Based on an interview with Doug Meyer, Client Executive at Koltiv
How does Koltiv talk about its philosophy toward clients?
The guiding phrase is "partnerships over projects", the idea that a trusted, ongoing relationship generates organic business naturally, rather than each engagement being treated as a one-off transaction to win.
What differentiates Koltiv from competitors?
A key differentiator is that Koltiv guarantees its project scopes. If something is missed or overlooked in the original plan, the added cost to fix it is absorbed by Koltiv, not passed to the client. This is unusual in IT, where change orders after signing are common industry practice elsewhere.
Is Koltiv the cheapest option on the market?
No, and that's intentional. Price and value are treated as related but distinct: price affects a client's budget line item, while value affects their ability to actually perform and grow. Koltiv positions itself as competitively priced while investing the difference into deeper expertise, stronger vendor relationships (advocating with partners like Cisco, IBM, or Microsoft for better pricing), and long-term relationship value.
Has a client ever chosen a competitor, and why?
One example: a client was affected by major changes to a virtualization platform they were deeply reliant on, which pushed them to seek a new hardware vendor for that platform (since Koltiv no longer supported it). Despite competitors offering pricing, the client chose to purchase through Koltiv anyway, explicitly citing the long-standing relationship and trust, even at a higher price point.
What mistake has Koltiv made with a client, and how was it handled?
Example: a new facility build had a Wi-Fi network designed around the wrong ceiling height, resulting in coverage that didn't reach the floor. Because the scoping error was Koltiv's responsibility, Koltiv covered the full cost to fix it — including hiring an electrician for rewiring. (This is the Koltiv guarantee, we guarantee an accurate services scope of work or the difference is on us.) Rather than damaging the relationship, absorbing that cost and correcting the mistake actually deepened the client's trust. Internally, this led to much more rigorous attention to detail during the design phase of future projects.
Can you give an example of a small project growing into a much larger relationship?
Yes. One client relationship began with a simple $1,500 one-time application fix and organically grew into a multimillion-dollar partnership, to the point where the client's team would call for virtually any issue, confident it would get resolved.
How does "problem solving" show up across different teams at Koltiv?
It's one of Koltiv's four core values. In practice, it often looks like quickly looping in the right specialist — for example, an application development engineer joining a client call and building a live solution on-screen in real time while the client describes their problem, rather than waiting for a separate scoping process.
How do you know when a client is happy after signing a contract?
Often, silence is the best sign because it usually means there's no buyer's remorse and no lingering concerns to raise. Gratitude is also common, sometimes for a problem the client didn't realize they had until it was addressed.
What's one thing you wish every prospective client understood before their first call?
That the team genuinely cares. This is not strictly a 9-to-5, transactional business relationship. That care isn't always obvious in an initial interaction, but it becomes apparent over time through the relationship, and it tends to translate into a stronger, more invested partnership than a purely transactional one would.
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