How to Manage IT Customer Satisfaction
Measuring IT customer satisfaction offers a managed service provider (MSP) insights into its operational efficiency.
In fact, technology research firm Gartner noted IT customer satisfaction “can make or break” an MSP.
“When it comes to the IT’s reputation, the importance of customer satisfaction cannot be overestimated,” Gartner pointed out. “Evaluating IT’s position involves answering some tough questions.”
Gartner recommended MSPs review the following questions to evaluate and improve IT customer satisfaction:
- What is your level of IT customer satisfaction?
- What are end users’ concerns?
- What are the strengths of your IT?
- Are there any pain points or other issues IT needs to be know about?
- Are the techniques being used to evaluate customer satisfaction levels based on trusted information?
- Are you comparing your customer satisfaction levels with peers that have utilized similar survey methodologies?
- How can you maximize customer satisfaction while operating under resource constraints?
Keeping tabs on customer sentiment is essential to an MSP’s success, according to Kevin Gibson, senior product manager at remote monitoring and management (RMM) software provider LabTech Software.
Furthermore, he said, an MSP doesn’t require any special certifications or training to bolster IT customer satisfaction.
“Thanks to countless personal experiences as a consumer, you’re already there,” Gibson wrote in a blog post. “You understand first-hand the parameters that define a pleasurable — or miserable — business transaction.”
“You’ve learned what will bring you back the next time or send you to the competition,” he said. “On the receiving end of customer satisfaction, you’ve got it down.”
In The Compassionate Geek: Mastering Customer Service for IT Professionals, author Don Crawley asserts there are five principles to great customer service that an MSP can use to improve IT customer satisfaction:
- Technical skills — Host regular training sessions to keep your technical support team up to date.
- Compassion — Teach your employees about your customers’ pain points so they can play an active role in resolving customers’ IT issues.
- Empathy — Take a walk in a customer’s shoes to view IT issues from their perspectives.
- Listening — Respond to your customers’ concerns and questions and ask for their feedback.
- Respect — Treat your customers and employees with respect. Avoid blaming others for IT issues and work with customers to resolve these problems.
Make customer satisfaction a top priority, and you can deliver experiences that can help you retain existing customers and attract new ones.
What are your thoughts on IT customer satisfaction? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at dan.kobialka@penton.com.
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