5 Reasons Professional Services Organizations Need The Kantata Professional Services Cloud

Running a professional services business is more challenging than ever, but with the right strategy and execution, the rewards can also be greater than they’ve ever been.

The continued expansion of the professional services world, the increasing types of products and services required to keep up with client demands, and the seemingly limitless potential of a growing business in this industry have all provided today’s companies with just as many challenges as opportunities. In the end, the true potential of a professional services business is defined by how well their processes support their most valued asset – their people. And while there have been many different software solutions created over the years to support certain business needs of professional services companies, those solutions have always been a step behind what companies truly need to unlock their workforce’s full potential.

But that’s changed now. The Kantata Professional Services Cloud is purpose-built to transform the way firms operate, ensuring they can consistently deliver outstanding outcomes for their clients and talent network. It’s through this breakthrough people-centric approach that today’s companies can enable true operational excellence and ensure their teams can deliver stellar work that keeps their clients coming back for more business. And best of all, it’s the tool they need to overcome the top challenges services leaders face running a modern professional services business.

The 5 Biggest Challenges in Professional Services

The following are the five biggest challenges experienced in the professional services industry today that the Kantata Professional Services Cloud has been purpose-built to solve. Which ones are you currently experiencing at your business?

1. Increasing Competition – According to Kantata research, 70% of professional services businesses have experienced a spike in competition recently. The professional services industry has rapidly grown in recent years, providing new areas of opportunity around the world, but also bringing more competition for clients and talent than ever. Now, businesses aren’t just competing locally, remote work means that competition can come from anywhere in the world and a business will need to provide top of the line work to stay in demand.

2. Shifting Client Demands – According to Kantata research, 85% of professional services businesses have seen client expectations increase in recent years. With more and more services being offered, today’s clients have higher expectations than ever about the services they receive. If a project misses a deadline or delivers a product that doesn’t meet a client’s standards, the chances are that client won’t return for future business. Knowing what your client wants, promising the right results, and executing in ways that live up to their expectations are the only way to keep them coming back. When technology doesn’t align your business with current and upcoming client needs, it leads to unsatisfied clients and lost revenue. 

3. Margin Pressure – Simply put, it costs more than ever to run a business today and that includes the cost of individual projects. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index increased 8.5 percent for the year ending March 2022, which is the largest 12-month inflation rate since 1981. When high inflation combines with higher pay rates and more daily business expenses, work simply becomes more expensive. But unnecessary costs, lost time, and poor resource utilization can all quickly inflate project costs beyond what is already happening until they become unprofitable. Identify and eliminate these unnecessary costs to keep healthy profit margins.

4. Project and Workforce Complexity – Are you running simultaneous tasks with workers spread across the country or world while also managing a portfolio of multiple ongoing projects with a long list of deliverables? You’re not alone. Projects are becoming more complex and today’s professional services businesses are managing a larger portfolio than ever of ongoing work with diverse client needs. As a result, it’s easier than ever to make a simple mistake that snowballs into a larger issue with repercussions that cascade across projects, clients, and your workforce. That’s why having a solution that enables precise orchestration of an increasingly complex set of projects, tasks, and required skills is absolutely essential.

5. Talent Empowerment – Today’s professional services employee brings a lot to the table, with everything from highly specialized skills to managerial capabilities. If you’re not aware of and utilizing everything that your team members offer, you can be losing out on inherent value within your company and inadvertently creating the ingredients for attrition. More people than ever are reevaluating what they want from their careers, looking at what their current jobs are providing, and leaving to find a new position that fulfills their demands. If technology doesn’t support your key talent’s desire to have a say in what work they do and where their career is going, they are more likely to pursue other options.

Rethinking The Way Professional Services Works

We are seeing powerful currents reshape the professional services industry. With clients and talent empowered to demand more, businesses need proactive strategies that help them secure and retain key clients and top talent, and enable remote and asynchronous work. 

These demands put tremendous pressure on professional services organizations as they scale at a time when new competitors emerge every day and vie for the clients and talent that drive their success. The solution to these challenges is not to just power through them and hope for the best, but a fundamental evolution in the way business is done.  And it’s the Kantata Professional Services Cloud that paves the way for a future where professional services organizations will have the technology they need to overcome these unique challenges.

The Kantata Professional Services Cloud is purpose-built to transform the way firms operate, ensuring they can consistently deliver outstanding outcomes for their clients and talent network. This breakthrough, people-focused approach unlocks the workforce of the future, enabling operational excellence, inspired clients, and predictable outcomes.

What else can Kantata do for you? Learn all about The Kantata Professional Services Cloud.