IT providers – what do your customers most appreciate about your service?

As an IT professional, do you know what your customers most appreciate about your service?

It might not be exactly what you think.

In this article I will present some insights gleaned from the dozens of Case Studies I have prepared for my IT clients over the past 12 months.

A challenging year

2020 was an important year for IT businesses. It was the year the importance of enterprise tech became obvious. Suddenly everyone needed to work from home securely and reliably. They also needed to stay connected to their colleagues, customers and suppliers.

How my clients responded to the pandemic crisis and kept their customers up and running has been humbling to witness.

In 2020 modern workplace communication and collaboration practices came of age. Savvy businesses wanted to ramp up their online presence. Even savvier ones carried on growing.

Emerging trends in IT Service

Business owners’ still need confidence and peace of mind that their tech works, and that it is under control. One of my clients described his MSP role as ‘removing the sand in the cogs’ of his customer’s IT platform.

Strategic information

During the last quarter of a century business tech has largely been about collecting, slicing and dicing data. Businesses have been mining for the nuggets of information to drive sales and boost productivity.

Now businesses are more demanding in the control and security of their data. They also need it in real time, as one single version of the truth. It needs to inform and support strategic decision-making in ever more transparent and accessible forms.

Digital transformation

Gradually Chief Execs are acknowledging that IT is not an ‘expensive frustration’.

As legacy environments become obsolete the drive is now to embark on digital transformations that are sustainable, consistent and value-adding.

One university Project Management Officer stated: ‘It’s no longer enough to get excited about the box of tricks that IT brings. It’s now much more about what’s important to your organisation – and how IT ensures you deliver on that.’

Opportunities for the brightest IT entrepreneurs

Another exciting trend is the on-going enthusiasm of organisations for the technical talent, creativity and courage that exists among SMEs in the IT sector.

There is evidence that large and expanding companies are being selective about how they outsource, and are keeping space at the table for ‘clever guys to handle dynamic, agile stuff’.

This is the case even when they have centralised most of their tech infrastructure to bigger enterprise solution players.

And since the tech always moves more quickly than the skill level to support it, many in-house IT teams are reaching out to specialists in the sector to plug knowledge gaps and transfer skills.

IT Case Study Client profile

My clients are IT specialists in:

• Bespoke and customised software development
• Value Added Reselling
• Managed Service Provision
• Comms Solutions
• PMO Consultancy
• Vendor Selection
• Technical Architecture and Design
• Information Security and Data Governance
• Modern Workplace Technologies
• IAAS provision.

They serve a range of businesses and organisations across the public and private sectors.

IT Case Study Insights

The image below illustrates the top 5 features of a successful IT business proposition. These are the elements that attract the most positive commentary during Case Study interviews with IT customers.

Source: analysis of 36 recent Case Studies in the IT Sector produced by Case Study Writer

In order of importance these factors are:

1.Solution Focus/Fitness for Purpose

Customers speak most glowingly about IT professionals who can best match their technical solution to the problem being presented.

Often business owners can be pleasantly surprised by a provider who doesn’t try and sell them all the ‘bells and whistles.’ Sometimes simple and effective is best.

This doesn’t mean skimping on the analysis however. Far from it. A supplier still needs to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the problem. Keen attention to detail around ease of implementation, scalability and sustainability of the solution is particularly celebrated.

Ultimately, customers still prefer a ‘cards-on-the-table’ approach to flash pre-sales ‘cars and suits’.

2.People, Partnership, Personality

When customers get to know, like and trust an IT provider they frequently do not want to let them go! They prefer to settle into a trusted advisory partnership with a supplier they can rely on, and who shows that they care.

No matter how technically complex the solution, nor how competent the supplier, it remains to be the case that people buy from people.

Common decency and fairness are appreciated.

For example, IT teams who show up to the pitch and give a decent appraisal of their competitors’ offering tend to be favoured over those who dismiss others’ proposals. Customers can see right through any ‘not invented here’ syndrome.

Yet there is a balance to be struck. IT providers who push back and challenge their customers’ demands are popular. Integrity speaks volumes. Customers don’t like IT partners who just roll over and commit to delivering everything without question. And nor should they.

Customers trust their supplier’s ability to prioritise, and to offer alternative suggestions that they may not have thought of.

3.User Focus/Keeping it Simple

Only by listening carefully and asking the right questions does an IT provider make the right impression on end users.

These are the people whose processes and way of working stand to change the most as a result of the supplier’s intervention. An IT professional worth their salt will absolutely know how to approach them – and how to communicate in plain English.

It’s clear that adoption rates improve every time suppliers engage directly with users.

The most successful IT consultants impress their customers by asking the users about their experience with the systems they interact with every day. They find out what improvements they wish to make and how their life can be made easier.

All of this information then goes into the consideration of the solution. Meanwhile the users understand what the impact will be for them.

4.Technical Expertise

Interestingly, while tech expertise is important it is not the top priority for most customers.

Instead they want to know how well their IT partner applies their knowledge and experience.

The analysis shows that technical expertise is best appreciated when the customer feels like their IT provider has their best interests at heart.

Customers love realistic, pragmatic approaches. Expertise is used best when it provides the best solution for the customer.

Knowledge Networks

Whilst my clients are very knowledgeable about their technologies, many also belong to networks from which they can draw expertise if necessary. In some cases it’s enough to know where to find the expertise, and engage it effectively.

Technical content

Nevertheless, one of my clients won a very big contract with a very big customer on the strength of a technical article they happened to have published on their website. The customer was very determined, and scrolled through 11 pages of google search results before finding it – but find it they did! And a successful long-term partnership resulted.

So it’s well worth an IT supplier adding valuable technical content to their website. The only caveat is to make sure it is properly SEO-tagged so the search engines can find it sooner!

5. Commercial Awareness/Value for Money

IT professionals who demonstrate an awareness and understanding of commercial constraints are very much appreciated.

Value Added Resellers and Managed Service Partners who can broker good terms with their Original Equipment Manufacturers are influential.

Customers also treasure IT businesses that disrupt the market in their favour.

For example in daily life subscription models of payment for services are becoming common. IT customers are delighted when they are offered a similar low risk way of engaging their provider’s services. Software and Infrastructure ‘as a Service’ now provide businesses with flexible options around scaling. And the more accommodating an IT supplier can be the more likely the customer is to consider them a trusted, long-term advisor.

‘Going the extra mile’ can mean demonstrating a strong work ethic, and it can mean making business easier and more cost effective for the customer.

Value Propositions for the IT sector

If the customers are to be believed, these Big Five elements of IT service offer compelling USPs for providers who wish to take note. Finding a way to convey this value throughout all your collateral is key.

All of the Case Studies revealed that the most successful partnerships arise when the people within them behave with honesty, integrity and transparency.

Everyone can benefit from dynamic and courageous partnerships once the people involved engage openly and authentically.

Insight Takeaways

On whichever side of the provider/customer fence you sit these insights offer an interesting benchmark for the level of service you are currently offering or wish to experience.

For providers:

• Does your website showcase how you apply your expertise?
• Does it contain case studies that refer to your customers’ experience?
• Do you have well-indexed articles that respond clearly to your prospects’ questions and searches?
• Does your web copy speak clearly and directly to your visitors about how you can help them solve their problem?
• Or does it bamboozle them with tech-speak?

For customers:

This breakdown gives you an indication of what to be looking for in a successful partnership with an IT provider. My clients’ customers tried all of the following:

• Ask your provider to comment on alternative providers’ proposals
• Set them a Proof of Concept challenge to see how speedy and reliable their delivery really is. (One of my clients proved their capability by completing a Proof of Concept in half the time as their competitor.)
• Alternatively, give them your most outlandish requirements and see how keenly they challenge you.

All of these, along with their Case Studies, will give you valuable glimpses of the way they work. In the words of a fintech customer of one of my IAAS clients – ‘you need a partner who cares more about your success than your money.’

Case Study Writer produces copy and content that reflects your Value Propositions, and portrays what your customers most appreciate about you.

Book a call here or get in touch via juliet@casestudywriter.co.uk.