Klient New Features Deliver Enhanced Customer Experience
New Products and Expanded Features Deliver Unmatched Innovation in Professional Services Automation and Client Onboarding Technology.
Klient Software, the service experience platform developed to build long-term customer relationships through improved customer experiences and better services delivery, today announced new solutions and features as part of the latest release.
Summary highlights of new and expanded features include:
Project Manager Experience
Now Project Managers can create and maintain sophisticated client projects by adding multiple project or task templates in the order specified to stitch together the creation of a project. Additionally templates can be added after project creation to expand projects with additional phases as an example.
New functionality to create recurring tasks now let managers easily create project tasks that repeat during the project lifecycle and need to be scheduled and tracked for resource availability such as a weekly client meeting or weekly training.
The new project board view enables users the ability to view and complete project tasks by defined project phases. An example would be a software implementation with defined task phases including kick-off, requirements gathering, configuration, testing, training, and deployment phases, all delivered in an easy to understand and use drag-drop project kanban board.
Consultant Experience
A new Chrome Extension enables consultants the ability to instantly view, search, and take action upon project tasks without needing to navigate away from a current web page while performing project work.
A new Timesheet Lightning Component is now available to add to any page layout to easily track time without requiring the users to navigate away to the timesheet page. The new timesheet component can be added to any page including projects, tasks, or even support cases to tracking time. The component can be added as a global action, making it available at the top of the navigation bar permanently.
Enhanced timesheet functionality includes the ability to recall submitted timesheets that have yet to be approved to immediately make changes and re-submit. This new functionality is configurable to turn on or off for a subset of users as desired.
Customer Experience
An updated project status report available to customers now displays additional project insight including the ability to define any configurable fields for display including custom fields. Project Statues reports are available to customers online or delivered by email.
A brand new external site available for customers to collaborate on projects is now available requiring no license or login for customer access. Customers can collaborate on task completion, viewing Gantt charts, access project files, and update project notes all from a dedicated project portal.
Service Leadership Experience
A new survey API enables service leaders the ability to drag and drop business rules using Salesforce Process Builder to define when surveys should automatically be distributed to customers.
New analytic reports for services leaders include the new NPS Survey Report and the new Resource Capacity Planning report. The NPS Survey report displays customer NPS trending analysis to gage the health of customer implementations. The Resource Capacity Planning report enables service leaders to forecast supply and demand of resources including projects still in planning.
Finance Experience
Enhanced integration with accounting vendor Accounting Seed includes the ability to synchronize projects and tasks created in Klient to Accounting Seed. Additionally, we have updated the Invoice mapping to send Project and Task data mapped in the Invoice to Accounting Seed.
Expanded integrations with vendors Quickbooks and Xero include updates to multi-currency, multi-company and global taxation support.
About Klient Software
Klient PSA is the service experience platform developed to build long-term customer relationships through improved customer experiences and better services delivery. Built 100% native on Salesforce®, Klient delivers complete customer visibility from sales through service delivery, a modern and seamless customer experience, fully transparent communication between the project team and client to ensure alignment of expectations, integrated customer feedback, and real-time integration with existing back-office systems for more successful project implementation and greater customer success.
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Project Going Over Budget? How To Get Back On Track And Achieve Customer Success
Even the most world-class Professional Services Organizations (PSOs) with the best project managers and service team members will encounter problematic projects every once in a while.
When this happens, projects can run over budget and clients can become frustrated if the service team doesn’t turn the project around and get things back on track.
If you find yourself with a project that seems like it’s derailing quickly, here’s some steps you can take to resolve the issues, get the project back on track, and deliver a successful and complete project that will keep your client satisfied with the service you provided:
1. Identify the problem areas
When a project starts to derail, the first step is to identify what the problem is. Maybe your service team has hit a roadblock where they’re waiting on a piece of information from the client. Or perhaps there is a technical difficulty that needs to be resolved by another department within your organization, such as the IT department. Maybe the project was incorrectly scoped during the sales process and your service team is unable to deliver a complete project with the allotted hours dedicated to project implementation.
Whatever the problem may be, identifying it allows you to step back and look for a resolution to the problem. This is where a project manager should take control and resolve the issues at hand in order to get the project back on track.
A Professional Services Automation (PSA) Software can help a project manager identify and resolve project issues, because it helps provide a clear picture of the entire project lifecycle. Part of monitoring a project for success requires tracking a project’s estimate-at-completion against its budget. Doing so, acts like an early warning indicator, alerting project managers when a specific aspect of a project may have taken more effort than intended. For this to be effective, however, project managers need to maintain accurate resource management projections and visibility into the project in real-time. Using a PSA software can easily enable a project manager to do this.
2. Resolve the issues by making necessary adjustments
When you’ve identified that there’s a problem with the project, the worst thing you can do is hope that it will correct itself along the way and everything will work out in the end. If it seems unlikely that a project will be completed on time and on budget, that will most likely be the case unless you step in early and make adjustments in key result areas.
Some project managers will assume that a tiny setback will not have a large impact on the completion of the project. This may be true in some circumstances, however, tiny setbacks can often add up throughout the lifecycle of the project which means it is the responsibility of the project manager to adjust for these discrepancies and keep the project moving along smoothly.
One tactical action that project managers can take is to identify the project’s key result areas, also known as critical success factors in project management. These are the big-bucket items that must be completed on time and to a high degree of quality in order to achieve project success. Much like an intricate game of chess, project managers can shift around priorities to accommodate for discrepancies in the project’s plan.
For example, if you know that a client is more budget-conscious than time-sensitive, you may be able to play around with resource utilization in project management. You might trim the team to stick to the budget but at the expense of time to market. If scope or quality are factors that can be adjusted, you may be able to make small reductions that don’t jeopardize the ultimate goal of the project while still achieving your key result areas.
3. Include the client in the discussion as adjustments are being made
There’s nothing that will frustrate your client more than being told at the last moment that the team has used up all of the allocated hours for the project and the work hasn’t been completed, especially if the client was under the impression that things were running as planned. If your client has a strict budget for the project or a non-negotiable date for project completion, they will not be happy if they find out at the eleventh hour that there are issues with the project plan.
As soon as the problem has been identified by the project team, and suggestions for making adjustments have been decided on by the project manager, the client should be made aware of the adjustments that are proposed and sign-off with their approval of the changes to the project plan.
This transparency provides the client visibility into the project and ensures that they are less likely to feel blindsided later on if there are unexpected costs associated with their project, or timelines have shifted.
4. Use data and insights from problematic projects to ensure future projects run more smoothly
Sooner or later every project team will face a problematic project. Hopefully by taking the steps above you can turn a project around and successfully deliver a project that meets your client’s satisfaction, however, the best PSOs will learn from their mistakes and use the lessons they learn from problematic projects to make future projects run smoother.
A PSA software with functionality for creating detailed reports of projects, can help PSOs plan for better success in the future by using project data to understand where improvements can be made. In addition, a PSA software with the ability to send surveys for client feedback and create communities for clients to have visibility into a project can help you get a better understanding of what your clients are looking for and how to do better in the future. Project Health Check Statuses will allow you to quickly see your most successful and least successful projects and empower you to make changes where needed.
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3 Things to Keep in Mind When Evaluating PSA Software
Evaluating a new software for your business can be a challenging process.
Software tends to be a substantial investment for companies, and as such, requires a comprehensive evaluation process to ensure the right product is selected. Choosing the incorrect software can be costly for a business, so it is important to evaluate options thoroughly in order to make the best selection possible and choose a software that will maximize your return on investment.
When it comes to Professional Services Automation (PSA) software, there are numerous products on the market to choose from. However, the software evaluation process can be made easier with careful preparation and an emphasis on the 3 following considerations throughout the evaluation phase:
1. For each software you evaluate, ask yourself, “Will this software solve the business outcomes that I’m looking to achieve?”
You may evaluate software with a multitude of fancy features and functionality, but unless those features help you achieve the business challenges you’re trying to fix, all of the functionality in the world isn’t going to add value to your company. You may find that a simpler product with less overall features, is actually the one that has the right functionality to achieve the outcomes you’re looking for.
Helpful Tip: Before you begin evaluating any PSA software, create a list of the outcomes your business is looking to achieve. Then make a list of must-have features that will help you accomplish your desired outcomes. You may also wish to make a secondary list of “nice-to-have” features that could add value to your business in other ways, but are not necessary for achieving your imperative business outcomes.
2. Include representatives from every department who will utilize the software in your evaluation process.
By including members of all teams that will utilize the software, you not only ensure that the final selection will achieve the outcomes needed by each team, but you also ensure you are getting buy-in from the people who will ultimately be using the software. If you select a software in a silo, you run the risk of certain departments choosing not to effectively adopt the software, which will ultimately affect your return on investment.
HelpfulTip: Select a key member of each department that will use the PSA software you select. Likely this will include at the very least a services team member, a finance team member, a sales team member, and perhaps an IT team member. Make sure that you clearly define what outcomes each of these departments hope to achieve with the software, and then evaluate options keeping in mind which ones have features and functionality that will be most beneficial to each team. To learn more about motivating employees to make effective use of a new PSA software, read our blog here, “Strategies to Encourage Employee Adoption of PSA.”
3. Know what questions you want to ask the vendors, and approach them with specific elements that you want their product demo to address.
If you don’t let the vendors you approach know what you’re looking for, they will likely overwhelm you with a flood of information about their product that isn’t relevant to your evaluation process. When you become overwhelmed with facts about products and find yourself reading through pages of information on various features and functionality, it can become difficult to determine what product is actually best for helping you solve your business challenges.
Helpful Tip: When you approach a software vendor, get right to the point. Tell them what business outcomes you need to achieve, let them know what functionality you’re looking for in a product in order to achieve this outcome, and ask them to set up a demo for you that will walk you through exactly how their product can help you achieve your desired outcomes.
If you’re evaluating a PSA software for your business and would like to see a comprehensive demo of Klient PSA, you can book a call to set up a free trial below:
Gantt Charts: How They Improve Project Planning and Drive Success For Services Teams
Gantt Charts are a tool that many professional services organizations (PSOs) have found useful for project planning, and for driving the overall success of their services team.
What is a Gantt Chart?
For those who don’t know, a Gantt Chart is a visual method for project planning that helps a services team accomplish their tasks, and work together as a team fluidly. Put simply, a Gantt chart puts all those pieces of a project (tasks) together for better insights into the overall project. Ultimately this improves team communication, project efficiency and potentially even helps grow revenue
Gantt Charts and Project Planning:
Gantt charts are just one tool for project planning, but one that many services teams find incredibly useful. Differing from other project management tools, a Gantt Chart allows a services team to quickly see a visual of the entire project including the route to its completion, rather than just the next task at hand.
Laid out in timeline order, different bars represent the tasks needing completion, and align to show what tasks are dependent on the completion of another, thereby forming the team’s “critical path”. The critical path is what helps a services team visualize the route they must take to complete the project, and the estimated timeline for project completion.
If a project’s tasks are largely dependent on each other, then it’s hard to visualize how all those blocks need to stack up for a project to be successful. A Gantt chart helps the whole team visualize “the build”, and then divide and conquer to meet project deadlines.
Driving Team Success:
Gantt Charts can improve visibility across a services team and improve collaboration. They do so by highlighting how a team needs to come together to make a project successful. When you can easily visualize task dependencies it’s easier to prevent steps from being bottlenecked and open the doors for clear communication.
They also allow the team to focus on the success of the project. The defined critical path keeps the project moving forward towards success. Rather than crossing items off a list, a services team can use a Gantt Chart to visualize how each step brings them closer to successful project completion. If roadblocks do occur, the team can also easily map out where the necessary changes in the project need to be made in order to accommodate the roadblock and clearly identify what the risk or setback will look like so they can then keep the client informed.
Although Gantt charts are known as a “big picture” planning tool, they are also very useful in understanding where the team members stand on the day-to-day. Milestones help divide up the critical path into focus areas or phases of the project.
Features of a great Gantt Chart:
While many PSA and Project Management tools will have Gantt Chart capabilities, some have greater functionality than others.
Klient’s updated Gantt Chart features include: full inline editing, rapid task creation, drag-drop of task sequence, quick predecessor creation by wbs or task name, task scheduling directly from the Gantt, configurable columns display, split-pane, and much more deliver an exceptional experience for managing projects. The new Gantt experience is available as a standard page as well as a new Lightning Component.
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Ideagen In Strategic Partnership With Klient Software To Enhance Its Professional Services Operations
Ideagen has entered into a strategic partnership with a leading professional service automation software provider as it looks to enhance its resource management operations.
The Nottingham-based Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) leader will work with Canadian software firm Klient Software.
Klient is next generation professional services automation software which is deployed and built on Salesforce, the leading cloud CRM platform.
Klient will enable Ideagen’s customer delivery team to manage resources across all projects for all products. The software will also provide an easier integration path for all new acquisitions into the
wider Ideagen Group.
Amanda O’Neill, Ideagen’s Head of Service Delivery, said:
“Klient’s outstanding product – native to Salesforce – will help us truly take our professional services
operations to the next level which can only benefit our growing, global customer base.”
Ideagen currently has over 5,000 customers globally using its suite of GRC software, but that figure will expand due to the company’s strategic ‘buy-and-build’ acquisition strategy.
Amanda continued:
“Klient’s software, and the team behind it, are the perfect fit for Ideagen. We firmly believe that Klient will transform our professional services operation and provide us with the most connected and collaborative platform for customer success.”
Klient Software delivers an intuitive and modern solution for professional services automaton. It’s software helps companies transform service delivery and client success via a single application to
manage the performance and profitability of every project, delivering visibility across the entire business.
David Vanheukelom, CEO of Klient Software, said of the tie in with Ideagen: “We are looking forward to working with Ideagen, which is one of the most ambitious and rapidly growing technology firms in the world.
“Ideagen and Klient share the same fundamental beliefs in that the success of the client is of paramount importance to the success of the business. We are absolutely delighted that Ideagen has
chosen to work with Klient and we look forward to playing an important part in the future success of the company.”
Mr Vanheukelom added: “It is great to partner with such a forward-thinking and customer-centric organisation in the form of Ideagen. This project is especially exciting because it combines our
cutting-edge Klient software with Ideagen’s customer success and elite professional service mindset.”
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The Top 5 Professional Services Metrics You Need To Be Tracking For Customer Success
The most mature professional services organizations and the ones who consistently deliver successful projects and foster long-term customer relationships, are those that offer high levels of organizational visibility across departments, have optimized business processes and integrated systems, focus on profit improvements, and have moved away from a one-time project focus to an increased emphasis on delivering great customer experiences for life.
These organizations have largely accomplished this by tracking 5 important and influential metrics for the professional services market. These metrics are not only imperative to a profitable business, but also critical in keeping customers happy through improved service delivery experiences. We recommend that all organizations who deliver projects to clients, start tracking these 5 key metrics immediately if you aren’t already:
1. Annual Revenue per Billable Consultant
Annual Revenue per Billable Consultant is a measure of a business’s total revenue divided by the number of billable consultants they employ. Understanding how much revenue each consultant is producing is a key indicator of financial success as well as consultant productivity, but it must be assessed in relation to labor costs. Revenue per billable consultant should ideally equal one- to two-times the labor costs of employing each consultant. Organizations with high annual revenue per billable consultant tend to do well because higher rates indicate better consultant productivity with respect to larger projects, more revenue in backlog, as well as more on-time and on-budget completions.
Tracking consultant productivity is key to improving customer success because you will have greater insight into when and how you should better utilize your consultants in order to improve their productivity and speed up project timelines and delivery.
2. Annual Revenue per Employee
Another core metric, Annual Revenue per Employee, is measured by dividing total revenue by the total number of both billable and non-billable employees. Similar to annual revenue per billable consultant, high annual revenue per employee is strongly correlated with profitability and efficiency. By measuring how much revenue each employee brings in relative to how much they cost, you can accurately determine the financial health of an organization. While not everyone on staff can provide billable services, it is important to be aware of the risks of too many overhead costs in relation to revenue per employee.
This metric can also be important for professional services organizations hoping to optimize business processes because business leaders can see departments where they may be spending too much money on employees, and can better re-allocate budgets to hire employees in areas that will make the business more successful. A successful business is one that has the right number of employees in each department in order to successfully manage client expectations and provide the support necessary to maintain loyal customers for life.
3. Billable Utilization
Employee utilization is defined by SPI Research on a 2,000 hour per year basis, and is calculated by dividing the total billable hours by 2,000. Utilization is central to accurately determining organizational profitability, as well as a key signal to expand or contract the workforce. By tracking work hours for billable employees, an organization can get a better picture of workforce productivity.
Your utilization rate tells you how much of your employees’ available time is spent on billable work. If this rate is too high, you likely need to add more resources. Too low and it means that you’re not bringing in enough work.
Tracking this metric can help you improve customer success because overworked employees are often tired, unhappy employees, and may even become so rundown that they are unable to perform to the best of their ability. On the other hand, underworked employees may become bored or uninterested in their work which can also affect the quality of the work they deliver. Both of these circumstances can be damaging to your organization’s reputation if the work your employees are performing does not measure up to customer expectations.
4. Project Overrun
Project overrun is the percentage above budgeted cost versus the actual cost of a project. This KPI is important because anytime a project goes over budget in either time or cost; it cuts directly into profitability. Whether a project goes over in either budget or allotted person-hours, it can limit future work and in many cases reveal internal efficiency or management issues, which also negatively impact bottom-line results. Project overruns are also detrimental to client satisfaction and even incoming sales opportunities.
By tracking project overrun, you can identify which projects are consistently going over budget, and identify ways to improve internal efficiency in order to manage projects better and stay on schedule. This will greatly improve your number of projects delivered on time, on budget, and to your customers satisfaction.
5. Profit Margin
Profit margin is the percentage of revenue which remains after paying for the direct costs of completing a project. Keeping profit margins high is essential as it ultimately drives overall revenue. Poor financial performance can often be directly correlated to low profit margins, as organizations are no longer able to invest in future growth activities.
An organization that has revenue to invest in the future growth of the company is one that can remain innovative, continuously enhance and improve their product or service, and foster long-term relationships with their customers. Tracking profit margin is therefore crucial to the ongoing success of a professional services organization.
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Revenue Recognition For Professional Services Organizations
Revenue recognition is an accounting principle, which refers to how revenue is treated or recognized.
While relatively straightforward in many sectors, revenue recognition can be a particularly complex matter in professional services, due to factors such as work being done under an array of different contract models along with complex deliverables.
Organizations are required to account for billed vs. unbilled receivables and deferred vs. recognized revenue, based upon the specifics of each sales contract.
Generally speaking, there are 6 different models of contract structures that a professional services organization may use. And, often times, they will use different models for various types of clients or projects, resulting in a more complicated revenue recognition process.
Time and Materials Contract Structures
Fixed Price Contract Structures
Not To Exceed Contract Structures
Retainer-Based Contracts
Recurring Service Subscription
Managed Services Contracts
In order to simplify the revenue recognition process, it is becoming increasingly common for professional services organizations to seek out a Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution that has revenue recognition functionality built-in.
How Klient PSA Can Help Simplify Revenue Recognition
With a Professional Services Automation solution such as Klient PSA, organizations can manage complex billing and invoicing situations by configuring rules that completely automate project billing—including fixed fee, billable rates, milestones, installment agreements, and recurring billing types.
Furthermore, users can also manage vendor bills and payments with ease. And, the services organization can recognize project revenue with revenue recognition templates and calculation methods. This allows the services organization to create multiple recognition rules per contract and project and simplify the process of revenue recognition.
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4 Client Retention Strategies for Professional Service Firms
Service-based clients can differ wildly from purchase-based customers — especially when you want to build lasting relationships with them to create repeat business. That’s why client retention can be so different from customer retention.
Here, we’ve compiled four expert tips for how to retain clients that we believe are specifically helpful to service-based businesses.
1. Highlight the Human Component
While customer-based businesses often focus on selling the value or quality of a product, client-based service businesses can promote themselves as people who provide professional services with top-quality expertise, experience, or connections. The relationships between your organization and its clients helps ensure they’re happy enough to keep using your services.
As Joey Coleman, author of the book Never Lose a Customer Again, likes to say: “The fact is, whether you are B2B or B2C, the core of the conversation is that your business is H2H — human to human.”
Positioning your organization as humans delivering premium services to other humans can quickly change your clients’ perceptions of who it is they’re doing business with in the first place. This can give you an advantage that keeps clients invested in your business relationship beyond numbers and deliverables.
2. Focus on Clients Individually
The second “human” in the human-to-human strategy is your client, but typical customer retention metrics may leave your clients feeling like just another number. A capable professional services automation (PSA) system can help your organization focus on the client’s needs from front end sales to back end office management. Besides using powerful tools to keep clients at the center of your business, Mark Klein of Loyalty Builders Inc. explains client loyalty with a macro vs. micro concept. Rather than focusing on customer retention — a high-level or macro idea that looks at your entire client base as a whole — loyalty is a micro metric that highlights the value of each client individually.
Klein’s company evaluates every customer with a risk score, which focuses on the customer’s likelihood of making a purchase within the next 12 months. Your metrics may be based on your client’s likelihood of using your services again within a certain period of time. These measurements allow Klein’s company to incentivize customers, rewarding customers with higher loyalty, and making offers specific to each customer’s preexisting buying behaviors. Viewing each of your customers as individual assets will allow you to market to each of them in a way that maximizes the relationship — making everyone a winner.
3. Ask Tough Questions About Client Relationships
It can be easy to evaluate client relationships in terms of the rapport between contacts, but Mike Schultz, Co-President of global sales training company RAIN Group, recommends looking at the actual business value your company provides for each client. He suggests organizations ask a series of tough questions about their clients, including whether the client views you as a partner, and what your client would say if a rival service suggested your client replace you.
If you find the answers to these questions show that you’re an essential partner, you’re in a good position to retain clients long term. If the answers aren’t what you had hoped, you now have goals for where you want the client relationship to be. That may include developing the relationship to the point that they would never consider replacing you with another service company.
4. Keep Your ‘Why’ Close
An intuitive way to further develop the connection between your organization and its clients is to keep your company’s “why” at the forefront of your business. John L. Evans, Jr., Executive Director of Knowledge Labs Professional Development, explains that an individual’s “why” may be what leads to “purpose beyond self,” but that for an organization, the “why” leads each employee to “create extraordinary moments for clients” — something clients will see when it’s apparent your employees aren’t just going through the motions.
If your organization has a mission statement or even an unspoken but deeply held vision, make sure employees know what values should drive their service delivery for your clients.
If your organization doesn’t have a compelling “why,” get started on one by evaluating what your organization has set out to accomplish.
If your employees don’t know why they’re fulfilling your service orders, your clients may not know why either.
Conclusion
Retaining clients for a service-based business may require a different strategy than retaining a purchase-based customer, but the end goal is the same: keep your clients coming back for more.
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PSA Integration Guide: Run Your Business On One Platform
Do you miss project deadlines more often than you’d like?
Is your data unreliable and all over the place?
Or do projects keep going over budget despite your best efforts?
If you’re struggling to predict and achieve your revenue targets in addition to any of the above, it may be time to consider PSA integration with your other business tools.
Let’s dive into professional services automation integration basics and best practices to help you streamline every aspect of your business operations.
Professional services automation (PSA) integration is the process of integrating a PSA and other business applications into one streamlined system.
This integration optimizes processes, increases efficiency, and reduces costs. It also allows business owners to automate manual processes.
By integrating all of the applications into one system, it eliminates the need to manually switch between them, which can save time and reduce errors. Additionally, having all of the applications in one system makes it easier to monitor performance across all of the applications and identify areas for improvement.
For instance, if a company has its sales and marketing applications integrated, it can track the customer’s progress from lead to sale, and identify areas where the sales process can be improved.
To get an idea of what a PSA can do, here is a deep dive into the features and functionalities of Klient PSA:
Benefits of PSA integration for services businesses
To take full advantage of the features and functionality offered by a Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution, it is highly recommended to integrate it with the other applications your project teams and business are using.
While a robust PSA platform on its own can bring much-needed efficiency, integrations with other business tools your organization is already using can help visualize and manage all aspects of your company’s projects.
Research has shown that the highest-performing services organizations excel in their use of integrated technology solutions.
While many professional services organizations use financial management, CRM, and PSA solutions to efficiently plan, sell, and execute services, those that perform the best drive even better results through the integration of these core applications.
Information should be integrated so that it can be seamlessly passed from one application to another (for example, from CRM to PSA to ERP). This allows organizations to have a single source of truth, with information constantly updated to provide an accurate view across functions and processes.
Financial executives can ensure revenues and costs are aligned while service delivery can focus on productivity and quality.
By integrating CRM, PSA, ERP, and any other tools your business relies on, you allow your Sales team to see what resources are available and the status of projects to provide more accurate information to clients.
Service delivery teams can see the schedule of upcoming projects and details of the client relationship to be proactive with communication, change orders, and resource scheduling.
And the Finance department gets an accurate picture of revenue and costs to ensure they are kept in balance so cash flow is improved and business plans and forecasts are accurate.
Features to look for to simplify your PSA integration
Not all PSA platforms are created equal. Some make it easier than others to sync apps and assets together.
Let’s cover 5 important features to look for if you want to execute a successful PSA integration.
1. Accounting connectors
Look for a PSA in which accounting software, such as QuickBooks Xero and Sage Intacct, can be directly integrated.
This will allow every minute of billable time to be accounted for.
As a result, you’ll be able to generate invoices automatically and bill clients directly.
2. Integration with your CRM
Does the PSA you’re considering integrate with your current CRM? This is one of many integration features that are a necessity to keep customer data and contact information up to date.
This integration also allows for more efficient and automated marketing campaigns.
For example, if you run your sales team using Salesforce, consider a PSA that’s native to Salesforce.
Make sure the tool handles bi-directional integration as well. The benefit of choosing a solution that’s native to your existing platform is that bi-directionality is already implicit.
3. Connection to the cloud
The cloud model appeals to more organizations because it requires less upfront investment and has no ownership costs. As such, it can make PSA integrations much simpler.
So if you want to run your business on the cloud, make sure to choose a PSA that’s hosted on the cloud as well.
But you also need to make sure the solution you choose meets your IT resource and functionality requirements.
4. Security
Cybersecurity is no joke, which is why you need to look for a secure PSA when considering all your options.
Security measures should include encryption, two-factor authentication, and user access control.
It’s also important to look for a PSA that is regularly updated and patched to ensure it’s always up to date with the latest security protocols.
Lastly, look for a PSA that has a track record of successful security audits, such as SOC2.
5. Configuration types
Your business has unique needs. The right PSA for your business will have the capacity to be configured exactly how your organization requires it.
It also helps to look for a PSA that not only has flexible configuration possibilities, but also comes ready with out-of-the-box templates and tools to shorten your time-to-live.
How to successfully integrate a PSA
Many professional service organizations choose a great PSA, only to fail during the integration process.
Once you’ve chosen which PSA you want to integrate (and which apps you’ll need to integrate it with), here’s how to handle the implementation for maximum success.
1. Assess your business needs
Before you undertake a PSA integration with your other tools, you need a full picture of your business needs.
Which use cases should be addressed? What type of data will you need to collect? What are the potential risks and how can you mitigate them?
Knowing every business need inside and out will allow you to configure your PSA in the most efficient way possible. It’ll also help you prioritize where to train your team first.
For example, what type of time tracking do you need, if at all? Do you need a ticket integration to manage customer requests? What type of project management tools will your service delivery team need?
2. Survey past client requests
Don’t just look at your internal requirements – survey what your past and existing clients have been asking for, too. Look through service tickets, but feel free to send out new surveys to get a complete picture.
This will help you identify what your clients need and want from your services as well as what your PSA and its integrations will need to accomplish.
You can then use this information to ensure the PSA configuration is tailored to those needs.
For instance, let’s say clients frequently ask for more visibility on their projects. If that’s the case, you’ll need to configure your PSA in a way that allows your services team to provide this visibility.
You’ll have a much more exceptional customer experience when you take the time to get this right.
3. Assign a champion
For a bit of context, there are three ways to onboard with Klient PSA. One of these ways is through Klient University.
Whenever a newcustomer joins Klient University, the customer organization assigns a Champion. A champion is a key individual from the organization who has deep knowledge, understanding, or technical skills in a specific area of a business or Salesforce technology.
They are subject matter experts who demonstrate mastery in their particular domain, whether that’s Adoption, Delivery, or Technology within a company’s Salesforce environment. They are leaders in their respective fields who will be given tasks or “homework” that aligns with their area of expertise.
This enables them to contribute their unique skills and knowledge to streamline and ease the initial configuration of Klient.
With that being said, no matter which PSA you choose to implement, consider appointing a specific Champion to spearhead the effort. This will ensure someone’s accountable for the success of any given part of the integration project.
4. Ensure adoption throughout the organization
You can implement a PSA in your organization and integrate it with every possible tool used by your team. But without proper adoption, a successful implementation is unlikely.
That’s why you need an adoption plan in place, typically spearheaded by your Champion.
Bolt Data is a Klient PSA user as well as a Salesforce partner. Despite using Klient PSA (Professional Services Automation) for several years, Bolt Data’s teams gradually deviated from the platform and reverted to using spreadsheets, which led to data inconsistencies and time-consuming manual processes.
To solve this issue, the team decided to reboot the entire implementation of Klient PSA. Part of this process involved a collaboration workshop so that champions within Bolt Data could understand every feature.
Furthermore, the entire Bolt Data organization adopted Klient PSA thanks to training and adaptation support from their champions and Klient experts.
Due to the attention given to adoption during the reboot, both the executive leadership team and Sales department embraced the system. All employees benefit from accurate information and spreadsheets are a thing of the past. Now Bolt Data has a 360-degree view of operations, pipeline, staffing, and revenue.
This example illustrates the difference between a strong adoption plan and a lackluster one.
How Klient PSA Makes Integration Simpler
Built 100% natively on the Salesforce platform, Klient Salesforce PSA is a platform that delivers and supports real-time connections with the applications that drive services businesses, ensuring a customer-centric solution and the most valuable professional services experiences for clients.
With direct integration into accounting software and ERPs like QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage Intacct, every minute of billable time is accounted for. Invoices can be automatically generated and managed, and clients billed directly.
Integration with other commonly-used business solutions like Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, etc., will set every team in a services business up for success, as each will benefit from increased visibility and streamlined operations management that contribute to faster ticket closing, higher customer satisfaction, and dramatic jumps in productivity.
But that’s not all – Klient PSA also comes fully loaded with proven recipes that our team has created after decades of experience in the professional services industry. This means you can build your business on top of a proven foundation instead of starting your implementation from scratch!
Replace all your tools to run your entire business on Salesforce with Klient PSA
Say goodbye to operational chaos, unorganized tasks, and scattered data. Run your entire business on a single professional service automation platform native to Salesforce!
Professional Services Automation (PSA) VS Project Management Software
How does Professional Services Automation (PSA) differ from project management (PM) software? And how can you choose the right comprehensive solution to run your business?
Here are a few key differentiators between PSA and PM.
1. PSA Puts Customers at the Center Instead of Projects
With project management software, the emphasis is on projects. PM software helps you track tasks and collaborate so employees can keep up with their day-to-day work. Your customers may see the end result of your internal team’s work, but that could be incidental. A PM tool could be purchased solely for the benefit of your employees, regardless of how it affects your customer experience. Professional service automation (PSA) puts customers at the center. The focus is on optimizing the client’s experience, not just on tracking individual tasks.
Because the system has multiple touchpoints with the customer’s experience, employees have greater access to customer information across the board, while customers feel more taken care of across the entire scope of your business.
2. PSA Connects the Front Office to Sales and Service Delivery
Beside providing your customer with an better end-to-end experience, a PSA system provides your employees with much better visibility across the entire service delivery pipeline. The front office, the back office, and every service employee in between can see what the other departments have contributed to the customer’s account, whether that’s contact information, projects working and delivered, or expectations for future services.
3. PSA Integrates Seamlessly From CRM to Accounting
Many PSA or PM systems can integrate with your CRM. But many of them also aren’t easily set up, a problem that usually results in service delivery being run separately from the CRM. A great PSA will include a strong PM feature set and integrate closely with your CRM. Klient Software is built natively within Salesforce, meaning integration isn’t a concern — it’s built to run together from the outset.
From the moment a customer is entered into the CRM as a contact, everything can run seamlessly with the PSA.
4. PSA Generates Revenue
Professional services automation systems are particularly helpful for generating revenue, for a few reasons. If you have billable hours or services and you’re using a Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) system, having a PSA system to help you adjust profitability, margin, bookings, and revenue on the fly can lead to easier and greater revenue increases.
Additionally, SPI Research recently conducted an ROI study on professional services automation. The results found that a $200,000 investment in software and implementation could lead to nearly $23 million in increased revenue and reduced costs, based on a firm of 172 people — an ROI of 115 times the initial investment.
5. PSA Includes Many Other Modules Beyond Project Management
Professional services automation isn’t just different from project management — it encompasses it. But PSA also encompasses many other services and modules. This includes (but is not limited to) time entry, billing, invoicing, CPQ, proposals, document management, expense tracking, calendar management, revenue recognition, forecasting, and customer communities.
Because PSA includes so many more options than just project management, it’s capable of replacing many more systems than just PM.
Conclusion: PSA Is an End-to-End Service Delivery Solution
The right PSA system for your organization can provide or replace a PM-only tool while providing many additional solutions for your business. And because all of these tools work together within one PSA, everyone at your organization will have greater access to your customers’ information.
That means more profitable client engagements, increased customer retention, and more revenue over the life of the customer, just by using the right PSA system.
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