by Matt Fulton

This post is the second in a series exploring the intersection of people and technology in experience management. Start here if you’re joining us for the first time.

Technology is built to a specification. Logic and clear inputs are defined to produce expected results. Platforms must fulfill baseline operating and performance requirements. A piece of technology meets its service-level agreements and works as designed, or it doesn’t. And, all versions of a technology platform work the same way and produce the same results–that is, until you inject people into the mix.

Humans are not machines. As we explored earlier in this series, people are the critical input to designing, configuring, and deploying exceptional technology solutions for clients. Each member of a professional services team brings their individual diversity of thought, experience, and judgment to the work of serving clients. And, when that services team is working on and with technology, you can add their technical skill and creativity to the mix.

Applying a rigid set of requirements to assess a professional services team may seem impersonal or subjective. However, exceptional experiences with a technology services team can be as well defined as expected performance of a technology platform. 

Best in Class Service Team Specification

Requirements	Expected Performance	Common Pain Points
Communication	Responsive, thorough, transparent	Unclear and infrequent; requests and questions enter a “black box”
Collaboration	Long term shared vision	Transactional task management
Quality	Proactive risk mitigation, stable deployment of changes	Data integrity issues or disruption to end customer experience erodes CX Team credibility
Expertise	Service team knowledge spans strategy and execution to design and deliver for future flexibility	CX grows stale, hindered by inefficient, legacy, manual processes, and siloed systems, data and processes
Consistent Team	Service team maintains a continuous, comprehensive understanding of your tech stack and business objectives	Abrupt resource changes drive lack of productivity, confidence, and trust
Accountable	Transparent partnership. Services team demonstrates end to end ownership for your business outcomes	Short term band-aids, escalation to account relationship managers without addressing root cause

If you’ve ever experienced any one of these pain points, partner with your technology services team to align on requirements critical for a successful engagement. Unlike pre-programmed machines, people have the capacity to feel, imagine, and pivot when something isn’t working to create new and improved outcomes. Envision v2.0 of your services partnership–one that drives exceptional experiences day in and day out for your team, leading to CX impact for your business.