They say it takes a village to raise a child, and arguably, the same could be said about running a business; believe it or not, many different businesses are responsible for one’s success through their roles as support services.
In this article, we’ll be looking to educate business owners and managers about the benefits of utilising support services and how these can be integrated into their operations. Enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and overall improvement in productivity await those who leverage the expertise of others in areas they’re not skilled in themselves.
What are support services?
Support services are professionals that provide a specialised service to another business, such as IT support, HR services, print management, or customer service; they support the business’ core processes, and allow it to continue to do what it does securely, compliantly, and efficiently.
The impact of support services on business efficiency
One of the main impacts of support services in terms of efficiency within your business is the way they can streamline your operations; by outsourcing to an external team, you’re freeing up your employees to do the work they’re good at. Your team is no longer bogged down, and you know professionals are attending to your outsourced tasks.
Support services can help you see opportunities to cut costs. For example, an IT support provider may suggest moving operations to cloud-based infrastructure, reducing the need for expensive hardware on-site and its associated costs and maintenance.
A dive into print management
Let’s take print management as an example of professional support services. Designed to streamline the printing process, print management services oversee and, ideally, optimise the use of printers and other devices within an organisation. Often included in this is print strategy, document management, and equipment maintenance.
The benefits of effective print management include:
- Reduced outlay on inks and paper by optimising printing processes
- A reduced amount of paper waste and energy consumption – good news for the planet
- Improved document security and compliance with document security regulations – yes, printers can be hacked!
Integration and implementation of support services
Getting help with your operations from other businesses is a big step, and it can feel understandably daunting. Whenever you’re looking to integrate with a new support services provider, work through the following steps:
Assessing your business needs
Identify the areas in which support services are needed, and work through current processes with each of your teams to pinpoint areas for improvement.
Choosing the right service providers
Do your research, evaluate suppliers’ expertise, and heed referrals and reviews as much as you can in order to find the right support service provider that will fit into your operations like a dream. It’s worth introducing the idea of service level agreements early into this process to establish expectations on both sides.
Implementation
Allow time for the bedding-in process, from bringing the service provider and their staff up to speed on your business to transferring data for processes they’ll need to be involved with. There may be teething issues initially, so it’s best to stay patient and trust the process!
Measuring the success of support services
It’s important to establish KPIs with your support service providers to ensure you’re able to monitor their success with your business. This will look different for different kinds of service providers – for example, you may use response times, ticket volumes, system uptime with your IT provider, and ROI, web traffic, and email open rates with the company you outsource your marketing to.
Regular opportunities for review and feedback are essential—keep open that line of communication that will only strengthen your relationship, and continue to adapt to your business’s changing needs.
