Professional service businesses, from consultancy firms to legal practices, thrive on expertise, timeliness, and superior client engagement. In times gone by, professional services were defined by their city address and designer suits. Nowadays, we spot an elite business in this sector by their refined engagement, collaboration and seamless service delivery. As the digital age continues to influence every sector, tools like SharePoint are becoming essential to maintain a competitive edge. In professional services, responsiveness and real-time communication is vital to providing clients the information and advice that they need, when they need it. Then consider content management – who has what document, where is it and which version is it? As business requirements move away from piecemeal emails to share information, we start looking for a more elegant way to deliver professional services and reach business goals. Here’s why SharePoint stands out as the ideal platform for professional service businesses, with a special focus on its capabilities for client collaboration:
SharePoint’s ability to create customised client collaboration portals is perhaps its most significant value proposition for professional services. Picture a well designed private space for you and your client. It’s like a secure room for file sharing, file management, task management and conversation.
These portals:
How much business content do professional service organisations produce? A lot! Once you have all of this content, you must have a robust document management system. You’ll need to efficiently organise, store, and retrieve critical business documents. At Propelle, invest time with professional service businesses in the planning stages to map out their digital transformation journey. Having the right plan for how to manage documents leads to seamless integration and excellent user satisfaction. Effective management of documents increases overall business efficiencies. That’s why we like SharePoint’s version control. It ensures everyone is always working with the most recent document, reducing errors and redundancies. Oh, and we can’t forget the benefit of document sharing all in one place.
In professional services, clients expect to be working with a well organised and expert team. SharePoint’s Team Sites provide dedicated spaces for internal teams. They ensure that everyone, from project managers to consultants, collaborate seamlessly. This is where team work goes from file sharing to knowledge sharing. And at the end of the day, the client will engage with a team that portrays unity and business excellence.
Access to business information when you are away form the office, home or otherwise, is key to a modern workplace. For professional services, relying on being skilled experts isn’t enough when clients expect responsiveness and flexibility. With mobile access you can stay connected, even on the move. If you are out in the field, at a conference, or between meetings, you can keep supporting your clients. With SharePoint’s mobile adaptability, essential business data is available anytime, ensuring continuous workflow and client engagement.
The automation of business processes allows professionals to focus on what they do best. And efficient management of business operations leads to business growth. So it’s a win-win scenario of any professional service business. Start thinking about how to automate repetitive tasks, from client onboarding to invoicing. Business process automation can be done using SharePoint’s custom workflows. This not only enhances efficiency but ensures a consistent service experience for clients.
In the business landscape, there are lots of tools to put into your toolkit. And getting these tools to work together leads to a better business environment. You can enhance SharePoint’s functionality by seamlessly integrating with tools like Microsoft Teams, Excel, and Power BI. This cohesive ecosystem amplifies overall productivity and rounds out the modern experience.
What keeps business owners up at night? Security. Whilst employee experience and operational efficiencies are important, security and compliance take the cake. SharePoint provides state-of-the-art security features, ensuring that sensitive client data and business intelligence are protected. Using the platform of choice, business owners can rest easy and you will maintain client confidence. You can have your audit trails and disaster recovery needs met with the reassurance of Microsoft.
As an experienced tech consulting service, we have seen how ambitious businesses make smart and informed decisions. They transform raw data into actionable insights. By integrating Power BI with SharePoint, they derive comprehensive reports that guide strategic decisions. Professional services are using Power BI to get real time insight into projects, profitability, utilisation and business progress. It can bring in business critical data into the picture from different systems into one place.
Professional service business often have a lot of moving parts. There are internal operations, reporting and compliance responsibilities, consulting or project data. Efficient management of these parts needs clear oversight. Customised solutions are easily achieved by tailoring SharePoint dashboards to showcase the most relevant data, from client-specific metrics to overarching business analytics.
Some say knowledge is power, but in professional services knowledge is essential. Clients come to you for your expertise. It’s a competitive landscape so you will need to stay at the forefront of knowledge and expertise. Consolidate best practices, research, and more into SharePoint’s knowledge base, ensuring that teams remain updated and continue to offer clients the best advice and solutions.
For professional service businesses, SharePoint is not just a tool—it’s a strategic ally. Its ability to centralise operations, coupled with the power of client collaboration portals, sets businesses up for sustained growth. SharePoint goes beyond being a content management platform, it is the essence of team collaboration and extends to client engagement. In our competitive landscape, a modern workplace is a must, and ensuring you have the right digital tools is paramount. Embrace SharePoint, and let its capabilities redefine your professional journey.
© 2024 Propelle Pty Ltd
