If you’re not yet using a service operations platform to manage your client engagements, you’re likely hurting your bottom line (without even realizing it). A ‘service operations’ platform (as we like to call it) will simplify your workflows, and well, your entire operations - so you can focus on generating more revenue from new and existing clients. Afterall, there's no point in chasing new business if you’re already struggling to retain the clients that you already have.
Here's how your consulting firm can benefit from a more efficient and streamlined approach to doing business - so you can spend more time building meaningful customer relationships:
Leverage resources more effectively by using a service operations platform that enables you to schedule time effectively and efficiently. This will give you a better idea of who is doing what (and when) on your team - so you can distribute workloads accordingly. Having increased visibility over all your projects and budgets will ensure your team is working collaboratively with each other and with clients, always. That way, you’ll never have to deal with the inefficiencies that come with working in silos again.
A scheduling feature also allows you to keep track of all of your team’s appointments, tasks and communications in one shared place. For example, let’s say you promised to meet with a client, but then realize there's an important deadline which clashes with a meeting. All you’ll need to do is check your Team Schedule and re-assign your client meeting to another colleague. That’ll enable you to work on more pressing matters while someone else on your team takes over the other client, so no one is disappointed (and no valued business lost)!
Keep in mind that increased visibility means increased profitability, both for you and your businesses because you can see how much money is being spent for the amount of work getting done. Just like Prophix did, you could increase your revenue by 25% just by using a service operations tool that manages your client engagements more efficiently. For the team at Prophix, it was the ability to see the hours being spent on a project in real-time that brought in more revenue, and as a result, they were able to bill out 10% more every week. Imagine that!
When clients are able to see a project's progress, request quotes or retainer types and stay on top of unpaid invoices without having to jump between tools or deal with scattered info, life becomes a lot easier for everyone.
A service operations platform keeps everyone on the same page so clients never have to re-hash old information when new consultants come on board. That’s the beauty of having all your communication automatically archived in one smart platform.
According to a Harvard Business School study, a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to an increase in profits of between 25% and 95%! So start reaping the rewards by working smarter with a service operations platform that's right for you and your business.
