BDR 101: Setting Customer Expectations on Service Level Agreements

Before finalizing a data backup and disaster recovery (BDR) contract, managed services providers (MSPs) may want to educate customers and set realistic expectations.

Disaster recovery (DR) and intelligent business continuity (IBC) solutions vendor Datto put together a blog post on how MSPs can properly set customer expectations and prevent problems from arising at a later date.

Datto points to the following ways for MSPs to set customer expectations:

• Service level agreement (SLA) times are for first response, not for time of resolution.
• MSPs should properly train staff on SLAs to avoid any miscommunication to clients.
• Make sure you understand your vendors’ SLAs in order to properly set your own.
• Guarantee that you will attempt to resolve all issues within the committed time frame.
• Keep in mind that environmental issues are unavoidable and should be addressed within the committed time frame.

Set the above expectations before a deal is made — not after. Customers may believe you weren't being honest with them before the sale if you don't communicate these guidelines.

It's better to set customer expectations lower than what you know you can provide. Be sure to under represent and over deliver.

This approach may even reel in more recurring revenue. You'll never know until you try.