While MSPs have always focused on customer satisfaction, the COVID-19 crisis is changing the way MSPs are evaluating the services they’re delivering.
MSPs traditionally evaluate delivery performance by reviewing various metrics, including customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores, help desk metrics, etc.
But the COVID-19 crisis is forcing MSPs to reassess how they’ve been measuring their efforts with clients.
Here’s the thing: You need more information now than ever before from your customers to make better business decisions.
You must understand how changes made to their businesses during the coronavirus pandemic will impact your MRR, accounts receivable, cash and backlog. You must know what their unwinding and recovery processes will look like (when business plans change, so do technology roadmaps).
After finding out these answers, you can then develop a new strategic roadmap for each one of your customers. Every plan should reflect the client’s business and technology needs now and for the remainder of the year.
As an MSP, you must focus on metrics, process and accountability if you want to take your client relationships to another level moving forward in a post-COVID-19 world.
Ask yourself this question: “Do I have a process for building and maintaining business relationships with my customers?”
If so, consider the following:
- What metrics do you use to be sure?
- Do you have activity measurements (e.g., strategy meetings held, recommendations made) or result metrics (e.g., recommendations accepted, MRR generated)?
Do you have weekly vCIO meetings to review progress towards goals, weekly activity and results? If so, think about the following:
- What did you learn about their businesses?
- What recommendations did you make?
- What was accepted?
- What was not accepted?
Then, what meetings are upcoming this week? Determine the answers for the following questions:
- What information will you still need to get about the changing aspects of a customer’s business?
- What recommendations will you make and why?
This is the level of discipline you need. If you’re not there today, you must get there.
In the coming weeks, I’ll ask you to raise your game around profitability as well as security.
Are you beginning to see a theme here?
The level of business command that worked before is not sufficient now.
Look at this crisis as an opportunity to grow and fulfill your potential. I want you to be motivated by the opportunity to grow in ways that you may have wanted to in the past, but now need to.