The Professional Services Pursuit

On this episode of the podcast Brent and Banoo are the ones in the hot seat! This live recording from our LinkedIn Live series, “Navigating the Path Forward”, tackles the key trends shaping 2023 and how people, process and technology optimization can future-proof your professional services business. Brent and Banoo are joined by Charles Gustine, Kantata’s Brand Evangelist, who digs into some of the key analyst predictions and research for 2023 and asks them questions based on those insights.Some of the topics covered include:The biggest challenges PS firms are grappling with right nowAdaptive leadershipOptimizing the experience and lifetime value of customers and employeesFind friction points, measure relentlessly, improve what you measureAligning IT spending with business prioritiesAchieving healthy transparency Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are excited to bring you another episode of Professional Services Pursuit! This time, Christine Dunham, Senior Director of People Development and Culture at Kantata, joins us to talk enthusiastically about managing company culture, what has been lost and gained in moving to remote work, how to create a collective culture and tools that company leaders can utilize to enhance employee experience.Other topics include:Christine’s background and how she ended up in people developmentSome of the most critical elements we have lost in a remote work environmentThe importance of a “north star” (shared vision and goals) and how to guide your organization in a remote environmentTools leaders can use to drive employee engagementHow to drive growth and development initiativesDeveloping a culture of feedbackFind out more information by visiting us at https://www.kantata.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode Brent is joined by the ‘Father of PSA’ and Managing Director at Service Performance Insight (SPI), Dave Hofferberth. They dive into some of the professional services performance trends uncovered by the SPI PS Maturity Benchmark survey and PS End User survey and how organizations can use this research to improve their business. Other topics covered include:The dimensions of SPI’s researchHow to determine where to focus to see the biggest returns Labor and revenue metricsThe impact of involuntary attrition The remote service delivery trend and how to streamline the hiring processHow technology impacts your people, process and bottom lineFor more information on the surveys visit the SPI website. The 2023 Maturity Benchmark survey will be released on February 8th. Click here to download the 2022 Professional Services End User SurveyClick here to download the 2022 Professional Services Maturity Benchmark Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining us on this week's podcast is Marc Lacroix from RTM Consulting. Banoo and Marc dive into some of the biggest issues holding companies back from effective forecasting, skills management and the root cause of ineffective data? Find out more on this episode of Professional Services Pursuit!The key topics covered include:The biggest factors holding companies back from doing effective forecastingHow to set PM’s up for success with improved data qualityThe importance of a skills databases that ties to your sales processMarc’s do’s and don'ts for maintaining an effective skills databaseMacro trends in resource managementMoving less from custom services to more packaged and templated servicesKey results of the 2023 RMI Forecasting surveyThe Resource Management Institute's first research survey on forecasting can be found at www.resourcemanagementinstitute.com. To access it for free, you just have to register to be part of the RMI community which provides  newsletters, research, events and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of The Professional Services Pursuit, we celebrate the one year anniversary of Kantata by having our CEO, Michael Speranza, back on the show. Brent and Michael discuss his experiences over the past year, the challenges he's seen the industry face and the trends and predictions he's seeing moving into 2023.Other topics include:Insight into what clients are struggling with on a daily basisSome assumptions Michael had going into the role of CEO about the industry and market that were either confirmed or surprised him The opposing forces, challenges and trends Michael predicts for 2023The critical changes to business fundamentals that will lead to success in 2023Rebalancing and refocusing revenue vs. costMichaels top 3 tips to leading an organization during challenging times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the professional services industry, Gainsight is one of the leaders in customer success and satisfaction. In this episode, we take a look at how they structure their team for the best results, what goals they focus on, and how they manage their processes. Join us for this discussion as Gainsight’s Senior Vice President of Professional Services and upgrades, Peter Wride, pulls the curtain back on how he finds success within his team. Other Topics covered include:How to create an excellent journey and why relying on “hero’s” is not sustainable The importance of flexibility within repeatable processes Considerations in designing processes and methodologiesThe formula for customer success and the importance of recognition within your teamHow to use NPS in effective, proactive ways Solving measurement and change management challenges in customer successCustomer success lessons to live by Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we welcome Sunday Dinner Founder, Ad Age 40 under 40 recipient and brand strategy thought leader, Lindsey Slaby, to the show. Brent and Lindsey discuss how the marketing and advertising industries have evolved over the years and the growing challenges they face. Lindsey is one of the top consultants in the space and pulls the curtain back on the changes big brands need to see from agencies and gives some insight on how to be an essential partner in 2023 and beyond.Some of the other topics we cover in this interview are:Lindsey’s journey and founding of Sunday DinnerThe power of great work and trends happening in the industry How to model your agency and practices to be an essential partner in the futureHow to market your agency and sell yourself successfully Pitch fundamentals2023 / 2024 necessities - creative production toolsThe most in-demand skills and where to go to upskill  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does professional services look like at Gainsight, THE customer success company? How does customer experience influence customer success? How do you get the best customer outcomes? On the latest episode of the Professional Services Pursuit podcast, we tackle all these questions and more as we talk with Gainsight’s Senior Vice President of Professional Services and Upgrades, Peter Wride. Other topics covered include:Peter’s journey to his current role and the most compelling reason why he joined a customer success companySome of Gainsight’s best practices for customer successAligning teams with the customer journey for a more cohesive experienceThe importance of the sales to service handoff What KPI’s Gainsight is measuring their services and deliveries byThe professional services onboarding process at Gainsight Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another episode of the Professional Services Pursuit Podcast! In this episode we welcome Bruno Gralpois to the show. Bruno is an author and the industry expert on optimizing agency/client relationships and bringing these best practices to life through technology. Bruno and Brent discuss the evolution of his business, Agency Mania Solutions, and some critical tactics agencies and clients can implement to enhance their relationships and collaborate better. Other topics covered include:Bruno’s journey to an agency relations role and how it led to him writing his book, Agency Mania The importance of clarity, partnership principles and cultural alignmentThe key inflection points that drove the need for better management of agency/client relationshipsSimple tactics to help get optimal value from the agency/client relationshipBe sure to stick around to the end of the episode for a special giveaway just for our listeners! Email us at podcast@kantata.com to enter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of the Professional Services Pursuit Podcast, we invite back the Head of Strategy and Managing Partner at Magnetic Customer Experience, Jessica Noble! In this continuation of our conversation with Jessica, Banoo dives into Jessica's book, 'The Five Customer Experience Mistakes you don't know you're making that are causing profit erosion.' Other topics covered include:The five critical mistakes that are made by high-growth companiesTactics and strategies to expand your customer base in a healthy wayAnalyzing the  impact and solution for each customer experience mistakeThe importance of action and continuous improvementBe sure to stick around to the end of the episode for a special giveaway just for our listeners! Email us at podcast@kantata.com to enter.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.