The professional services industry refers to anyone who provides skills, knowledge, or non-physical services to clients. This can be anything from a lawyer to a marketing professional. Though they don’t have the same roadblocks as industries like construction or gastronomy, success in the professional services industry is no less challenging.
Providers of professional services need to remain aware of:
Market differentiation tactics
Professional services is a crowded market, with many people offering the same or similar things. Having a unique value proposition or a reason why your offer is best suited to client needs is essential.
Don’t overthink your differentiating factor – even something as simple as costing less can put you ahead in a potential client’s eyes. Focusing on a particular niche can also help you stand out.
Regulatory requirements
Setting yourself up as a professional services provider means you have to be aware of any regulations that apply in your industry. As a basic example, you usually need some kind of certification to practice.
Often, professional service providers will be in charge of ensuring that their clients are following regulations in their industry as well. That means there’s an extra layer of constantly-changing laws you need to be familiar with.
Risk management
As mentioned, professional services providers sometimes assume responsibility for their clients’ compliance initiatives. This means they need to be proactive about risk management. Common types of risks you’ll address include project and data security risks.
Risk management is a type of professional service in itself. Evaluating the possible impact of strategic decisions saves companies potentially massive amounts of money and time.
Team management
Since the services offered by professional service workers are not physical, they and their team members often work remotely. Having to communicate with team members in different locations and even different time zones can make organization and making progress on projects a challenge.
Finding ways to close the distance gap and collaborate efficiently is an essential part of managing a remote team. Administration software can help you make sure everyone is aware of their tasks and aligned towards a common goal.
Running a professional services business with Lumiform
Professional services is all about making life easier for your clients, which is where Lumiform comes in. The all-inclusive workflow automation platform allows you to complete routine tasks in as little as half the time, to communicate efficiently with teams and stakeholders, to confidently manage sensitive customer data, and more.
Using the desktop software to create automated checklists gives you a quick way to organize tasks and ensure they’re completed thoroughly. Use Lumiform checklists to:
- Perform risk assessments
- Assess process and product quality
- Create project management outlines
- Ensure you and your clients follow regulations
- Easily assign and manage your team’s tasks
Lumiform makes daily operations more convenient for both you and your clients. Thanks to a flexible combination of desktop software and a mobile app, the work you do with Lumiform can be done from anywhere, even offline. That means your employees can work remotely and still keep your business running like clockwork.
Lumiform makes you more useful to clients by shortening the amount of time, money, and resources you need to exceed their expectations. And it helps you improve their business in the long term with regular weekly and monthly analytics created from completed checklists. These analyses allow you to accurately identify areas for improvement and also make risk management easier.