Knowing how to choose the right business systems partner starts with one question: what happens when you ring them with a problem? Mark’s view is that the bigger the consultancy, the less they tend to genuinely care at that moment. Most of us have been on the receiving end of this, in our personal lives and in business.
A true partner is different. They feel your pain, and they understand the scale of what you’re facing. They’re not a call centre. The people you speak to know the detail behind your system. Things may be escalated, but they approach the problem with an engineering mindset. That means they want to know why something isn’t working as designed and get to the bottom of it.
The practical outcome is that you don’t repeat yourself to five or six different people over months. Ultimately a better relationship means your system will progress faster, your users are happier and take up of the system improves.
Quick takeaways
- Test the partner by how they handle a problem. Support reveals more than a proposal.
- A true partner feels your pain. They show real empathy that your system, business and users are distressed.
- Support can’t be a call centre approach. The people answering need to know the detail behind your system.
- Look for an engineering mindset. They care why things aren’t working as designed and want to get to the bottom of it.
- Ask who can fix it and where it escalates. Check you’ll talk to people who understand the issue, or who know the escalation points.
- You shouldn’t have to repeat yourself. Explaining the same thing to five or six people over months is a warning sign.
- A better relationship helps everything. Mark links it to faster progress, happier users and better adoption.
How to choose a business systems partner who really cares
When you’re deciding how to choose a business systems partner, don’t judge only on the proposal. Judge on what happens when something goes wrong. The bigger the consultancy, the less they really care when you ring up with a problem. Unfortunately, we’ve all been on the receiving end of this, in our personal lives and in our business lives.
What a true partner does when you ring with a problem
A true partner, not just a vendor, is different. When you phone up with a problem, people actually feel your pain. They get genuinely upset that your system, your business and your users are distressed. They give you real empathy and reassure you that they understand the scale of what you’re facing.
Why a call centre approach isn’t enough
It’s not just a call centre approach. You can’t have people who pick up a phone and don’t know the detail behind it. Your partner needs to be engineered at every level.
Yes, things will get escalated. But an engineering mindset really cares about why things aren’t working as they were designed to work, and wants to get to the bottom of it.
So don’t be just another number in a call centre. This is a core part of our own technical support approach.
Checks for choosing a business systems partner
Make sure you’ve got a partner who really cares about the issue and wants to get to the bottom of it. Check that:
You won’t have to repeat the same thing over and over again to five or six different people over a period of months.
Why the relationship matters for your system
The better you can make that relationship, the faster your system will progress. Your users will be happier, and adoption of the system will be better across the board.
Questions to ask a supplier before choosing a business systems partner
Use these when you’re deciding how to choose a business systems partner. They come straight from Mark’s advice in the video, turned into questions you can ask.
- When I ring with a problem, who will I speak to? Will they know the detail of my system, or will I get someone who just picks up the phone?
- Who can fix the issue? Will I be talking to people who understand how to fix it, not just log it?
- Where does it go if you can’t fix it? Are there clear escalation points, and can you tell me what they are?
- Will I need to repeat myself? If an issue goes to another person, will the history be sent too, or will I have to explain the same thing to five or six different people?
- Do you care why it broke? When something isn’t working as designed, will someone want to get to the bottom of it?
- How have you handled a difficult problem before? Can you give an example and/or reference from a similar business?
Frequently asked questions
Look beyond the proposal and ask how they handle problems. Mark’s advice is to check that you’ll speak to people who understand the detail, that escalation points are clear, and that you won’t repeat yourself to several people over months. A partner who cares about the cause of an issue is the sign to look for.
Not always, and this is Mark’s experience rather than a rule. He believes that the bigger the consultancy, the less they tend to care when you ring with a problem. It’s best to judge any potential supplier on how they respond, whatever their size, and ask for references from similar businesses.
It means caring why something isn’t working as it was designed to work, and wanting to get to the bottom of it. Escalation still happens, but the person dealing with it is interested in fixing the cause. They aren’t just logging a ticket number.
Ask who you’ll speak to first, whether they know the detail of your system, and where the problem goes if they can’t fix it. You want clear escalation points. You also want the history to go with the issue, so you don’t explain it again to a new person each time.
Mark links the two directly. The better your relationship with your partner, the faster your system progresses, the happier your users are and the better the adoption is across the board. He doesn’t claim more than that, so we haven’t either.
People who pick up a phone without knowing the detail behind your system can’t show they understand the scale of what you’re facing. Mark says support needs to be engineered at every level. Things will still escalate, but you shouldn’t be just another number in a call centre.
Listen to how they react when you describe a problem. Mark says a true partner gets genuinely upset that your system, your business and your users are distressed. Before you sign, ask how they handled a difficult issue for another customer, and ask for a reference from a similar business.
About Mark Pullar
Mark Pullar is the founder of All My Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 consultancy based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. He has 25 years’ experience in IT and senior management, holds an MSc in Information Systems Management, and is a Microsoft Certified Professional in Dynamics 365. Mark set up All My Systems in 2014 to bring proper business systems to small and medium sized companies, and he shares practical lessons on productivity and running a business along the way. Read more about Mark’s story and how All My Systems began.