What is Mulligan Funding’s Putting the Customer First Award?
Those who are familiar with Mulligan Funding, know that one of the company’s core values is to “do business the right way.” That includes providing unparalleled customer service, treating all clients as business partners, and celebrating successes. The small and medium-sized provider of business funding takes that philosophy one step further by conducting a quarterly Mulligan Funding’s Putting the Customer First Award.
The process: Mulligan Funding asks its employees to nominate outstanding businesses that…you guessed it…put the customer first. Then, the company researches each nomination based on word-of-mouth, online reviews, public opinion, etc. After a thorough investigation, a winner is selected.
Who is this quarter’s winner?
Finest City Improv (FCI) is the most recent recipient of our Putting the Customer First Award.
Who is Finest City Improv (FCI)?
Finest City Improv is a home for long-form comedy improv in San Diego. FCI provides improv classes, puts on regular improv shows for the community of San Diego and offers team building activities to organizations looking to empower their employees through improv.
How did FCI start?
In 2012, after 3 years of splitting her time between San Diego and LA to study improv, Amy Lisewski decided to stop the flow of improvisers heading north from San Diego (including herself!) by creating Finest City Improv. Since then, she has brought dozens of top improvisers to San Diego from LA and beyond to help grow the San Diego improv scene with workshops and guest appearances. She developed a 6-level curriculum to teach people how to improvise both on and off the stage and mentored dozens of top talent to be effective improv teachers.
What makes FCI a phenomenal small business?
FCI strives to do more than entertain and inspire the community of San Diego, but to bring laughter and joy to lives everywhere. Their culture is based strongly on a shared mission of using improv as a means to build confidence and bring laughter and light to the world. Providing unparalleled levels of customer service for FCI stems from two customer service success habits; understanding the customer journey and placing emphasis on community building. Whether a customer is joining an improv class, attending a show, or interested in improv team building activities for their organization, FCI maps out their journey and embeds critical touchpoints to assist them throughout their experience. In addition to providing this continual support and guidance, FCI focuses on community building through mixers, game nights and a private social network/community platform where students can freely share experiences, questions, challenges, and successes with each other.
How does FCI continue to thrive?
As any business owner will tell you, owning and operating a business is no small feat. What drives Amy and her team through these unavoidable challenges is the positive feedback they receive from their students. “There’s nothing more rewarding than hearing a student say some version of, ‘What I learned here at FCI helped me reach this goal…’, Amy noted. Finest City Improv has no shortage of these life-changing success stories. An FCI graduate and clubhouse member recently stated, “IMPROV RECHARGES MY LIFE BATTERY…FCI has become more than a class, theatre, or an institution for me. This little community is part of me now, part of my life, and my family. It makes my life better and recharges my life battery every weekend.”
How can other businesses adopt similar strategies for success?
Amy’s biggest pieces of advice to other small business owners, “block out time to work ON the business and not IN the business,” it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day management tasks, but it’s critical to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Complementary to this, have a trusted advisor or mentor you can turn to, there is so much to know and no sense trying to learn everything on your own.”
If you live here in San Diego or are just passing through, be sure to stop by Finest City Improv for a free class or an epic improv show, they’re sure to ignite laughter that will uplift the soul.
The information shared is intended to be used for informational purposes only and you should independently research and verify.
Note: Prior to January 23, 2020, Mulligan Funding operated solely as a direct lender, originating all of its own loans and Merchant Cash Advance contracts. From that date onwards, the majority of funding offered by Mulligan Funding will be by Loans originated by FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered Bank, pursuant to a Loan Program conducted jointly by Mulligan Funding and FinWise Bank.