Named the star suggestive-seller at a McDonald’s franchise in St. John’s during her teens, Joy Rychlik, VP, marketing for Toronto-headquartered Telus Partner Solutions, didn’t need to look much further to know she was a ‘customer-driven, outgoing person.’

Certainly this became clear during her decade-long tenure as VP, major business markets at solutions provider Allstream, where Rychlik learned that ‘what makes the customer happy drives the marketing.’

In November 2003, that was a philosophy Rychlik brought to Telus Partner Solutions, which provides data, voice and integrated IP solutions for service providers in the telecommunication, cable, and wireless sectors.

Strategy caught up with Rychlik to chat about how she plans to use Telus to market Telus as an integral part of a tailored, customer-oriented strategy.

What marketing tactics do you employ?

Partner Solutions often customizes its marketing initiatives to the needs of each named client. We habitually meet with a client face to face, at their site.

We provide Telus Scope, our monthly newsletter (which also runs online), parts of which we revise and change according to the client’s needs. We focus on what they need to be happy, and we use that knowledge to drive the content of our newsletter. We also win business based on word of mouth, since the solutions we have provided for one client can often be replicated across the market.

In your new capacity, what changes have you implemented?

We’ve incorporated a communications branch in our marketing department. It communicates directly with clients through hard copy collateral that discuss the solutions we have deployed and run internally. We show our clients what we have done to transform our own organization by taking some of the best practices we’ve implemented at Telus and demonstrating how these processes could impact their infrastructure.

So you test drive the solutions you offer at Telus first?

Exactly. Given that we are a wholesaler, we begin by trying to understand what our clients are trying to achieve with their own client base. We’re focused on creative partnerships.

How do you achieve a creative partnership?

Our marketing division liaises with the client’s marketing division. We also often work chief technology officer to chief technology officer. I usually meet directly with my counterpart to learn about what they want to achieve with their client. We often bring together strategic divisions, marketing, and technology from both companies to try to orchestrate working towards a common goal.