project:
Every Client is sent a welcome packet and walk-through of our onboarding process.
Every Client is given direct access to leadership with constant check-ins to ensure clients are well taken care of.
We ensure all Clients own their project and have autonomy when it comes to their technology decisions.
House Trevethan also provides a wealth of documentation that is always easily and freely accessible to Clients.
We educate our Clients not only on the technology we will be implementing on their behalf but also how technology projects flow and what to expect throughout their entire customer journey with us.
Because tech can be overwhelming and complicated, House Trevethan strives to ensure customer appreciation begins from the very first interaction to the completion of the project. We have seen time and again Clients so happy and relieved as we show them there is humanity in tech and we are here to help!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Did you know that 90% of technology that any business needs to operate smoothly, save time, and grow are already on the market? Avoid paying for custom work and the price tag that comes along with it! House Trevethan is a house full of Experienced Advisors, Tech Wranglers, & Nerd Whisperers. We will help your project succeed within the budget and parameters you require.

What does that mean? This allows small business owners to pivot, compete, and grow their businesses for success. It puts small business in the same tech lane as big business. House Trevethan offers a variety of website services and software solutions designed for small business across the USA:

Websites, including Ecommerce (have a smooth & repeatable online buying experience)
M365 Configuration (to organize your business and erase redundancies)
APIs & Automations (get two pieces of software to “talk to each other”)
Holistic Managed Services
Education and Learning
….and an Expert Advisory Team at the ready

House Trevethan was started by Heidi and Allen Trevethan in 2017 with the vision that Small Businesses could have access to the same tools, talent, and capabilities as big Enterprise companies. Why should this be out of reach for Small Business in both terms of budget as well as skillsets? Small Business has a real need for increased efficiency and optimizing their workflow. You need these systems and solutions BEFORE you scale, not after.

The other side of the same coin speaks to technology workers. They should have a seat at the decision table and their input is critical for project stakeholders during any software build — while we don’t call them that, they really are stakeholders as well. The whole team plays a critical part in their own way, and each of us is better at our job because of our team members and what they bring to the table.
It’s not the tools that set us apart from our competitors. It’s our empathy, knowledge, and relationship-based approach to partnering with our clients that we’re known for. We’re truly part of the team. Working on projects, large and small, we’ve found that an often missing component on technology projects is a sense of being on a team.

Did you know that Atlassian reported that 59% of US workers say communication is their team’s biggest obstacle to success, followed by accountability at 29%.

We decided to focus our efforts on being human, approachable, transparent, and most of all kind. We still use industry best-practices for tooling, methodologies, and process, but we’ve centered all of our efforts on creating a team cohesive and understanding for all members of the team.
House Trevethan champions new talent in the tech industry, especially women and minorities. We are a woman and minority owned small business. We understand the challenges many people face when trying to break into the tech industry.

From our formal volunteering efforts with code camps to working with local advocacy groups to help bring technology to everyone, we truly believe in being the change we want to see.

Technology grants power to its users and their communities. We are doing everything we can to help drive adoption and prepare people to take advantage of all the ways that technology can improve our lives.

We believe in being the change we want to see. We’ve adopted many progressive ideals in our internal policies and procedures and are diligently working toward more formal commitments toward change and betterment of our communities.
Eco Friendly
Priority MUST be placed on becoming better stewards of our planet. Technology is a huge enabler in this space, and we are working with local business leaders to help small business become more Green. We were the first company in Southern Arizona to certify as a Green Business Leader, and we’re very proud of that!

Transparency in Pay
Everyone knows how much everyone else makes. If we cannot stand behind the rates we pay our team and share them with everyone, then there is something wrong with what we are paying people.

Community Outreach
House Trevethan works with the local business community to create opportunities for businesses to receive free information and help with regard to technology. When you do business with House Trevethan, you are giving back to the local Tucson, AZ community.

Our Ethos:
Heart & Truth
Hope & Trust
Honesty & Transparency

We are located in sunny Tucson, Arizona! We have our Core Team and we also work with collaborators depending on the project and client’s specific needs.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We champion small businesses by educating them on the importance of a solid tech foundation while also providing them with solutions and maintenance. Because our focus is on small businesses, we first focused on our local community. Joining local networking groups was key to building our reputation within our market. We are a virtual company so attending events in person is even more impactful to our brand. BNI is also a great resource as well to grow reputation and clients due to the regimented practices and education they provide along with brand exposure. Another way we have built our reputation within the community is provide educational webinars and events for those locally and across the USA to attend. Showing our experience and sharing our knowledge has been key to our brand reputation. As silly as it may sound, every Lead and Client interaction is important. Often “Technology” can be devoid of human touch. We strive to put the humanity and care in tech so our clients can trust and breathe a sigh of relief. Admitting errors and mistakes on our side (along with steps to fix!) have endeared us to our clients and solidified our station in the small business technology sector.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Personal touch with clients to is one of the most important ways House Trevethan ensures foster brand loyalty. Our Clients have access to us and our systems 24/7. We provide excellent customer care with scheduled, regular check-ins and always the opportunity to connect with someone on our core team. Often our clients come to us burned from their previous experiences with other tech companies. We sit and take the time to show our Clients our processes, our internal procedures, and do our very best to show our human side by being a guide and reassuring their project with us will be successful. We also use a well-configured CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software system to not only track our leads and nurture clients but to also send out relevant surveys depending on where the Client is at in their customer journey, A proper CRM helps our reach and makes the lift a lost easier because not only does it help us reach a wider audience but with automations that save time, money, & sanity. We use the tools we provide to our clients so they can ensure they keep in touch with their clients, foster brand loyalty, and scale their business. Additionally, we gift our new clients “welcome boxes” that include some coffee beans from a local roaster (who is also our client!) and branded House Trevethan coffee mugs, We also send out yearly holiday hand written cards to all of our clients showing our appreciation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://housetrevethan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/housetrevethan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HouseTrevethan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/housetrevethan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC54-E0IwkH7oy3mG6tTkfDw