Technology services are customer service. There’s no way around that statement as no matter what IT service you are offering it will have an impact on a customer either directly or indirectly. What is surprising is that though there are many complaints about the difficulty of selling technology services in a bad economy the customer service aspect is seldom mentioned.
Customer service suffered during the wildly profitable years prior to the current downturn. Technology services were becoming recognized as a service that businesses of any size had to consider. Whether simply hiring a software development to automate a system or IT services to address customer complaints, technology was a fact of business life. The questions asked were “how cheap can you do it” and “how fast can you get it done” before asking “how will this impact the customer”. Managers faced with a displeased customer often blew it off as there were many more customers in line.
How things have changed. IT services have been hard hit by the problems in the economy. Many small and mid-sized businesses who hired IT professionals in recent years took another look and decided to un-hire those employees for now. You can’t blame them. IT staffers may keep a business running smoothly but the workers producing and selling the company’s products keep it running. When cutbacks began, information and technology employees were often the first to go.
What IT professionals are finding is that knowledge and experience are not enough to get a job in IT services right now. The competition is fierce and temporary agencies and jobs as IT consultants are the only areas still in demand. The days when you could apply for a job in IT services and just talk about your experience and past successes are over.
Today, you need more. You need to develop a comprehensive management plan for what you can provide to the business owner. When you interview for the IT position be prepared to take on services that are outside what you consider IT service related. Study the business before you apply so you can present yourself as offering solutions to their IT service problems.
Many businesses are turning to managed service providers for their needs. It only makes sense as the larger managed services provide every level of IT service clients might need. Whether in customer service or software development, these firms have assembled accomplished IT staff for every contingency. A managed service can evaluate what your business needs, help design IT services you can afford and provide the staff, too.
In a bad economy smart businesses understand the necessity to double their efforts in the area of customer service and customer satisfaction. If you are selling technology this is a concept you must embrace. Technology for its own sake may sell in a soaring economy but to provide technology services in a challenged market you must be able to relate your service to customer satisfaction as well as to the cost and time savings for the potential employer.
