Providence Statistics
- Founded 2008
- Based in Herefordshire, UK
- Specialists in surveillance, intelligence, and equipment provision
- Serving customers exclusively in government, military and law enforcement sectors
- Delivering training, specialist equipment, technical solutions, managed services and consultancy
Value added by Performa IT
- Engaged February – September 2020
- Health check, custom enhancements, integrations and training
- Business process design and definition
- On-going trusted advisor
Background
Providence is a small organisation of highly skilled specialists offering training, consultancy, and managed services to global clients in defence, security, intelligence and law enforcement.
The Providence Board had invested in Salesforce to enable better insights and management decisions around their opportunity pipeline.
However, they needed an implementation partner who would understand their business approach and the sensitivities and requirements of their customers.
Here Chief Operations Officer at Providence Mark Pearson describes how Performa-IT have been instrumental in helping them up-level their use of the platform and maximise its value to the organisation.
Providence’s Challenge: risk of losing opportunities
Having worked with Salesforce in a previous role, Mark could see that the system was not being used to its full potential at Providence.
“We are fortunate to have a good volume of opportunities at Providence,” he says, “but the development of the Salesforce system wasn’t keeping pace with the way we wanted to use it.
“Although the intention was to consolidate our operations and interactions, this wasn’t really happening. As a small team, we were more focused on picking up the opportunities in front of us than using the system to its full potential.
“This meant that opportunities weren’t as streamlined or organised as they should have been, and this was impacting our conversations and ability to commit to customers.”
“Fundamentally we needed to use Salesforce as a means to focus our efforts and better manage our opportunities,” says Mark.
“We also needed to improve the visibility of our revenue-generating activities, so that we could make better decisions about our cashflow.”
Why Performa IT?
Without an effective implementation partner Mark and his team at Providence knew that they would have an uphill struggle trying to improve adoption and return on investment from the Salesforce platform.
In Providence’s search for help Salesforce put them in touch with Performa IT.
“When we eventually met Performa IT, we found everything about them to be fantastic,” Mark affirms.
Performa IT implementation
Approach
“Performa do a really good job of listening to all the nuances of business challenges,” says Mark.
“Given the profile of our products and services our own approach is extremely consultative. It’s effective because our consultants have lots of operational experience, so can truly advise clients from their own expertise.
“Performa are similar. They don’t just understand the software, they also understand the business context that the system architecture needs to support.
“They work hard in the background to optimise the system and customise the platform to suit the way we work.”
Solutions
As well as conducting their usual trademark health check and immediately identifying some ‘quick-win’ enhancements to system configuration, Performa IT also worked with Providence to redefine and design some crucial business processes.
“I’ve been extremely satisfied in situations where I know I’m reaching for something that Salesforce may not have – yet Performa have leveraged an API or created a way of delivering a solution within a few days,” Mark says.
“Performa seem to enhance the platform before our eyes and make it increasingly useful!”
Benefits of Performa IT’s implementations
Mark makes no hesitation in attributing Providence’s growth to having a clearer lens through which to view their business.
“Partnering with Performa IT has been a key part of our success and business decision making since we selected them in late-2019” Mark asserts.
“We could not have progressed as we have without an effective partner helping us with Salesforce. Performa IT have made sure the platform has developed and flexed around and behind us as we’ve needed it.
“Performa take an agnostic and rounded view,” comments Mark. “They are very helpful in highlighting how much value we can squeeze out of Salesforce and have helped inform and develop our business processes”
Recommendation
“Performa IT are absolutely trusted with all our Salesforce requirements,” says Mark.
“If you’re a business leader, whatever thing is niggling in your brain that demands some dedicated systemic attention, value adding IT consultancy, or bespoke software development, you definitely need to talk to Performa.”
Performa IT says
“The Providence team are a lovely bunch of highly experienced and specialist professionals.
“It has been a privilege to help and advise them with their Salesforce implementation. We’re pleased to have supported them so effectively on their journey, and look forward to assisting them with more challenges in future.”