In a fast-paced professional services landscape, choosing the right system to manage your projects, clients, and teams is only the first step. What really dictates long-term success is making sure the system you choose is successfully implemented and that your business leverages the help of premium support for complex questions and queries. Accelo has built its reputation on being more than just a platform, it’s a strategic growth partner for professional services organizations. Accelo helps firms, teams, and agencies navigate their growth and maturity journeys by uniting expertise, technology, and innovation.
To discover what makes Accelo’s implementation and support stand out, we had an insightful conversation with Katie Gutrich, Senior Vice President of Operations at Accelo. Gutrich shared her experience and passion for driving client success through seamless onboarding and premium, proactive support.
In this spotlight, Gutrich takes us behind the scenes of Accelo’s implementation process and how its premium support serves as a crucial pillar for long-term client success. With her insights, we explore how Accelo partners with businesses to propel them to their goals.
From Gutrich’s perspective, successful implementation starts with understanding the unique needs of each client. This philosophy emphasizes Accelo’s approach to making sure that every client can confidently adopt and optimize the platform during their implementation journey. When asked what a successful implementation looks like at Accelo, she emphasized that it’s about much more than just getting clients up and running. “Implementation is about onboarding customers in a way that sets them up to leverage the platform from the very start,” she explained. “A smooth onboarding experience directly fosters a successful relationship with our customers, and that’s key.”
Accelo’s implementation process is about laying the groundwork for long-term success. Our team takes time to understand each client’s business, making sure that the platform is tailored and configured to meet their specific goals. Gutrich and her team take a strategic approach, focusing on areas from adoption to optimization. “We ensure that during the implementation journey, we’re delivering the product they are looking for, and that means understanding their key business priorities,” Gutrich added.
Her insights reinforce the idea that Accelo is not just a software provider—it’s a partner that ensures clients have the right tools and workflows to navigate their growth journeys.
Implementation isn’t without its challenges, and Gutrich is transparent about the hurdles that can arise during this phase. Luckily, her team thrives on problem-solving. She highlighted two common challenges clients face during this phase: time and resource alignment, and understanding the configurability of Accelo’s features. “Time and material are always big factors. It’s our job to make sure both our resources and the client’s resources have what they need to meet the project timeline,” she said.
By fostering open communication and recommending best practices, Gutrich’s team makes sure that each implementation is as smooth as possible, even when the platform might seem overwhelming to new users. She stressed that one of Accelo’s key strengths is guiding clients through the configuration process. “Our platform’s configurability can be intimidating at first,” she acknowledged, “but as customer advocates, we work closely with clients to recommend best practices and listen to their unique use cases to configure the platform to accelerate service delivery based on their predefined approaches.”
This consultative, expert-driven approach is what helps professional services organizations not only implement Accelo but optimize it to their advantage, positioning Accelo as a true strategic partner.
Implementation is just the first step. Gutrich made it clear that Accelo’s Premium Support is integral to helping clients fully harness the platform’s potential as they grow and evolve. “Our Premium Support elevates the client experience by ensuring that they can quickly and effectively communicate with us,” she explained. The Premium Support offering prioritizes select client requests and provides access to multiple support channels, including live chat, phone calls, and an escalated ticketing process.
This premium support offering is more than just a quick fix for technical issues. It’s about providing clients with strategic guidance to help them fully leverage the platform for their business needs. But what truly sets Accelo apart is how proactive support helps clients stay ahead of their business challenges. “It’s not just about reacting to issues,” she pointed out. “Our support teams work closely with customers to anticipate their needs and offer solutions that help them grow.”
Gutrich emphasizes that Accelo’s commitment to support goes beyond simply reacting to customer inquiries. Her team focuses on being proactive, identifying potential challenges before they arise, and equipping clients with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed. Delivering this level of proactive support isn’t something that happens overnight—it’s part of the company’s DNA. “Accountability, empathy, and continuous improvement are at the heart of our support culture,” she said. “We’re constantly reflecting on how we can better serve our clients and how we can evolve as a team.”
This proactive approach is deeply embedded in the company’s culture. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement, Accelo ensures that both its internal teams and its clients are set up for long-term success. Her approach to leadership bolsters a culture that prioritizes client growth. “I believe in practicing what I preach,” Gutrich noted. “By staying connected with both our team and our clients through open communication, we ensure we’re always aligned with the client’s success.”
One of the core reasons Accelo is a strategic growth partner for professional services organizations is the way its teams collaborate to meet client needs. Gutrich’s Operations Team works closely with other departments to ensure that Accelo’s technology aligns with each client’s specific business goals. They serve as a bridge between the technology and the client’s business needs so that every aspect of the platform aligns with the client’s goals.
"We need to understand the perspective of the client’s business and become advocates for their success," Gutrich explains. “Often, we’ll take a consultative approach, recommending workflow adjustments or integrating additional tools to streamline processes,” she continues. “We make sure the platform grows with the business, adapting to their evolving needs.”
This level of cross-functional collaboration doesn’t happen in a silo. "We win as a team, and we lose as a team—that logic applies to our customer solutions as well," Gutrich says, underscoring the importance of cross-departmental alignment in delivering a seamless client experience.
A Platform Driven by Client Feedback
Support is also a key pillar of Accelo’s commitment to customer success. Through our "Voice of the Customer" program, feedback from clients plays an integral role in shaping product innovation. By listening to real-world client needs and collaborating with users, Accelo continuously enhances its platform to address evolving challenges, ensuring the solution grows with your business. This direct feedback loop, as highlighted in, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Product at Accelo, Joe DiPaulo's blog on product innovation, helps us deliver practical and impactful improvements that align with your goals.
Accelo’s commitment to growth isn’t limited to its clients, it’s also woven into its internal processes. Gutrich shared that client feedback is one of the key drivers behind how her team shapes and refines the implementation and support processes. “We actively solicit feedback at multiple points–from post-implementation reviews to Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys–so that we can continue to improve our communication strategy and our approach to delivering value.”
Gutrich provided a clear example of how feedback has driven change within Accelo’s implementation process. “Some clients struggled to visualize how their platform was built out until the end of the implementation process, which led to reconfigurations. To address this, we introduced the Accelo Journey session, which walks clients through how their features connect to the overall platform earlier in the process,” she explained.
This kind of responsiveness is what positions Accelo as more than just a tool—clients can trust that their growth partner will evolve and improve based on their input.
For businesses considering Accelo, the long-term benefits of a true partnership approach are clear. Accelo simplifies project management, automates processes, and provides a clear view of work progress and project profitability, all while offering proactive support to help clients meet their business challenges.
Gutrich sums it up best: “From one operational leader to another, Accelo simplifies the oversight needed to run a tight ship by automating processes and giving clear visibility into milestones and progress,” she continues, “I’ve run teams without a tool like Accelo, and it feels like a weight off my shoulders to have this platform as part of my toolkit now.” Clients love the fact that we use Accelo internally to manage the process of implementing their Accelo experience, which truly adds to the team's expertise, in using Accelo throughout their day-to-day.
Whether you’re a growing business or an established firm, Accelo’s combination of technology, implementation expertise, and premium support can help you achieve your business goals now and into the future.
Accelo’s dedicated team, proven implementation processes, and premium support services are determined to be more than a solution provider – we’re your strategic growth partner. From seamless implementation to premium, proactive support, we’re committed to helping you succeed at every stage of your business journey. Ready to see how Accelo can help you achieve your goals?
Book a demo today to see firsthand how Accelo can power your business processes, or learn more about Why Accelo is trusted by thousands of professional services organizations.
