How service-based organizations can reimagine service delivery and execution with digital ERP solutions
As Professional Services firms continue to drive their growth plans, service delivery has become increasingly important. Service delivery is the process of providing high-quality services that meet and exceed the client’s needs, while fulfilling customer demands and expectations in a timely and cost-effective manner that increases profitability.
This not only strengthens client relationships but improves your chances of having referenceable customers. As businesses seek to differentiate themselves from their competition, service delivery will be a major factor in achieving this goal.
Service Performance Insight (SPI) has been publishing its Professional Services Maturity Benchmark for the past 17 years. This report identifies the key drivers the top 5% in the market are monitoring, and how you can implement similar KPI monitoring in your firm, to revolutionize your service delivery.
Data can provide valuable insights into how services are delivered. With this information firms can put in place strategies that will boost client references, market expansion, growth, deal pipelines, financial results, and ensure a profitable balance of work. Having the ability to optimize service delivery, using data, will lead to happier clients, and ultimately a greater profit for your firm.
Why should your firm rethink service-delivery?
Competition has never been fiercer; firms must deliver excellent services while managing projects effectively, through data-led back-office processes. ERP solutions will help optimize service delivery by monitoring the key drivers and data points that matter.
With organizations expanding their reach, marketing and sales efforts are becoming increasingly important. It's essential to have the necessary digital solutions in place to support organizational growth as well as relationship-building with existing clients.
Companies should focus on KPIs that measure service execution and relationship building. Best practices, including optimizing use of resources, should be implemented to ensure successful service delivery. It is essential for firms to focus on data monitoring to remain competitive and increase revenue.
Click to read Refine your plan-to-profit process with ERP 2023 Gated
Service execution needs to be monitored to ensure it remains optimal
According to the SPI report, service execution has suffered in previous years as the use of standardized delivery methodologies declined. Low project margins were caused by poor estimates, scope change, lack of a clear project charter, project management, and communication combined with poorly prepared consultants expected to execute plans.
To improve their margins, firms need to provide service levels that exceed customer expectations. They must optimize resources, follow best practices and standards, and eliminate costly mistakes – but this information isn’t readily available for those firms who still use legacy approaches; firms need data to help them make informed choices.
With cloud-based ERP firms can monitor the key performance indicators that drive service excellence, to manage and affect what isn’t working – without this insight firms are shooting in the dark.
Firms need to adopt digital processes in a timely fashion
In addition to vital KPI monitoring, ERP also offers capabilities like automation of manual tasks that can reduce overhead costs and improve the employee experience.
As the nature of work has become digital, firms across your industry will currently be benefitting from automated workflows; simple low-coding capabilities that empower non-technical staff, advanced reporting capabilities, AI, and much more. Those yet to digitally transform will struggle to catch up, let alone compete.
For modern firms, it remains imperative to use technology to improve margins allowing them to make the most of their limited resources to support business growth. Forward-thinking firms should explore technology solutions if they are to improve margins, increase client satisfaction, and ensure the timely delivery of projects.
ERP solutions provide a more standardized way to deliver projects, allowing firms to establish best practices and monitor service execution to improve customer satisfaction and more.
How automation of tasks can sharpen service delivery
Those you task with achieving service excellence have a huge effect on service delivery. When empowered with data firms can ensure that services are managed effectively as a result, but it’s still up to your teams to execute these best laid plans.
Quality, efficiency, timeliness, and service delivery repeatability are critical for any firm’s future but are vital for consistent and successful service execution.
We’ve outlined how monitoring data is key to optimization of service delivery, but how is that data captured? If this relies on manual processes, not only will data be inconsistent, but staff will be fatigued by routine data entry and admin, affecting their focus on their main role: delivering service excellence.
All departments in the firm must be aligned with standardized processes for bidding, selling, planning, scheduling, project scope, delivery, and invoicing. All project-related information (time, expenses, project details, and knowledge) must be captured to be invoiced and to improve the next service delivered.
Automated systems ensure standardized processes throughout the project’s entire lifecycle—from the initial sale to after-sale support. By investing in modern technology solutions that enable efficient service delivery, organizations will be well-positioned to remain competitive in the market.
ERP solutions can help ensure a consistent and accurate standard of deliverables across all projects, resulting in improved organizational growth - To increase margins while simultaneously building better client relationships,
How Unit4 can help your firm reimagine service delivery
At Unit4, we understand the importance of dedicating time and effort to delivering great customer experiences. We’ve created robust ERP solutions that help to automate and streamline workflows.
Once your internal systems have been modernized with data at its center the ability to understand what effects service delivery and execution is clear, with your teams freed of obstacles that may prevent them from providing service excellence.
To learn more read our interactive eBook on the topic, with greater detail from the SPI report, or talk to sales today to get in touch with Unit4.
