Kati Unplugged: Partners Helping Customers—It Goes Beyond Product Knowledge

A Blog Series for Microsoft Dynamics Partners by Kati Hvidtfeldt, US Microsoft Dynamics ERP Cloud Lead.

Partners always gain when they take the time to really understand the issues customers and prospects face. In the last Kati Unplugged blog post we looked at how partners can help their customers ask the right questions to guide them to the right solution.

This week, Greg Pierce, VP of Tribridge Concerto Cloud Services, gives us his perspective on the partner’s responsibility to the customer during the evaluation process.

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As Microsoft Dynamics consulting professionals, we all understand the importance of listening to customers. However, it is easy to spend all of our time listening to the wrong conversations.

We listen as the customer outlines requirements for functionality, governance, business process and other requirements.  We listen as they share past challenges and solution misfires. We listen as the tell us when go-live needs to take place. All of these are certainly important conversations that help us select and design software solutions, but often it is not enough to connect us as a strategic partner.

The right partner steps away from system requirements long enough to understand why and how they are planning to mature the business and how they define success.

A great example is Florida-based engineering services firm, Tandel Systems. Tandel is a technology company with years of software development experience. They were able to clearly articulate systems needs and outline software requirements. It would have been easy to just listen and propose a solution. However, their business goals were focused on aggressive growth both organically and via acquisition. Their solution and deployment plan needed not only to work as they grew, but needed to become a productive part of the business plan.

Ultimately, Tandel engaged Tribridge to develop and deploy Concerto PSA, a cloud-based solution that delivers integrated PSA, CRM and accounting. Concerto PSA easily scales to support new partnerships and future acquisitions. The solution became part of the business plan, not just an infrastructure cost.

Their solution became an integral component of the communication and collaboration foundation of the organization. Tandel’s fundamentals are based on operational efficiency and business development excellence. With their move to the cloud with Concerto PSA, they will be able to deliver on those fundamentals to add value and help generate revenues for all of their customers.

Your customers will also be grateful for your stewardship of their resources, and in turn, they will reward you with their continued patronage.

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Tribridge is an IT services and business consultancy dedicated to helping organizations become more productive, profitable, competitive and secure. Tribridge was named 2012 Worldwide Microsoft Dynamics Outstanding Partner of the Year.

To learn more about how to incorporate cloud-based solutions into your business plans visit the Microsoft Dynamics Countdown to the Cloud page on PartnerSource. Go to www.microsoft.com/dynamics/growyourbusiness for resources that demonstrate to customers how Microsoft Dynamics ERP cloud, hybrid and on-premise solutions can benefit their businesses.