What they do: IT customer care and service
Address: 2354 S. Acadian Thruway, Suite B, Baton Rouge
Like so many small business origin stories, ITinspired was born out of workplace disillusionment. Shared frustration with their then-employer sparked Rob Wise and Brett Vaughn-Zyjewski to found their managed services company, ITinspired, in 2013.
“It was based on every one of our previous jobs, every application that we sent in and didn’t get a response to, and the places that just didn’t treat their employees or their clients right,” Wise says. “Our intent was to establish something real and genuine. That’s what’s missing in business.”
1 Key to Success
“One of the most honorable things we can do as entrepreneurs is to empower our employees and create an environment where they can be happy and successful.”
– Rob Wise
Along with partner Anthony Sauro, the trio have built a team of 24 based in Baton Rouge. Over its 12 years in business, the firm has seen steady growth—more than 20% annually over the last five years—with a stable of public and private sector clients across health care, engineering, architecture, creative agencies and other sectors. ITinspired provides boutique managed services, helping companies harden and upgrade systems to keep pace with both security and productivity.
Wise says he and his partners have aimed to create a high-touch model that cultivates strong relationships with clients and a workplace culture that values employee happiness and personal growth.
“Culture is the most important thing in our company,” he says. “We’ll guard and protect it with our lives. That is what makes working here different from working somewhere else. We want to be a place where we give people the space to give us the best version of themselves.”
As the ebullient front man, Wise deploys his comfort with the public stage to “unlock the relationship side” of customer service, drawing on his past life as an LSU cheerleader and Mike the Tiger mascot from 1998 to 2003. Clients are referred to as raving fans, a nod to the book Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service, by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, which is required reading for new hires. Wise believes business growth comes from referrals, and referrals come from enthusiastic customers.
The stronger the relationship, the more the company can anticipate a client’s service needs, Wise says.
“At the core of it is trying to figure out what the client is truly asking for, even if they don’t know how to ask for it,” Wise says. “There’s a lot of intuition.”
