Customer Experience Focus and 3 Ways MSPs Can Sharpen Theirs

… the “IT guy,” you would become the trusted partner that understands their needs and goals — and supports them in their efforts to address both.

A few approaches to boosting customer skill sets include:

• Deliver ongoing IT training sessions, whether through brown-bag lunches, video calls or another delivery method that works for your customer. Pick a different topic each month, and be sure to make your training relevant to the pain points IT teams and businesses are facing today. Make it something attendees look forward to; keep it conversational and interactive.
• Regularly point customer contacts in the direction of software provider partners that deliver resources — from blogs, boot camps and webinars to ebooks, reports and whitepapers.
• Designate one or two client employees — individuals with the interest and aptitude — to serve as your go-to contacts for skill-set improvements. Provide them with ongoing training, invite them to participate in online conferences and share journal articles and tips with them. Communicate with them frequently. They can help you pass on knowledge to the rest of the IT staff and other parts of the business. With the increase in attacks against MSPs, maintaining a go-to expert on staff will give you an extra set of eyes and an added layer of protection from within the company.

Establish Consistent Touch Points

In addition to customer education, MSPs can significantly improve the customer experience by addressing all customer touch points, from service delivery to email communications to technical support. When is the last time you reviewed each of these areas to identify weaknesses and make improvements?

Make a habit of auditing your customer touch points quarterly. And don’t remain committed to a certain approach just because you’ve “always done it that way.” Agility is key; as we all know, things can change on a dime. For example, as many MSPs have been working remotely, customer interactions have had to be adjusted accordingly. Those MSPs who were able to pivot faster and more effectively no doubt scored big CX points with their customers.

And remember, addressing all touch points isn’t something a single individual can accomplish within your organization. It’s important to ensure your staff recognizes customer experience as a team effort. It’s still a good idea to appoint a customer experience champion who keeps track of all customer-experience-related efforts.

Lastly, MSPs shouldn’t confuse customer experience with marketing. Though related, they are not the same. Develop processes and programs for each; they should complement — but not short-shrift — each other.

Customer experience gets ample lip service these days, but many companies still struggle to get it right. MSPs that approach it in a holistic way are bound to stand out and increase their chances of retaining happy customers.

Mike Cullen is group vice president of partner success at SolarWinds MSP. Prior to joining the company he was vice president of sales at the Ottawa branch for IKON Office Solutions. He was also interim president of the Quebec region. Additionally, Cullen was vice president of sales and co-founder at Fulline Office Products. Previously he held sales management positions with Canon and Pitney Bowes. Follow Solar Winds on LinkedIn or @SolarWindsMSP on Twitter.