A post from GemCap Director Stuart Alexander, on two important milestones for GemCap and our philosophy for client relationships: shared values, gut feeling and building success together.
This last weekend we celebrated 15 years since launching Gemini, firstly as a third-party marketing business and then later as a fund platform and subsequently as a UCITS Management Company. I celebrated by climbing a mountain or two with a couple of pals!
The weekend also coincided with another milestone: 7 years since my brother, and one of the founders of the business, passed away. Although not involved in day-to-day running of the business, his presence was always felt by his vocality! He was never shy in letting everyone know what he expected of his team (he ran an IT services company), and he was particularly passionate about customer service and complete satisfaction with the job. If any of his engineers did not complete the job to his exacting standards or, just as importantly, the expectations of the client, then his demeanour changed somewhat.
To many who witnessed this from afar they thought he was just some “shouty” guy who would “kick-off” at some transgression by his engineers and sales people but what many people failed to see was someone who cared about his customers and what they were going through. I know myself that when the IT breaks down then the process of business can become very difficult – if not impossible – and when an IT person tries to explain to me in their own jargon-loaded language what is happening or what they will need to do, then my ire is similarly raised. My brother’s view on customer service is a principle that he stuck with and he grew a successful business on it. His customers knew they could rely on him and his engineers to support them with whatever demands they had.
When establishing and running GemCap, my aim has always been to work with clients that share our values, and a strong client orientation is one of them. But each client is different and requires different levels of engagement. In many cases that chemistry is not there from the get-go, and we will politely walk away from doing a deal. The values of the business are not just words but embedded within the DNA of any business. They can range from integrity and innovation to diversity and passion and many others too numerous to quote here – but all are important when making the decision as to whether to work with a firm. For me a very personal one is the one that is often overlooked. Do you like and trust this person, and could you work with them? A simple enough question, summed up in the phrase ”gut feeling”. We often overlook what is obvious. It is a sense that is imbedded in all of us and something my mother often said, “if it doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it”. Trust your gut feeling, and you will be OK. It takes time to find the right levels that work for both parties but when I look at all our clients, I feel we have built relationships that work for both parties. The relationship becomes consultative rather than vendor/buyer and that creates a growth cycle that is to the benefit of both parties. At GemCap we pride ourselves on this approach. We use our time with our clients to fully understand how we can improve what they do, build better systems, explore more markets to develop, introduce new ideas and ultimately help them grow. For if they grow, so do we. We never enter a partnership thinking “what’s in it for me?” but rather we want them to build something special and we love it when they do, as we play our part in that. A shared goal and ultimately a shared experience. Perfect!
