10 Ways Great IT Service Providers Help Consultancies Land More Clients

17 Dec. 2024 - Ben O'Neill

It goes without saying that, for consultancy firms, Information Technology is crucial in virtually all areas of business, including but not limited to sales, branding, collaboration, customer relationship management and more.  

 

Unfortunately, the industry is awash with mediocre IT Service Providers offering the bare minimum service at the lowest possible price, resulting in poor customer service, lost productivity, and missed opportunities for your business to attract and serve clients to the best of your abilities. 

 

On the other hand, a great IT service provider can turbocharge your business, enabling new capabilities, maximising your productivity, and helping you make the best possible impression on your clients.

1 – Handling day-to-day IT operations

 

Some IT Service Providers are limited and inflexible in the types of tasks they’re willing to take on, or slow to perform critical activities, leaving you to pick up the slack. Some consultancies go the route of hiring their own IT staff – this can work, but personnel costs and the risks of hiring people with the wrong skillset mean it’s not the best approach for many small to medium sized firms.  

 

A great IT Service Provider draws on a team with diverse skillsets on-demand to handle all your day-to-day IT operations, typically at lower cost and risk compared to hiring your own IT staff. You get all the benefits – smooth operations, increased productivity, reduced downtime, and access to the right IT skills when you need them most, enabling you up to focus on what really matters – delighting your clients! 

 

At Shieldwall, we believe that smooth day-to-day IT operations is a critical pillar of our customers’ success. Time spent waiting on service requests or waiting for critical business systems to come back online is time that you haven’t spent serving your clients, so speed and efficiency is among our top priorities. 

 

2- Website Design

 

In today’s digital world, a strong online presence is essential for attracting potential clients and generating sales leads – but keeping it current can be a constant drain on your limited time. 

 

An IT Service Provider can design and build a professional, appealing, and search-optimised website for your consultancy! With features like client portals, contact forms, or live chat options, the website can become an effective communication tool that helps you attract and retain clients! 

 

3 – Streamlining your internal operations 

 

A great IT Service Provider won’t just ‘keep the lights on’ - they will go the extra mile to find opportunities to streamline your internal operations. From automating your existing business processes, integrating your IT systems together, or helping you assimilate new solutions like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools or project management software.  

 

By enhancing the organisation of your information and productivity of your operations, you will be in a better position to attract and serve potential clients. 

 

4 – Supporting digital transformation and modernisation 

 

As businesses increasingly embrace digital solutions, consultancy firms must also adapt to stay relevant. IT service providers can guide the digital transformation process by modernizing legacy systems, moving to the cloud and adopting new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) or automation tools. This helps your firm not only improve its own efficiency but also position itself as a forward-thinking leader in the industry, attracting clients who are looking for innovative solutions. 

 

That’s why we offer Shieldwall Flex as a free add-on to all our IT support package, giving you the opportunity to draw on our experts on-demand to support any of your one-time projects or initiatives, paying only for what you use!  

 

5. Integrating new capabilities 

 

A great IT Service Provider can work with you to introduce and integrate new cutting-edge capabilities that enable your consultancy firm to serve new clients in new ways, meeting the evolving needs of the market. Whether it’s integrating data analytics tools, testbeds, AI assistants, collaboration tooling, secure remote working infrastructure, or countless other opportunities, our team at Shieldwall is on stand-by to meet your needs. 

 

6. Providing specialist skills 

 

Many consultancy firms lack the internal IT expertise required for specialized IT needs, such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, or advanced data analytics. Hiring all these skills on a permanent or ad-hoc basis can be costly and difficult.  

 

On the other hand, a contract with a great IT Service Provider could give you on-demand access to these skills, as and when you need them! This can ensure that access to the right IT specialists never becomes a blocker to you delivering great services to your clients. 

 

7. Providing managed services 

 

While many IT Service Providers may only be willing to provide basic support, a great IT Service Provider will often have a range of pre-configured managed services that can be rapidly rolled out to deliver value rapidly at low cost.  

 

At Shieldwall we have an ever-expanding range of managed services ready to be rolled out to our customers. For example, if your firm hires short-term contractors to serve clients but cannot rapidly provision a secure, managed End-User Device, we offer a secure virtual desktop service that can allow them to start delivering value to your client on their first day! 

 

8. Security and Compliance 

 

For consultancies in most industries, maintaining a strong security posture is increasingly essential. Landing those big deals often requires demonstrating to prospective clients that their sensitive data is safe in your hands. This can involve demonstrating compliance with regulations such as GDPR, and attainment of enterprise security certifications such as ISO27001, NCSC Cyber Essentials, or SOC2.  

 

Many IT Service Providers do not offer security as standard or do the bare minimum like applying security patches to devices, leaving you to maintain security compliance.  

 

At Shieldwall, we believe that IT support has an integral role to play in keeping yours and clients’ data safe, so that’s why we offer Shieldwall Secure FREE with any technical service package, with several other security offerings available on top, that can be tailored to your security and compliance needs. Our security experts will do the heavy lifting to help you maintain the security and compliance posture that your clients want and deserve!  

 

9 - Business Continuity 

 

In life, and business, not everything always goes according to plan, and when things go wrong, the reputational impact on your business could be enormous.   

 

Great IT Service Providers can support you with data backup, recovery, and contingencies that allow you to keep delivering for clients in the face of critical system failures or cyberattacks, allowing you to mitigate any reputational risk and keep those clients coming back for more! 

 

10 - IT Strategy Consulting 

 

While many IT Service Providers may offer only basic support, a great IT Service Provider will often take an active interest in helping you formulate your overarching IT strategy, aligning with your wider business goals. They take lessons learned from other consultancies much like yours and use them to help you leverage new technologies that give you the edge over your competitors, increase productivity, and impress current and prospective clients. 

 

At Shieldwall, we offer monthly IT Strategy sessions to all our clients, developing and executing an IT roadmap that supports your objectives and long-term growth. 

 

Conclusion 

 

There is a broad range of IT Service Providers on the market, differing widely in the industries they serve, their price points, and what services they actually offer their customers. Choosing the right partner in your IT journey is one of the most significant decisions your business can make.   

 

At Shieldwall, we know what it takes to provide great IT Services. We specialise in serving small to medium consultancy firms. If you represent a consultancy firm with 100 employees or fewer and would like to discuss how you can harness the power of tailored IT services to attract and delight clients, book your free consultation with our experts today!