Those who went to see the latest movie based on J.K. Rowling’s books will understand. There are many things around us that we often fail to notice. Whether it be a dragon or a real business opportunity, our eyes (and brains) can’t possibly process everything we see in a day.
Those with greater powers of perception, who have a knack for identifying certain trends or clues, may still not be able to decipher what they mean or how they can capitalize on what they’ve discovered. That’s a challenge channel firms face every day. How do they gather the information needed to develop the solutions their customers will need today, tomorrow and years from now? Can their team members properly identify the “clues” and put all the right pieces in place to make that a reality?
Those who have been around the channel for any time at know that’s the real secret to success in the IT services space — and it always has been. The focus on “solutions” never ends. Well, in theory, it doesn’t, but the distractions seem to grow each year. First there was the conversion to managed services. Channel firms invested a lot of time and attention converting to the recurring business model, and then came the cloud which forced many to adapt many of their sales, support and management processes. IoT and a host of other IT-related opportunities will surely follow.
Each of those channel evolutions presents an opportunity, but they also pull valued resources away from their companies’ core mission: solutions. Don’t get me wrong, most IT firms do a great job keeping their customers’ computer systems operational and building out the infrastructure. But those tasks alone often consume many of their resources. Owners often find themselves handling help desk responsibilities or conducting work that techs would normally do. That needs to stop.
Create a Formula for Future Solutions
In other words, VARs and MSPs need to make a stronger commitment to strategy and take a more holistic approach to identify new business opportunities. That means setting aside more time for building and executing their long-term plans, reviewing information and identifying trends with their current and prospective clients.
The first step in that process is conducting periodic team discussions around each account. Not just a brief review of their service utilization and satisfaction, but a much deeper dive into their future hopes and aspirations. What will their organization look like in three to five years? Where does their management team see themselves on the innovation scale?
The magic bullet for creating the fantastic solutions your customers need starts with these types of communications. The sales and tech teams should focus on having informative discussions with an increasingly larger set of end users (if not all of them). Does your company have a good understanding of what each customer’s employees do with their individual devices and applications? What solutions could boost their productivity or make their work more enjoyable? Successful IT services firms know the answers to those questions — or at least how to find them. It all starts with end users today.
Fantastic solutions begin with getting fantastic answers. The more you know about each customer’s company goals and their workers’ specific technological needs, the easier it will be to identify the optimal systems, applications and processes. That may be an email archiving solution that allows a client to meet specific industry compliance requirements. It could include a keyboard designed to help a worker with carpal tunnel syndrome use their computer with less discomfort, and monitor screens that reduce eye strain for older (or younger) employees. It might all be part of a hybrid system that incorporates much of the company’s existing infrastructure — reducing costs and improving the return on previous investments.
A key role of the IT business owner is putting all the pieces together. Finding and rolling out a CRM/PSA where employees can deposit all the customer information they collect. Developing processes for collecting and reviewing the information, and creating the criteria that helps team members identify the most important details. Most of all, owners need to be objective. Someone to validate what their employees see as real business and technology trends or to look beyond all the “chatter” to spot true opportunities.
Where can you find “fantastic solutions?” Right in front of you: they start and end with your clients. Their ultimate success depends on how well your team can extract information and address each of their needs and desires. Good listening skills are imperative, as is an effective process for reviewing information. But, in the end, it all comes down to how well you and your team can put it all together.
Brian Sherman is Chief Content Officer at GetChanneled, a channel business development and marketing firm. He served previously as chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at [email protected]
