Lose a Customer? Here’s How Your MSP Should Deal With This

You’re going to eventually lose a client. It happens at some point to everybody. What matters most is how you deal with it.

Instead of dwelling on your loss, move past it by quickly assessing what went wrong,debriefing your employees and continuing to follow up with leadseven during the good times. 

Whatwent wrong?

In order to determine what went wrong, you need to look back on your relationship with the customer. Remember this: The problems always beginbefore you lose the customer, so do you best to find them ahead of time. 

You should have a processin placeto rate any at-risk customers. If you loseacustomer you didn’t classify as at risk,it means youneed to strengthen your relationships with your customers. 

Specifically, evaluateyourvCIO’sprocess toensurethere’s an ongoingbusiness relationship with every customer.Make sure yourvCIOischecking in with your clients

After you lose a customer,you need to do an exit interview to determine what happened and how long they were unhappy. It takes planning to change IT vendors,sofigure out when issues began.

Even after losing customers, stay in touch with them once a quarter. Many customers find the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

When and how you should tell your employees about acustomer loss

When you lose a client, it’s important to keep your employees informed about the loss. 

They’re going to want to know the details. Most importantly, they’re going to want to know how the loss will impact them. As their leader, it’s your responsibility to ease any concerns they may have.

As with anything else you do as an MSP, there should be a process in place for when you lose a client (remember: If there’s no process, you’re just winging it). 

Ideally, your protocol should outline how youoffboard customers and debrief the causes for the lossto your employees. 

What can MSPs do to ease the blow of losing a customer?

You should always be prospecting— no matter the state of your business. 

If you’re not, you’re leaving money on the table. When you do this, you’re notadequatelypreparing for the tough times, which are inevitable. Nobody is immune to down times; they’re bound to happen.

The best way to ease the sting of a lost customer is to have strong a pipeline of new prospects, so you can quickly replace lost revenue. 

After reviewing where you can generate additional sales revenue, look at your overhead and payroll to determine if youcanmake any changes to ensure your business stays profitable.

If you can make cuts, make them, but don’t overdo it. You can’t simply cut your way to profitability, and in some instances, striking too many operational expenses from your budgets can negatively impact your business in the long run — especially when it comes to future growth potential.

After losing client, the best thing you can do is pick up the pieces as fast as possible by assessing the status of your business, informing your employees and continuing to follow up on sales leads.

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TOPICS: MSP processesstrategic relationships
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