I recently had a bit of a “lightbulb moment” on a Teams call with a new client. On the first call, the Head of IT explained, “I can tell from the way your team come across, that we’re in good hands, it feels like you guys really know what you’re talking about”. I wondered specifically what had been said to make the client feel that way. We are confident in our ability to deliver a project on time and within budget, however, confidence can be a double-edged sword. If it’s not coming from experience, it can come across as arrogance, and I certainly would never want us to come across like that.
What I realised is that confidence that originates from experience comes across authentically. This is the kind of confidence that puts customers at ease, builds trust and enhances credibility. In the world of managed service providers, trust is a vital part of the customer relationship. Trust (or a lack of it) is linked to experience in many ways. If you’ve proven yourself to be trustworthy in the past, you are more likely to be trusted in the future.
Of course, not all experience is relevant. After all, you wouldn’t ask an electrician to take out your appendix. For SOS, our experience lies in the critical application areas of print, document and information management. With an evolving digital landscape, dominated by back to work initiatives, hybrid workforces and the new normal (whatever that is), these services are more essential than ever.
We’re very much aware that peoples’ relationship with print has changed over the past two years, but we’re quietly confident (there’s that word again) that we’ve adapted well to help organisations meet their evolving needs. There are plenty of service providers out there, but few of them can say they genuinely own the design, implementation and support, without subcontracting some element of the work. We place a premium on consistency and quality of service. It’s why SOS customers find they deal with the same group of experts, from the first engagement to the last.
Get your vendor selection wrong and on top of being overwhelmed by your pandemic help desk enquiries, you could also be in the middle of a finger pointing battle or waiting days for a response because your ticket is not being dealt with locally but in fact sits in a manufacturer helpdesk queue, on the other side of the world.
I can’t remember who first said: “training will get you so far, but there’s no substitute for experience”. We believe in both. Vendor certification or accreditation is a valuable third-party point of reference for customers. It demonstrates a fundamental level of understanding of, and commitment to, the technology in question. It’s why we’re one of a select number of Canon Platinum Partners in the UK.
If you’re in the market for a print, document or information management service provider, why not get in touch?
