What IT Partnerships Mean to Us
It’s common to have preconceived notions about how an IT partnership should work. One partner may have assumptions the other is unaware of, or an understanding of each other’s responsibilities may not be clear. In fact, the response to, “How are things working for you?” might be revealing and not what you expected.
Because no one likes surprises (or conducting business this way), the core of Systems’ business model is built around providing proactive, exceptional client service, which means we regularly ask, “How are things working for you?”
Our Approach to Business Relationships
Based on our experience in client relations and customer service, we know that open, honest communication with our clients leads to proactive problem-solving, delivering quicker success than letting problems linger. Open conversations positively impact our work relationships, but if one partner is too busy and communication breaks down, tension arises.
When we onboard a new client, we proactively work to build and understand expectations and boundaries. According to Thad McGrail, Systems Sales Coordinator, the best client partnerships start with clarifying expectations and boundaries and maintaining clear, regular communications.
“We like to have a monthly or quarterly meeting with our clients and those who make IT decisions for their business. From the client side and from our side, we’re both committed to these meetings.
“And as we continue to work with them, we’re constantly in the check, plan, deliver, and repeat mode,” he says.
Our Technical Approach to IT Solutions
Our Systems technicians focus on ensuring that all our clients’ IT tools are deployed across their entire network to minimize surprises. This ensures that when there’s a problem, issue, or upgrade to install, our clients can still operate at their highest capacity. Systems technicians use logs and automation-enabled tools to gain a better understanding and ensure that updates and deployments are flawless when issues arise.
When clients onboard with Systems, they are assigned a client admin and primary technician. This arrangement has advantages because, during onboarding, each client can have their own “go-to” technician who, from the beginning, will take a deeper dive to become familiar with the network and the client.
McGrail also says that great partnerships involve providing clients with tasks they can do on their own, leading to greater satisfaction and control.
“Most of the clients we work for—companies with 25 to 50 or 50 to 100 employees—have typically gone through an experience where they’ve had a singular IT professional who was not available when they needed them. So, from a technical service perspective, we provide them with a client admin, which works much better for them and is more affordable.”
Communication and Accountability
McGrail says partnerships that provide the best client experiences are rooted in effective communication, accountability, and understanding.
“Clients who know how to distinguish between a basic need and an urgent need, know what they can expect from us, and understand the support we can deliver them are usually the most satisfied. But it’s up to us at Systems to set that stage and line of communication at the beginning of our engagement so we can provide an exceptional client experience.”
Regarding IT solutions, most businesses that engage with Systems don’t want to hire an in-house IT person because they’re expensive and usually don’t know what questions to ask. Making matters more difficult, IT networks are complex and ever-changing, yet a core competency of businesses.
Systems partnerships grounded in communication and accountability have open lines that can result in more effective solutions because they involve the client at a higher level. For example, many times, McGrail says, “We schedule meetings to discuss current issues and new improvements that align with a client’s IT strategy.”
“There has to be a constant dialogue between our team and our clients,” he says. “We encourage open and honest communication so we can provide the best business decisions now and into the future. The goal of our technicians and our business team is to provide our clients with a clear risk-benefit analysis so they can make good decisions.”
Our Promise
We regularly engage with clients, take care of their needs, and address their pressing business issues matters. It’s what sets us apart from other businesses.
How Systems engages with clients, takes care of their needs, and addresses pressing business issues matters. It’s this approach to partnerships that makes us different from others who offer IT services. Because, at the end of the day, small business owners simply need IT systems that work, and that’s what Systems delivers.
