Quadric Software

Customer Advocacy at Quadric Software

By Emily Tate, Free Trial Liaison

In this week’s blog post, Emily Tate shares her thoughts on what she loves about being a Free Trial Liaison, what customer advocacy means at Quadric, and Pit Bulls. No, that’s not a typo. Read Emily’s story about how she went from Pit Bull Advocate to Customer Advocate.

Meet Emily

Hi there, I’m Emily, and that silly dog in the pic above is my 2-yr-old Pit Bull, “Dude” (more about him later). Some of you have already been introduced to me as your Free Trial Liaison. If you’re coming to our website for the first time, or you haven’t started a free trial, let me briefly explain my title and what I do here at Quadric Software.

We want to give our free trial users the best experience possible, so when you sign up for an Alike DR trial, you will receive an email with an introduction to your “Free Trial Liaison,” or FTL for short. We like to think of the FTL as a personal tour guide to Alike for each new user. While FTL doesn’t stand for “Faster Than Light,” your FTL can recommend plenty of ways to put Alike into “warp speed” (apologies to our Star Trek fans for the bad joke).

I have been at Quadric for 9 months, and in that time I’ve had the pleasure of working with some wonderful people and getting to know our customers on a personal level. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Okay that all sounds great, but what does any of this have to do with Pit Bulls?”

Meet Dude

One of the best perks of working at Quadric is that we enjoy a dog-friendly office. So a few months after I began my new position here, I started looking for a dog. I decided to foster dogs rather than adopt at first. I guess you could say it was my way of signing up for a “free trial” for dogs.

When someone from a local adoption agency asked if I wanted to foster a red-nosed Pit Bull named, “Rocky” (aka “Dude”), I was apprehensive, especially given the Pit Bull reputation. The woman anticipated my reluctance and began the conversation by telling me that despite their reputation as attack dogs, Pits are actually friendly, affectionate, and make excellent companions.

“All he really wants is to cuddle and sleep all day,” she said as soon as she arrived at my home with Dude. She was right. In fact, Dude spends most of his time sprawled out on the couch.

I immediately fell in love with him. Who couldn’t love that adorable face? So I quickly went from Foster Mom to “Foster Fail” by adopting him soon after he arrived.

Now that I’m an official Pit Bull owner, I am passionate about advocating for this breed. Part of being a Pit Bull Advocate is connecting with people when I’m hiking with Dude or taking him on a walk on the Burlington waterfront. I approach everyone we meet by saying, “He’s friendly,” just to let them know it’s okay to pet him; however, I do “warn” them about his bad breath.

Even if some people still have doubts, as soon as Dude starts wagging his tail and handing out free kisses, they immediately change their mind about the Pit Bull stereotype. Ultimately, being a Pit Bull advocate means educating people about this breed, and giving these “vicious” dogs a voice and the reputation they deserve (learn more about Pits and Pit Advocacy at BADRAP).

What Does Customer Advocacy Mean to Me?

So now you’re probably wondering what being an advocate for our trial users and customers has to do with being a Pit Bull advocate. Well, for starters, I’m also passionate about advocating for our customers.

My role as a Free Trial Liaison includes providing assistance to my clients throughout their trial, from offering advice and finding answers to their technical questions, to helping them get started with their trial. For instance, if a trial user has technical questions about Alike, I will connect him to a seasoned, technically-savvy Customer Service Team member who can answer his questions.

And like being a Pit advocate, my job is very rewarding. It makes my day when a customer sends me an email thanking me with comments like, “It’s nice to see this type of help,” and “Yes, that has answered my questions. Thanks!”

Or when a free trial user emails me simply to say hello or to tell me that they were able to use the tips they got from a blog post or KB article that I had recommended.

While advocating for Pit Bulls is not exactly the same as being an FTL, the concept behind Customer Advocacy at Quadric is no different. To me, customer advocacy means educating users, providing a voice and a line of communication, connecting with people on a personal level, and helping people in any way I can.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to email me or call me any time to introduce yourself. We can talk about dogs, your experience with Alike, or you can introduce me to one of your passions. Even if you’re a cat person, I’d love to hear from you!