Why I love working within Managed Services
Salesforce has evolved into one of the most effective business tools on the market, used by companies to win more deals, track opportunities and manage their entire business in real-time. But the implementation, reporting, on-going modifications and administration all require a fair amount of care and attention. This expertise is learned over time, but often times a customer may require results and insights that are needed immediately. This is the reason why more and more companies are leveraging a flexible resource approach called Managed Services to meet their Salesforce needs — some of whom require plenty of attention, while others are satisfied with a minimal amount of support.
It has to be more than just Salesforce system support to get everything hitting on all corners. Companies should look for a partner that has both sales management and Salesforce expertise. After all, technology is only one part of the equation.
It has been over two years since I started working in Managed Services and I’ve certainly gathered a vast amount of knowledge of the platform, as well as the special ingredient needed — the art of building relationships with customers. In my opinion, the most important way to gain the trust of your clients is by showcasing your commitment towards the work that you do for them and the relationship that you maintain.
I would summarise Managed Service as a combination of the technical expertise for providing a solution for an issue or a change request — keeping in mind the deadlines and quality of the work delivered — and the communication skills where one builds up the right understanding from the very initial stage of requirements to the delivery and solution explanation in terms of workarounds applied. There have been moments when I’ve been working to resolve issues that were extremely critical to my client — issues that would result in financial loss for them — and they’ve looked to me in despair to guide them through it in that very instant.
As a Technical Consultant within Managed Services, it’s my responsibility to have the analytical and innovative thinking to produce a fast and effective workaround. Such situations can get stressful at times because everything in Managed Services is measured against a timer — the Service Level Agreement, or SLAs as they’re more commonly referred to! However, it’s these challenges that make the work we do very exciting and rewarding, as you get to be a Salesforce hero every so often. Understanding the client’s initial business requirements, designing a solution blueprint and impact assessment — communicating all of this to a client for sign off, development, testing, and deployment — is a super-cool experience! Although, when it comes to change requests, we can’t really work against the clock, so businesses design their own SLAs based on the company setup and customer satisfaction strategies built-up within.
From a client perspective, why should they want Managed Service?
Like larger companies, small businesses need technology to operate efficiently and to compete effectively. But as the reliance on IT grows, the resources to support an increasingly complex IT environment may not. In many small businesses, IT resources are scarce and can become quickly overwhelmed with the day-to-day responsibilities of keeping the IT infrastructure — that the business depends on — up and running. Retaining in-house Salesforce knowledge, configuration expertise and developer expertise can be a challenge, whereas retaining Managed Services gives our clients a blend of up to date Salesforce specific skills available when they need them. This means they can concentrate on making sure that they can maximise their investment in Salesforce by keeping it in line with their evolving business processes.
So, in conclusion, why do I love working in Managed Services? For starters, my clients love what we provide because, not only do they get the solutions to their queries or requirements, but also the correct advice when they need it — and this is hugely rewarding. But it has also provided me a great opportunity to learn about the Salesforce platform, whilst at the same time, I’ve been given direct exposure to client interactions — which is the one thing I love doing the most, helping my customers and keeping them happy!
Does Managed Service make sense for your business? Get in touch with Ella Dearing at [email protected] to discuss.
Abhilasha Dhamija is the makepositive Service Manager in Managed Services now based in London, UK, previously working for makepositive in Gurgaon, India and a regular blogger. Click here to see Abhilasha’s blog.
