Start Me Up: Customer Service Leads to Growth
A Profile of Cynthia Hengeli, Anu Resources
“More time is never going to come,” says Cynthia Hengeli, owner of a fast-growing professional contract staffing and executive search firm in Columbus, Ohio, that recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Hengeli was able to achieve such rapid success by refusing to wait for more time to tackle any project. Recognizing the payoff of putting in long hours and extra effort, she has maintained a proactive attitude that allows her business, Anu Resources, to respond quickly to client requests even during the busiest of times.
As the company gained momentum after its startup in 2002, Hengeli made a point not to turn away any new business. “No job order would come in where our attitude wasn’t, ‘We’re going to fulfill every one of them,’” Hengeli says. Her commitment to producing satisfactory results helped keep customers and make a name for Anu Resources. She says: “The biggest reward for our success is that we have returning clients.”
Before the launch of her own firm, Hengeli had established herself as an expert in the staffing industry. She used the valuable contacts she had made as an employee to jump start Anu Resources, securing office space and client leads from day one. Like any new business owner, she faced challenges. As the firm’s only employee, she served as the head of both business development and operations and divided her time between developing client relationships and completing administrative work.
Now employing six in-house employees and overseeing a contract force of 50 to 120 associates, Hengeli has also spent time in the last five years creating a unique work culture for her staff. To communicate the importance of customer service, she encourages her employees to think about how they’d like to be treated and to provide that kind of courtesy to customers. She recommends other women business owners implement this philosophy with their own teams—“you’ll never have a staff member that’s going to go wrong,” she says.
As it has grown, Anu Resources hasn’t lost its connection to the community. The company donates money to the local nonprofit LifeCare Alliance in the name of its clients, and all employees regularly volunteer with Meals on Wheels. “It’s a wonderful grounding mechanism for us,” says Hengeli, who enjoys getting to know the Meals on Wheels recipients on her firm’s regular route. Whether it’s by providing staffing services or delivering meals to those in need, Anu Resources succeeds at creating relationships. “My business is so about connecting people,” Hengeli says.